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It is very important when bringing a new dog home to your environment, to walk your dog around the neighborhood before entering your personal domain. This is precisely what Jamey and Tiger did today. We met in his neighborhood down the street and when Jamey was walking towards us (at about 20 feet away) Tiger recognized him. Tigers body language changed: ears perked, tail mid high and wagging. They were both happy to see each other.

I explained to Jamey the need to walk the dog around your neighborhood, so Tiger can smell all the smells, listen to the sounds and get to know his new environment.  Jamey and Tiger were practicing their loose leash walking from the day before, but this time in a setting with more distractions. I handed Jamey the leash, said goodbye to Tiger and Him, turned around and walked away.  As I turned the corner, before they would be out of sight, I looked over my shoulder, like a mom watching her child leave on the school buss and doesn’t want him to know she is watching. Well, Tiger knew, he was turning to look for me. Which was all the more important of why Jamey needed to walk Tiger through this himself. This was another step toward building trust.

They took a good long, hot walk around. I watched them from afar as they approached down the street. Tiger and Jamey, step to step.  As soon as Tiger saw me, he broke his ‘connection’ with Jamey and came toward me.  I then immediately took Jamey and Tiger through some commands and training. Tiger needed to put his focus back on Jamey and respect him as his owner. Jamey went through basic commands with hand signals. Some commands took a couple of tries, but Tiger and Jamey worked through it. The video is of Jamey having  Tiger ‘Sit’, then lay ‘Down’ and ‘Stay’. Tiger is to ‘Stay’ put until Jamey says “come”. The first try Tiger ran to me-not acceptable- however, it only took one more try for Tiger to follow the command from Jamey.

Another good day! Tomorrow we introduce Tiger to Jamey’s home.  One step closer, and soon it will be Tigers home too.