Yesterday morning I took Indi on a hike up the hill across the street. First stop, the overturned boat we had to pass by. She was very cautious of it but when I climbed up on it, she did too and then was fine.
Early morning light showed how smoky the air was.
Indi is a little cautious in the woods. Where Amber was queen of the jungle, perfectly comfortable in the wild, Indi is clingy and worries a little about sounds and does not wander very far. She is getting better and seems to enjoy it more and more the more I take her out so I hope she keeps getting better. When she seems worried about something I can almost always fix it by throwing a stick or a pinecone for her to go get.
She likes the walk back better than the walk in and gets very excited.
I don't want to stress her out but I also want her to enjoy hiking with us! It is part of our life. Do any of my readers have advice for us?
Also, she is much happier to be out hiking when Rye is with us. I had to leave him home the first time due to all the stickers he always gets on this hillside. It is a giant pain for both of us to brush them out once we're home. I have had to cut his tail feathering off a few times because of the burrs.
Of course anything involving water makes her feel comfortable. This was this morning at "Fish Lake".
After retrieving her stick a few times we hiked around the rocks a little bit.
4 comments:
Looks like a great trip. It sounds like you're doing all the right things to help Indi feel comfortable in the forest. She looks really happy.
Since Indi is really excited about leaving the woods why not try harnessing that excitement by (1) only going into the woods a very short distance then turning around to leave several times (ie, walking in gradually longer ovals) until she builds more confidence and (2) when you have another person, do "restrained recalls" with you in the woods with the outrageously exciting tug toy (start out about 6' away and increase gradually) and the other person at "the exit" so that Indi is bursting forward toward you and thus into the woods (you could walk her calmly back each time so that the "bursting forward" is just toward you or you could do recalls back and forth) - you could also play this game further into your walk.~ Corrine
Yes, thank you, Corrine! My husband and I have done some restrained recalls at a few of our favorite places to hike near town and it has seemed to help her feel more confident there. I need to make him wake up earlier!
That looks like so much fun! Wish I could join you! I think it's time you visited... ;P
Post a Comment