Patty

I was going to be Patty's first volunteer, ever; I crossed my fingers and opened her back door.  She is a pretty Shepherd mix and just about four years old.  She was of course happy to be going out and was surprisingly quiet and easy to harness.  I had been alerted by a staff member that she might pull on the leash, so I was ready.  Both exercise yards were occupied so we began our walk.  At the Shelter we use primarily Sens-ible No Pull harnesses on all the dogs; Patty did a little weaving back and forth but no pulling, she was easy to walk with this type of harness.

On our return the exercise yard was free and Patty was able to run.  She  has tremendous energy to burn, and began happily racing around stopping only when she spotted a staff person  near the fence.  She has been at the shelter just over a week and clearly bonded with several of the employees, I'm always happy seeing these bonding behaviors.

I think that once Patty gets into the routine of going out with volunteers and being trained on a daily basis she will improve but even though this was her first volunteer time out , she came when she was called and sat on command.  Except for a little inappropriate jumping for joy, Patty did really well.