Amber: Day 7

Day 7 was a busy one for little Amber. She had a morning training walk that lasted close to an hour, and she had several 20-minute play sessions in the back yard, on the long line. In the early evening, she went on a car ride to spend time with her forever family. To help her and her new dog brother get to know each other better, we turned the visit into an almost 45-minute training walk. Afterwards, we went to her forever home so that she could start the process of learning about her upcoming new life. We spent just over an hour there, and then she had her second car ride of the day to come home with me.

Amber’s family was amazing with her. At our meet-up location, they were patient and calm with her when she pulled on the leash to go and smell everything. They walked her and their other dog together as if it was nothing new. Even when she was tuned out – which was most of the time, because she was in a new environment chock full of new scents, sights, and sounds – her family remained calm and gave her guidance and direction to help her keep moving forward. It was beautiful to watch.

At the family home, gates were installed at either end of the kitchen to give Amber boundaries, and to minimize the pressure of being in an unfamiliar environment. Her new brother helped a lot by showing her that calmness and patience will get her the affection she wants. Because she had little to no experience with human touch when her family adopted her, Amber can be a bit possessive with her people when they give their attention to other animals. But, she’s been making excellent progress with waiting her turn, and having her new brother guiding her will help a lot, too.

Due to some unexpected changes, I was unable to take Amber to our local pet store. We’ll be doing that today – Day 8 – for about an hour. Afterwards, I plan to take her on a bit of a longer car ride to see how she handles distance travel. So far – except for initial nervousness and resistance about getting into the car – she’s been fine with shorter rides. I expect she’ll be fine with longer travel times, too, but I want to make sure of that.

Have a great day, and remember: Stay calm, and lead on.