Morning Walks and a Cat Test

I've been trying to get back into the walking habit that I had pretty much given up when the puppies came. Clay told me that yesterday was the 30th consecutive day with temperatures over 90 degrees. That's not good walking weather for me or for the dogs. Early morning is the only time it's even close to reasonable but I have trouble motivating myself for a walk that early, generally succumbing to porch sitting instead, where I drink coffee, admire the flowers and fountains, and watch hummingbirds.

Saturday I got out mid-morning with Maya and Buster. Maya hasn't been getting out much at all since I stopped walking. She is old enough now, however, that she doesn't mind so much, and we don't go out either so it's not like we are going out without her. She has always liked having everyone home so the Covid quasi-quarantine is not a hardship for her at all. But she's been my main walking partner for seven years now and she's easy on the leash, so I left the Danes at home and took Maya along with Buster. I had taken Buster out once before and he really enjoyed the walk. He's a senior dog, dark in color, pretty large, and not accustomed to walking, so I have kept his walks under two miles. He does quite well and he really enjoys the walks, but I don't want to push him to his limits.

Saturday afternoon I loaded up the two foster shepherds, Bruno and Luna, along with Della who just wanted to go along, to go meet a cat. I had an email from someone who was in love with Bruno who asked how he was with cats. We went to Clay's mother's place in Charlottesville to meet her cat, Portia. I made a tactical error by taking Luna in first. Luna wasn't aggressive toward the cat, but after meeting Luna, Portia retreated and had no interest in meeting Bruno, even though he was the one I most needed to test.

This is as close as we were able to get to Portia.
She apparently wasn't in the mood for dogs.

I contacted Erika on the way home and went over in the evening to meet another cat. This cat had no interest in the dog and no fear of the dog. Bruno, however, displayed a proper fear and respect for the cat. I would say that Bruno had experienced a cat in his past and knew that they were nothing to be trifled with.

Bruno is a very friendly, outgoing, dog.

If the cat hissed or made a move, Bruno turned away. I walked him up to the cat repeatedly, but he never pulled towards the cat or wanted to go there on his own. He was much more interested in meeting Killian, who came out to greet us.

Della came along because she doesn't like being left out.

This cat had no fear of Bruno.

Bruno made no moves toward the cat.

Bruno is not a large shepherd and he looked really small next
to Killian.

Bruno was a good boy.

Sunday morning I resolved to get out earlier for my walk, particularly because the forecast was for an even hotter day. Buster really wanted to go along, it was earlier and cooler than yesterday's excursion, but I wanted to get in a full two miles at least, so I left Buster at home and took Luna along with Maya.

Luna doesn't have much experience with leash walking and it showed. She wanted to walk a full leash length away on my right and pull me in that direction even as we were walking forward. She also had the unfortunate tendency to cross back and forth and would often stop directly in front of me. I soon grew tired of that and pulled her in close to me, on my left, and held her in that position. She was fine with that, she just needs to learn and adopt it as a habit.