Tethering 101

In preparation for our upcoming vacation, Monte and I spent the morning checking out a potential doggie resort for him, Farview Kennel. In addition to providing the perfect home away from home for a Labrador Retriever, they are a member of Trails Home Labrador Rescue of Wisconsin. No longer in-training, Monte will not be traveling with us for the first time in two years.

Imagine you are a two year old Labrador who has never ever been boarded in a standard (concrete and wire) kennel. What could be better than unlimited access to two acres of play area (human ball chucker included), wading pools, plenty of toys, food/treats, and access to humans/house via doggie door? Well, how about the addition of twelve friendly pack members to enjoy it with. The only downside is the forty minute drive to Mazomanie.

On our way home we stopped to retrieve Cooper from his family and introduce him to our new dog (for the day) Halo. She was at our home less than twenty-four hours, but that's as long as it takes to fall in love. She was obedient, fun loving, and actually possessed useful skills. We had her picking up and retrieving keys, remotes, pens, etc. We tried to keep her busy to give Cooper and Monte a break; all she wanted to do was play. Her stay was brief because our job was to transport her to Beloit where we were scheduled to receive our first instructions on tethering - the first Autism Assist skill.

Lisa and I received an introduction to the basics and proper techniques of tethering. We practiced walking as a unit, entering vehicles, supporting the anchor dog, and navigating stairs/doorways. We all made mistakes, but Cooper was by far the best prepared of our trio. Our goal is to have our entire client team fully trained, working effectively, and traveling safely in three months.

Note: In addition to our skills practice, we helped out a bit as we bottle fed eight two-week old puppies who were essentially abandoned. We could tell they had enough goat milk after their stomachs swelled to orange-size. As I told Marlene, it was fun to perform this task once, but it would get old fast doing it every four hours, as required.