Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Mud Puppies!












Little Paws Big Adventures went back to Claremont Canyon today for another round of hiking steep hills and playing in the mud.

Mochi, Maisie's sister joined us today on a group walk for the first time. Her broken leg has healed up and she's ready and raring to go. She got to ride up front on the way to the park to help her bond to me and to keep anyone from "protecting" the back of the truck. Her first walk was on leash as she's new to the group and has probably never been to this park before. I walk each of my new clients on leash for the first several walks, then they graduate to long leads, then to trailing long leads and finally to off leash should all the other steps go well. I do my best to ensure each dog's safety and enjoyment of their hike. I brought freshly cut treats to help keep all of the dogs stay nearby and I check on each of them, counting to make sure they're still all present and accounted for every couple of minutes.

Relay is on leash because he's fearful of large dogs and prone to bolting when he sees them.

Maisie, Turnpike, Murphy, Blue, and Parker are all old hands at hiking off leash and staying with the pack.

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