Rugger Walks

I've taken Rugger out to the yard to play ball a couple times and it's gone a long way towards making him bond to me. I always tell people that walking a dog is the best way to bond so today I took my own advice and took him on a hike with Maya. 

He walked pretty well with Maya but he mostly stayed out front instead of following her lead. Maya gave me that "So I guess we have to train another one, Dad" look that she has when breaking in a new foster. 

Rugger has been in a shelter since October, although he had a few dedicated friends there who took him outside several times a day for some fresh air and exercise. Before that he had been locked up in a basement for who knows how long, so I wasn't sure what his strength and endurance would be like. 

He pulled and jerked me around a bit. That was partly first-hike enthusiasm, I'm sure, like it was with TJ when he first started hiking after living on a chain. He wasn't too bad, really, until a biker passed us on the trail and he wanted to catch up with the biker. He pulled pretty hard then so we both got some good exercise even though we just went three miles. 

He's doing better with the other dogs around here, but it's a work in progress. Nothing serious has happened, but he's not exactly in the running for the Mr. Congeniality prize around here. I've given him alone time with Axel who tried to play with him. I even put him in the AC yard with TJ today. If they had any disagreements I didn't hear about it and neither dog showed any signs of a hostile encounter. He just needs to learn that everyone gets along and he doesn't need to be so defensive. He's doing fine and I think he will continue to improve. The number of dogs around here makes it imperative that everyone get along and we have lots of opportunity to work on that particular behavior problem. TJ used to be an asshole too, in fact he stole the title from Max. 

After the hike I had him out for some ball
playing time while I was setting up the new
container garden between the boxwoods.