Walking the dog

[M Richardson]

No - I am not doing yo-you tricks!

As I mentioned a short while ago, we have adopted two greyhounds recently. One of them, about 85 pounds, thinks that he is attached to a sled in the Yukon every time you put him on a lead. It has been a real pain to take him for walks - stopping every 10 feet to get him back under control.
You notice I said "has been". A miricle has occured - a miricle called an "Easy Walk" harness. I can't believe the difference! I put it on him this morning for the first time. It took about 2 minutes to get it adjusted to fit his chest. The harness drops over the head and a strap goes under the chest, just behind the forelegs, and fastens to a strap over the shoulders. The D-ring for the leash is located on a martingale loop in the middle of the chest - not on the back or shoulders like most harnesses. When the dog tries to pull, the chest strap applies gentle pressure up into the "armpits" of the dog - and the dog stops pulling! Cliff pulled one time - and then settled in and walked like a gentleman for the rest of our trip. What a difference!
Here are some pictures of our new guys. I'll send pictures of Cliff in his harness soon.
Cliff (the black guy) is 5, and rescued from the track. He was a pretty successful racer, but ran at some pretty shoddy tracks and was apparently abused. He is very shy.
Toby is a lurcher - he is half greyhound, half whippet and was used out in the Mojave to hunt rabbit. He is two - and a lover. He has aspirations of being a lap dog.



Toby:

[ban basketball]

I've probably never said this to you yet, but I really admire you and your family for taking in these animals as often as you do. Few have the heart to do such a thing.

I consider our taking in of a stray cat (still alive at 13 years old; she was 1 when we took her in) to be nothing compared to your "sacrifice."

[quinn14]

Never heard of that leash before. Sounds cool. My wife is a Cesar Milan junkie and went old school when training our dogs. She was able to do it, but I'll bet she gives that leash a try for the next one. Thanks for posting.

[ban basketball]

And, no, I wasn't drinking when I wrote my accolades...

[Spider]

I agree with Ban, you do good work. When I drove the the store to get the paper this morning I heard this song on the radio. Then I came home and saw this thread - no lie, and I probably haven't heard the song for 25 years or more.

[M Richardson]

Spider - music from my high school days! I actually remember this - occasionally I need a reminder of how BAD some of the music from that period was to balance how good it was in my memory.

Ban - thank you. I hear that a lot from people, but it is more an act of selfishness. I get so much from the animals, especially the ones that I actually adopt, that the rewards far, far outweigh any "sacrifice" that we make. It is funny - almost as soon as you get these dogs away from the negative environment they seem to sense that there is going to be a change. They are so grateful for the smallest kindness. They really put the pressure on for people to live up to their standard. I hope to someday live a life good enough to justify my dogs' opinion of me.
For any that might be interested, the "Easy Walker" is available through Amazon:

Amazon.com: easy walk harness

[ban basketball]

It will be a few years yet, but my wife and I are "debating" as to what kind of dog that we would like to get in upcoming years. I'm most partial to Schipperkes, but my wife wants a greyhound because of their gentleness and there are a lot of them available for adoption in this area, due to a closed down greyhound track in Waterloo.

I think that I'd just enjoy taking them out into an open field and wathcing them run! Their speed amazes me.

[M Richardson]

Ban - whooooooooo boy, do you and your wife want two completely different styles of dogs! While I can go on for hours about the attributes of greyhounds (stop me when I start in on healing the sick and changing water into beer) I won't detail their wonders here. Let me know if you are interested and I will put some info about them on here.
You are aware of the basic personality of the Schipperke, right? I went to wikipedia to refresh my memory on them - I had memories of them really being a handful. They are beautiful dogs, but (from Wikipedia) "Known for a stubborn, mischievous, and headstrong temperament, it also chases small animals. The Schipperke is sometimes referred to as the 'little black fox', the 'Tasmanian black devil', or the 'little black devil'." Also, they are known to be barkers, very animal agressive, and difficult to work with for first-time owners. Good luck!

[WhippetGrappler]

Toby is a lurcher - he is half greyhound, half whippet and was used out in the Mojave to hunt rabbit. He is two - and a lover. He has aspirations of being a lap dog.


Toby:

My kind of DOG!!