Walking with the Pack

We've been working with a private dog trainer lately who has been working wonders for Hank and the Drummer's relationship. Today we had another session at Fort Funston in San Francisco. It is an amazing park with gracious amounts of space for dogs to run, hike, and meet other dogs.


Today, the trainer brought two other dogs, Jinx, a frightened female pitbull, and Ari, a young Morkie. Ari was so freaking adorable, I wish we could have a little teddy bear dog! Jinx was a sweetheart, too...I identify now with scared, timid dogs and seeing her shake and cower was so difficult for me.

The idea was to create a pack so we could work on Hank's trust level. We had a great time! It's GREAT to hike through the park with all of the dog walkers, meeting packs of unique dogs
of all types. We're learning how to understand different types of energy in dogs AND how that energy is given from the owner. Toward the end of the session, David was instructed to drop the long lead and allow Hank to walk next to the pack with no hands on the leash! He did an amazing job - even sniffing, greeting, and enjoying the scenery while still being able to be recalled back to the pack.

We would have never thought a year ago when Hank got here that he'd have started to trust David. But, he's our family now and we're dedicated to figuring him out - and the effort is producing some wonderful fruits.

Fort Funston is GORGEOUS. This is how far behind I was walking to make sure Hank wasn't fixating on me instead of following David.

We arrived at the park at 9 am and spent two hours with the trainer, hiking and walking and moving and playing. We did around 5 miles and with all the hills, I was able to burn 1200 calories! A great workout, too.