The Moderating Influence of Maya

On Sunday I walked Kaiser with Maya and I walked Galaxy with Maya. Both boys were pretty good. They wandered back and forth quite a bit, but they were both pretty easy on the leash. Today I didn't have time to walk everyone and I wasn't sure I wanted to take three dogs and deal with three leashes, so I left Maya at home and just took the two boys. It was a vastly different experience.

It made me realize that I don't give Maya enough credit. Although I never see her discipline or correct the other dogs, her presence has a real influence on how they behave on the walk. Without her along today they pulled, or rather dragged, me up and down the trails through the woods. The shepherd, Kaiser, was the primary instigator, but the Great Dane, Galaxy, supplied most of the force.

It was obvious right at the start. We had to cross a small open field to get the trail head. Maya would have headed for the trail head in a straight line, no fooling around. The boys didn't know where it was or where we were going so they were bouncing all over the place. I knew right then that my back, arms, and shoulders were going to get more of a workout today than my legs.

To be fair, I used an Easy-Walk harness on Kaiser on Sunday. That really cuts down on the pulling whereas the harness I had on him today was made for pulling. Galaxy just followed Kaiser's lead and the order of the day was  PULL.

Kaiser follows his nose and only partially follows the trail. He will be walking along pretty good and then suddenly veer off the trail, obviously following an animal scent. I would yell "NO" and he'd come back pretty readily but he hasn't yet learned the motto of trail walking: the trail's the thing. Maya seemed to help keep him focused on the trail and she set the pace, which is more merciful to me.

Galaxy is younger, goofier, and not really interested in scent, but he enjoyed being out in the woods and just going. Walking with Maya he wouldn't pull at all, regardless of the type of harness I had on him.

If you like the look of a German Shepherd Dog, Kaiser is a good looking one.
His underside and the backs of his legs are very light colored. He's pretty.