Briar

It happened again, a very busy day at the shelter, lots of barking, lots of potential adopters, activity everywhere. Who do I notice, Briar a beautiful two year old German Short hair Pointer laying at the back of his kennel quietly trying NOT to be noticed. I was not surprised that he had not yet had a volunteer walk, he was definitely easy to miss (the staff walks all of them each morning and late afternoon). Briar would be my walking buddy today. As I put on a collar and leash, he was quiet and seemed happy to be going for a walk so it caught me by surprise when, as soon as we got out of his kennel into the main dog area, he nearly flattened to the floor. I pulled him close to my legs and, by allowing him to have the wall on one side and me on the other, we made it out of the shelter with him in a low crouch the entire time. He was petrified. Once we were outside, he became a completely different dog. We started our outing in the exercise area, he ran around a little but did not seem interested in playing with the toys, then he saw a bird. He froze into a perfect point, stubby little tale straight up, head alert, and one paw lifted. He could have been on the front cover of any hunting magazine. He held his position until I told him he was a good dog and petted him. When I walk a hunting breed dog, I hook two leads together so if they want more freedom to flush out whatever they are seeking in the shrubs, they have a little more room. Briar repeated this flushing and pointing when he spotted a larger bird throughout our walk. He was interested in smaller birds but not to this extent; he differentiated. He covered a huge amount of ground in just an hour and though he was thirsty, he never slowed down. Toward the end of our walk we stopped at the exercise area; the staff keeps a kiddie pool filled with water for doggy drinks. Briar went to it immediately and started gulping, halting only to remove a tennis ball from the pool, fling it aside and continue gulping - this is one serious working dog.

As we approached the shelter, the same scared, timid behavior returned. By the time we were on the home stretch toward his kennel, his legs were locked and frozen and I just pulled him in "skid mode"into his kennel. I had to go in with him to remove his collar and leash, since while in the building, this seems the only place he feels safe. At this time in his life he seems to be two different dogs (both sweet and friendly); one where he is confidant knowing his proper place in the world and the other where he seems to feel he does not belong at all.

I really hope a complete "sportaholic" Type A bird hunter finds Briar, they will make a perfect match.