[Eremite]

Baltic Winters Sled Dog Association: Rescue Round Up

This boy is incredibly shy and is scared to move too much in the presence of people. He will need a lot of encouragement in order to be the carefree pup he wants to be.

owner;; .:Zira:.
full name;; The Days Pass On
call name;; Axel
age;; 5 years
gender;; male
colour;; Tan Splash
genotype;; kk/ayaw/bb/dd/Emem/gg/iiir/sisp/tt
have all the tasks been completed?;; Complete
Stats;
speed- 15
stamina- 18
strength- 20

No posting until .:Zira:. has posted their claim! You have until 8th April 2016.

[Zira.]

I am claiming my Baltic Husky!
full name;; The Days Pass On
call name;; Axel
tasks;;

Task 1 - Welcoming your new dog home - Complete
During the entire car ride home Axel was completely silent in his crate, it was concerning that he acted like he was so afraid all the time. Our other BH was always so excitable and full of energy. Upon arriving at the house we carried him in his crate inside, opening the kennel door so he could come out if he wanted to we went and sat down on the nearby couch. It was starting to get late when our other BH finally realized there was another dog in the house. She got so excited and went to see him, but instead of her usual over excitedness she climbed into the crate and layed next to him. Smiles crept across our faces as we heard two tails begin to beat on the sides of the crate. Before to long both dogs came out of the crate, Millie wagging her tail excitedly and Axel's tail wagging at the tip, he was still very nervous but he was getting comfortable with us very slowly, we would continue to let him be on his own without any forced interactions just yet. There was no need to traumatize the poor animal any further. Who knows before to long he may just be seeking out our company and be laying on our laps just like any large dog who doesn't realize they are big and squish you with their love. Dispite his past we were determined to get this fearful dog to love and trust us completely and help him get over his past trauma.

Task 2 - Bonding - Complete
Now that Axel had been coming out of the crate with Millie's help, we decided it was time to get him to start to trust us. Today during the breakfast feeding for the dogs we filled his bowl with wet dog food. His nose went up into the air but when he noticed it was in my hand his eyes filled with suspicion and doubt. We set Millie's dish on the floor near Axel's dish and sat down on the floor to wait. After about three minutes he began to creep closer to me and the dish. It was beyond obvious how hungry he was but we also needed him to trust us. Closing my eyes for a while I heard him start to eat, slowly I reached out to touch his head causing him to flinch when my hand touched his fur but he did not pull away. This was good progress. After the feeding we let the dogs go and play in the yard, Axel was so caught up in running around and playing with Millie that he even ran up to us in his excitement. Only for him to realize a second later that he had willingly approached us, his ears flicked back a little. Millie ran over and licked his face happily which set them both off again, racing around the yard. That same night just a little while before bed we were all laying around the living room starting to fall asleep when I felt Axel climb up on the couch next to me, not turning my head I peeked at him, he was curled up next to me with his head on my lap. I grinned happily as I realized he was starting to come around and trust us.

Task 3 - Gaining Confidence - Incomplete/Complete
Some people use training to help build a up a dogs confidence and that was exactly our plan, taking Axel and Millie (his saftey blanket) into the garage we started off with basic commands like sit and down. Each command we gave Millie quickly reacted and was rewarded with a treat, as soon as Axel started to catch on he was reacting just as fast as Millie and was also rewarded with a treat. Before to long we decided to remove Millie from the room and keep working with Axel, he watched Millie leave and his ears went back but as soon as a command left my lips his focus was back on me, tail wagging and bits of drool coming out of his mouth as he waited for his treat. It was a huge step forward from when he first arrived and would even look in our direction. Next we moved on to his confidence around strangers, we had our neighbor come into the garage with a few treats in her pocket as soon as Axel approached her he was rewarded with a treat. Before long most of our neighbors were in the garage just walking around and chatting with each other as Axel went from person to person tail wagging and his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. He was more than happy to see who still had treats in their pockets. As a few more people came in including a few or the neighborhood kids Axel went up and greeted them even without treats being offered. We were thrilled by his improvement.

Task 4 - Training - Incomplete/Complete
We want to use Axel on our future sprint team so to build up his sled training we hooked Millie up and then hooked a lead onto hers in a way that Millie would be pulling most of the weight while we work on getting Axel to pull any amount of weight. Axel seemed to know what was going on as soon as he saw his new harness, it was electric blue, he started bouncing and making noise to the point that he sounded like he was singing a song. Hooking both dogs to the practice sled we stacked three bags of kibble onto it and started them off. Millie quickly got annoyed with axel as he was so excited he was darting all over the place, it was wonderful to watch him enjoy himself and his new life. We wI'll hAve to wor on his self control but he show's amaxing promise as he is able to keep up wil Millie as she runs with the weight behind her. After a few more weeks of training and practice we decide today was the day Axel would pull the weight completely alone, hooking him up it was obvious that he was a bit confused, he had never pulled without Millie next to him, but as soon as we asked him to away he went in a straight line pulling the weight down the track set out. Even after everything the poor guy had been through he was still a loving and trusting dog. It is great to see him still be an active and normal dog.

[Zira.]

Bumping it up so I can finish tonight

[Zira.]

Bump

[Eremite]

owner;; .:Zira:.
full name;; The Days Pass On
call name;; Axel
age;; 5 years
gender;; male
colour;; Tan Splash
genotype;; kk/ayaw/bb/dd/Emem/gg/iiir/sisp/tt
Stats;
speed- 23
stamina- 26
strength- 23