"Wanted to let you know that I have been working with Racer (A Gabbs Dog) and another Feral dog in his run this week. I did not remember much about him, so I went slow and easy with him. He does seem to be happy. He is doing much better than the other feral dog that he lives with. I wish I had a couple of months down there to work with him. I believe he does have a chance to become adoptable, but needs to be worked with on a daily basis and spend almost the whole day with people. I do not know how much time the caregiver's have to just sit with the feral dogs. He let me put his food dish down and when he was done, take it away. He eats on his bed. Wed. and Thurs. he was coming out to where I was sitting and would come out when I would go next run.
Most of the dogs that that live in these buildings are red collared, which means volunteers cannot go into the runs. Some of the dogs have green collars. I could work with them and go into their area. Most only have 1 dog in, as most of the dogs are aggressive towards other dogs. Racer and the other feral are not aggressive, so the two dogs live in the same run. Racer had his bed inside and I not sure if another bed could fit in there, that is how small it was. There other feral must come in during the winter, though I noticed the dog house that is under a tent had hay in it."
Race inside the kennel.If you are interested in adopting Race, please contact Best Friends.
We Love You Race!!
I miss Race! As an R+ dog trainer, the Gabbs dogs at Camp Reno were a fascinating group to work with. Then Race and Rosie came to The Canine Club when the camp closed, and he was very bonded to her. I worried about separating them when she got a home and he went to BF, so I'm happy to learn that he's doing well. BTW, Rosie is doing fantastic, and I get to see her every few weeks.
ReplyDeleteWhen Race was at The Canine Club (where we did dog day care and boarding - all boarding dogs were out with the day care dogs), it took him a long time to warm up to humans, and then it was only to a few; sadly, I was not one of the few. However, one of my favorite memories was him playing chase with me. I decided one day to play hard-to-get, so I would move away from him (with relaxed, playful body language), and he would do his best to follow me. We eventually got to the point that he would 'chase' me around the toys for a few minutes. I never got to the point where I could walk up and pet him, even after months, but we would play chase when he was up for the game.
He would approach some of our staff, young and old, male and female, and solicit some scratching, but never two-handed contact. I do hold out hope that some day he will let someone hug him, because he deserves that kind of trust and bonding. - g^2