VA Dog Rescue: Walking without Maya

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Walking without Maya

Maya left the bandage on her foot until Wednesday evening about bedtime. She was chewing on it so much I thought she was probably doing more damage than she would just by licking it, so I helped her remove it. I think it's better. She's not limping or even favoring it noticeably today, but she's off the hiking rotation for a few more days yet.

The timing is actually fortunate in a way because it's enabled me to take the new guy, Pan. New dogs aren't always easy for the first few walks, but actually Pan has gotten with the program very well. The first day I just used a leash on a martingale collar. It held him fine but we had the problem of the leash getting under his legs. Even though it was his first hike, we went five miles because it was a nice day and we all needed the exercise. He may be overweight, but he's young and he kept up easily and really enjoyed himself too.

Thursday was our second hike and it was a much hotter and more humid day. We only went 3.5 miles, but it was plenty. I used Theo's new harness on Pan and that sorted out the issues we had with the leash getting under his legs the day before. If there was any doubt that Pan is part lab, that doubt was banished when Pan came to water on a hot day. Serena walks in and gets her feet wet, but rarely goes in any deeper than her ankles. Pan immediately seeks out the deepest water available and wallows in it. I look forward to taking him down to the river some day.

Walking Serena without Maya has been interesting. She's always been out front most of the time, but without Maya along she has stepped up and acted like she was in charge. Maybe it's from living with all the shepherds, but she has learned to look and act like she knows what's going on even if she doesn't really have a clue. It's a gift.