At my latest visit with Chai, we were doing some free shaping and wow! Chai's whole body is 4 feet off the ground, she flips her body around doing a 180 in the air and lands happily wagging her tail in front of me! I couldn't believe it. I couldn't have taught her that trick any better than she just came up with on her own. Dogs are truly amazing when we give them a chance to show us what they can do. I so wished I had a video camera at that moment.
If you are not familiar with free shaping, it is a method of training using a clicker where the dog gets to offer behaviors for me to click and reward. This method is brilliant for getting a shy, fearful dog to build confidence and come out of her shell. In other training sessions, Chai has learned to crawl, bow, tap you with her paw, back up and now...do a 180 in the air! Using this method, we can really see what individual dog's are capable of and what they like to do. We have such fun with our shaping sessions and she is regularly coming up with great new behaviors.
I'm not sure Chai has met a small dog before. During our time, a small dog was out for his play time in the play yard next to us. He was a fluffy, wiggly little guy and Chai stood looking curiously at him. She wasn't sure what to do with him. She loved chasing and playing with one of the dog's she lived with in her foster home. I think she misses that.
It is so hard to believe that a dog like her is sitting at a boarding kennel and has not found her forever home. Again, I have to drive away and leave her there. No matter how many times I visit, still breaks my heart every time.
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