Nacho and Evan's Play Date--We all had a blast!

An Offsite Adventure

Class was canceled last weekend, but Charlotte did not want Evan to miss out on an opportunity to get Evan out of the kennel and into the world.  The weather was perfect, and he has so few chances to experience life as a regular dog.  She took him to their old stomping ground, Stone Mountain.  They use to go there every weekend before training classes began.  He got to see children, bikes, and other dogs as he sniffed around and explored the local flora.  He did fantastic and seemed to have a really good time!  On the way home Charlotte bought him a special treat and he devoured it happily.  We are excited to get back to class at Canine PhD this Saturday.  Evan is going to make a family very proud one day.  He is such a smart, fun dog!

Unfortunately, it is difficult to take pictures if you are just one person!  This is an old picture of me and Evan at Stone Mountain--clearly during the winter.  Charlotte had let me tag along with them that weekend, and we had a lot of fun.  He is wearing a Thundershirt, a product designed to help calm anxious dogs.

Meredith's 2nd Training Session With Evan at PAWS Atlanta

Meredith came out to the shelter to work with Evan and Laura yesterday!  We practiced having Evan go in and out of his kennel in a calm manner.  It was a really great exercise because it not only helped Evan, but it also started to help his neighbors get use to having another dog walk by. 

We also began working on helping Evan get comfortable with someone other than a staff member or longterm volunteer walking him on a lead.  We did this by having Laura walk him on a short leash and Meredith walk about ten feet away holding onto a long lead. 

Evan responded really well to both exercises, and he relaxed more quickly this time than the last time Meredith came to work with him!  These tasks may seem small, but they are huge to a dog that is living in the insecure environment of a shelter, particularly a pup like Evan who is incredibly sweet but also highly stressed out. 

One of the most fun things about working with a wonderful dog like Evan is seeing his progress, but it also neat to try out new, postive, and unique techniques.  Meredith is constantly doing research, talking to other trainers, and learning about new tools for the success of all of the dogs/people she teaches.  For example, we are going to start having everyone who walks Evan wear Lavender.  It is a naturally calming scent, but it will also give him a positive association with the smell that he will link back to Charlotte, Mike, Laura, and those who take him out for walks and entertainment most often.

This is Evan wearing his beloved cooling vest, which was donated to him, during his Saturday morning class at CaninePhD.  He is currently in his 3rd six week course there.