Valentine's Snow Day and Another Fun Weekend in Class!

The snow may have stopped the city, but it did not stop Valentine!  She loved it.  As soon as I got her to the off-leash area she took off running, romping, and leaping.  It was absolutely adorable.  She had no hesitation, just pure joy.

She did not expect the agility ramp to be so slippery and was taken off guard here, but she mastered it soon after.

 Everytime I called her to me she would bound over, but she was a good girl.  She did not jump on me or run into me.  She just wiggled around beside me.

 Did you have this much fun?  Someone needs to take this hilarious and fun-loving girl home!

That's my girl.  I love her little puppy dawg smile.  Eventually, I had to get back to cleaning kennels, and she had to get back to a heater, but I do not think either of us really wanted our time to end.  It was so much fun!

None the less, being the good girl that she is, she waited patiently in a sit to be let out of the gate.  This weekend she went to class again where she was told she was a star student again.  That is at least two trainers that have said that now!  We are so proud of her.  Charlotte says she even enjoyed a belly rub.  Showing a belly, particularly in a class with other dogs, is a huge sign of trust and vulnerability.  It is something her and Charlotte have worked up to, but it has been quite a fun adventure and it pays off with each week.

Won't someone else love this baby like we do?  Contact Laura at lmckelvey@pawsatlanta.org for more details!

Valentine is a star!

Valentine is still going to class every weekend and another trainer spends time with her 3 times a week.  She has learned so much.  She is sometimes mentioned in class as a dog the others can look up to.  In the picture above, the class is working on BAT training with other reactive dogs.  She is gets better and better every day.  If you saw her in training, you would never even know that she is reactive.  She is so smart and so eager to please, and she loves people.  She just gets scared sometimes.

Valentine is absolutely ready to go into a foster home!  Could you offer your home up to her temporarily?

                                   Contact Laura at lmckelvey@pawsatlanta.org for more details.

Hanging Out in the City

 

Valentine loves Saturdays!  She gets the chance to leave the shelter and explore the city.  We are going to go to training until she gets adopted.  She learns a lot, has new experiences, and gets away from all the chaos of shelter life.  If you look closely you can see two of the owned dogs also training in the distance.  One of them looks like an overgrown boston terrier!  So cute!

 

Valentine has grown so much more comfortable with new people and things coming into her space.  These men walked right by and Vally looked at them and then looked at us, sitting.  That deserves a hot dog!

 

Look at the smile on that dog's face!  She deserves a chance at a real life in a loving home.  We are going to do everything possible to find one.

Going Off-Leash and then Going Hiking!

Took Valentine out to the off-leash area a couple times yesterday to work on her agility.  She did great.  In the above picture she is chomping on a milk bone after we quit working.

Valentine is always very eager to please, and she loves to run around the wooded trail.  We cuddled, we did training, we played with a rope toy, and she finished it all off with a milkbone.

I love this girl.  She is so sweet, and she really enjoys her time with her human friends.  Today, she went on a hike at Arabia Mountain with Charlotte.  She said she saw a lot and had a lot of fun.  She wasn't scared of the signs this time!  She overcomes her fears so quickly.  We did not get any pictures of the trail, but we got one of her greeting staff member, Heather, when she got back.

         Contact Laura at lmckelvey@pawsatlanta.org if you would like to foster or adopt Valentine.

Class 2: Georgia Tech Campus

 

Here we are in the Canine PhD parking lot.  We had the dogs settle and then practice walking with each other before heading to campus.

 

There was a lot to see along the way!  Valentine's coat almost matched this outdoor scultpure .

 

 

Here we are in front of the gym.  There are a lot of people coming and going.  Vally was startled by two men who came out the door talking and wearing bookbags, but she handled it very well.  I was able to maintain her attention, and she kept working even though she knew they were there.

 

After working hard, we took "a break" by letting the dogs sniff around in a green area.  They really seemed thankful for the little bit of extra freedom and were more eager to work when it was time to go back to the city streets.

 

Valentine was startled by this water meter.  She had never seen one before.  We helped her overcome it.  Meredith acted like it was the most interesting thing in the world, which made her want to come over, and then Charlotte gave her treats.  Later in the walk, Valentine cautiously walked up to another one of her own volition, and we were so proud.

 

Can you see Tech in the background.  We are working on "placing" on a short ledge.  The little girl walking by on her way to swim lessons thought Vally was super cute!

 

 

Doesn't Vally look stunning on that green grass, relaxing in the sun?

 

 

This is Vally's role model.  This pup and his mom work so hard and have come so far.  They are truly an amazing team.

 

In class, owners are often given great information about things they can do in the home to help their dogs feel more secure and loved and, therefore, behave better.  This is always a little difficult for Charlotte and me to hear.  We wish we could offer these things to Valentine, but we know we can only do so much.  We dream of the day that Vally is in an adoptive or foster home where she can get the love she needs.  Contact Laura if you might be able to help with that! lmckelvey@pawsatlanta.org

 

 

Valentine Loves to Learn and Play!

 

 

In the videos above Valentine is playing with staff member, Laura, in the offleash area.  Vally loves to run up and down the ramps and through the tunnels.

In the above picture Valentine is in her first Oudoor Training Class at Canine PhD, and she is doing great!  Charlotte and I were so proud of her.

Vally is watching another woman and her dog practice walking by.  She is excited, curious, and a little antsy about it.  There is a train going by.  Cars are curving through from time to time and a very reactive pomeranian just walked by with his owner.  There is so much going on, but she stayed on her best behavior!

Vally needs a foster home or an adoptive home.  Please contact Laura at lmckelvey@pawsatlanta.org for details!

Body Language

I saw this online the other day, and I wished that everyone with a dog or who approached dogs had been able to study this chart.  They are so misunderstood by us!