Well we have a new dog in the crew named Jess.   She is a young black and white Border Collie who looks just like Sneug  just smaller.  I met her in the woods about a month ago while walking Dot and Rigby on a weekend and actually thought she was Sneug from a distance.

The next week Jess went on her very first group walk with us.  Both her owners and I had some concerns about her leaving her home and jumping in the dog-mobile with strange dogs and just how well would she fit into the group dynamic.  Believe it or not this has come up before (very rarely and usually it is the Australian Shepherd’s who are afraid to do the group walk thing).  Well it turns out that this is not an issue with Jess.  She acts like she has been walking with our gang her whole life.  Who knows maybe she had a dog walker in a previous life.

So today was Jess’s fourth week walking with us.  On her first 3 walks she had Eddie (1yr old Chocolate Lab who is the life of the party) to play with.  Jess and Eddie bonded instantly.  Every second week Jess and Sneug (both black Border Collie’s) get to walk together.  Sneug is also best friends with Eddie so when the three of them walked together the first time I was concerned there might be an odd man out but not so the three of them just ran and played and ran and played.

Eddie was not able to participate in the afternoon group walk today.  It turns out that Sneug and Jess just did not know how to play with each other with out him there.  It was strange.  They both wanted to play the same way…Border Collie style but couldn’t seem to connect.  Sneug’s Border Collie radar seemed to be misdirected and he kept trying to herd up and encourage high energy play with Susie a middle aged, short and squat yellow lab with arthritis who just can not play.

Jess on the other hand wanted to hang out with Nutmeg who is 14 and more or less had her bicep removed last year  so she is a bit slower than the rest of us.  Jess kept going back to check on her.

So lesson learned always walk Eddie and Jess together and next week I will add Wally the  Black Standard Poodle into the mix for some added exitement.

At the end of our walk when I went to return Jess to her home there was no way she was getting out of the dog-mobile.  She cuddled up with Sneug, Tess and Dot in the back and was not budging.  If I opened the side door she went to the back and if I opened the back door she went to the side.  In the end I had to get all the other dogs out of the car and crawl in and leash Jess and then pull her out.  I think she is telling me she loves the group walks and can she please, please, please stay in the car and go for another one.  A true Border Collie she can go all day long.

From Dogwalking, posted by Sheri Jay on 10/21/2010 (Showing 9 of 22 items)

“Dog walking”

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