Thanks to Karen Fink of Rubia Hounds, I have a wonderful opportunity to learn still more about Silkens. Mocha, from the "Moon" litter has come for a two week visit. She will have the chance to be out and about for some new adventures while she's waiting to find her forever home, and I will have the opportunity to experience a Silken Windhound puppy!
I picked up Mocha on Saturday the 22nd and am thankful that she'll be with me over Thanksgiving and a week beyond. That will give us time to have lots of fun!
Be sure to check out the other pages of Mocha's adventures!
On the title bar above, click on the down arrow (drop down menu) for links and then select the next page to view. (Page 7 has my favorite picture so far)
In the morning, my roommate Melinda and I took the dogs for a walk at a local business park. That way, the Labradors could be around Mocha and she could get to know them without having anyone (i.e. Mocha) get pounced upon. We all walked nicely together, Mocha walked along with Ethan and occasionally sniffed and was sniffed by the Labradors.
Someday I'll photoshop the pole out of the above picture, but for now, just to get these photos on display, I'll add it here so you all can see what Mocha looked like today. In the above picture, we had paused to take some pictures of Melinda's dogs, and a flock of geese landed in the pond about 40 yards away. Mocha was fascinated and watched them settle.
In the photo on the right, you can see where Mocha's attention was at the moment. The geese you can see in the pond had JUST landed.
(Photo left) Mocha was very curious about Melinda's van. While we were standing and talking, Mocha inched closer and closer to the open door of Melinda's van, so Melinda opened the crate for her, and Mocha hopped in and had a good sniff around.
This visit is supposed to be a learning experience for both of us, and Mocha wanted to learn the secrets of one of the crates inside Melinda's van. And now she knows! (But she didn't tell us.)
Anyone who knows me, knows that tracking is my favorite dog sport. And okay, so, it isn't the first thing that springs to mind when you think about sighthounds. But there are plenty of others with sighthounds who have had success in tracking, and one of the things I'd love to do with a Silken someday is tracking.
I've always started my puppies out with tracking. It is the first sense they have - before they can see or hear, they can smell! In tracking training, you simply gear the amount of training you do to the puppy's individual attention span and build gradually while having fun and building their confidence! It is not unusual for dogs to earn their tracking titles on their six month birthday (as soon as they are eligible).
It's easiest to start out a puppy if you have a helper. And since Melinda (who has titled tracking dogs) was there and willing to help, I decided to see if Mocha would like tracking.
She was a complete natural! It only took a few yards of the first track for her to kick in and realize that there were food bits laid down for her, and all she had to do to get more food was to follow the trail of crushed vegetation and Melinda's scent to get to the glove that Melinda left for her that had still MORE goodies on and in it.
When Melinda started to lay the second track, it was clear to me that Mocha KNEW what was going on, and she fussed and whined in eager anticipation (I *love* that response), she even snatched at the start flag in her frustration to *get going*!! She was all business down that track and track #3. I was VERY impressed!
ABOVE: Melinda shows Mocha that she has special treats (small pieces of string cheese), and even gives her a little bit.
BELOW: Mocha watches as Melinda moves forward, scuffing her feet, and putting down food drops where she has walked, so that Mocha can associate the scent found there with the opportunity to find more treats. (The food and scuffing of feet are gradually faded, the tracks lengthen, turns are added, article indication is taught... and voila! A tracking dog!)
This is just an undeveloped field in a business park. There is a multi-plex theater across the street! It's barely big enough for one full length test track (and that would be a squeeze), but it's GREAT (and convenient) for beginning baby tracks!
I hope you've enjoyed sharing our adventures with us.