Chocolate Mornings and Perspective

So I did a sadly short morning at the shelter today. Had work so I only got to do an hour. The chocolate lab was done with his 4 day waiting period and I was allowed to walk him today. He is, at this point, the BIGGEST dog I've walked. I'm guesstimating 70-80 pounds, nearly stood his back level with my hip(I'm super short by the way, only 4'9") and was probably half my weight or a bit more so. He FELT like 100 pounds at the start of the walk because he wanted to GO and therefore was a puller. It's funny how I would describe him as the hardest dog I've walked so far and yet he is not the worst of them(that I've walked) in regards to pulling jumping or any other bad habits. He was actually very mellow. The worst is a chihuahua but when you're talking a 7lb chihuahua pulling at the end of the lead or a 70lb lab the bigger dog always gets labeled worse because they've got the MUSCLE. It only took him a few minutes to realize I wanted him to walk beside me. I actually let him be a touch further forward than the others were allowed because his natural gait at a fairly slow walk was faster than mine putting him a pinch ahead even though he was actively trying to give me what I wanted. It's all about knowing the balance. Sadly I don't have any photos of him today as I had only an hour so I spent it all walking him. I could tell even an hour of my walking with a few sporadic attempts at jogging( I have no endurance) barely took the edge off his energy. I'm going to get a doggie back pack and add some mild weight to help intensify the exercise for the high energy guys like him.

Now for the doggie of the day!

This little guy is a Cairn Terrier. He is identified as yellow dot which means he has a few issues to smooth over. In my experience with him his issues were a mild fear of cars that were moving somewhat near him(15-20 ft. or closer) sudden semi-loud noises like the rattling of the gates in the wind. His main tricks were when we first started walking he'd rear up and grab the leash with his paws to stop the walk or he'd just hit the brakes. All I had to do was maintain light tension on the leash and he'd be moving again in seconds. He did this maybe 3 times. As for his fear reactions he'd either back up as far as he could from the item of fear or he'd act like a trout on a fishing line jumping up and flailing mildly trying to escape. It's not a severe fear problem and he was always able to get moving again almost immediately. He just needs a patient, soft handed owner who will make him keep moving and show confidence. He had no sensitivity to my touch even on paws, ears, face tail and stomach. He's a great guy and just needs a loving home!