First Outing with Gina...

Those of you, who read my blog regularly, know that yesterday I signed the paperwork to become the sponsor/guardian of a Aussie Shepard named Gina. Today was going to be our first outing. Being a sponsor means, that you have to work on the baggage, that the dog you're responsible for comes with. And of course you have to build a relationship and trust with that dog. 

For the first outing one the of shelter employees put the harness on Gina. Getting the muzzle on would have been the next step, but Gina had other plans. She just has a huge aversion against the muzzle and it will take quite some work to make her forget the negative experiences with the muzzle. This will be very important to work on, since without her wearing a muzzle she is not permitted to leave the grounds of the shelter nor is she allowed to ride on public transportation. And especially in  city like Vienna it is necessary that a dog can ride on public transportation as well. 

So Gina and I went to one of the training enclosures and started to get to know each other. The good thing is that she is interested in me and really did like the goodies I brought with me. She is very intelligent and with goodies easy to teach. But the muzzle is an entirely different story. She just really dislikes that thing. And if you overdo it then she is gonna show off her teeth. 

Turns out that she really does want to be near to me, regardless how much she dislikes the muzzle. I think that is a good foundation to build on. Of course I know that this is not going to happen over night and that it might take a long time.

After 2 hours of working, playing and giving praise to her, I decided to call in the day and walked her back to her kennel. Was no problem at all getting harness and leash of her. Walked out of the kennel and gave her some more goodies before heading back home.