Taki

Despite the horrible weather, at around 2 on Thursday all of the dogs had gone for at least one walk with a volunteer. I just love hounds so Taki had no competition. She is a beautiful five year old mostly Black and Tan Coon Hound. Off I went to the equipment room for a collar and two leashes; for hunting breeds I like giving them extra "working room" also, if she was a puller, I might need to wrap one leash under her chest to control her. As I opened her back door she stood quietly and was a little hesitant; she eventually did come forward and sat immediately when I told her to for me to put on her collar. This initial timid behavior surprised me until I recalled her profile noting that she had gone through some prior rough times. The staff person I spoke with did not have specifics but I suspect she may have encountered some mistreatment in her past . Sorry to jump ahead but at the end of our walk, I stopped to talk with a visitor in the parking lot who was interested in her; though she was well-behaved and polite, she was somewhat afraid of him. Back to our outing.

We started in the exercise yard where Taki showed me how she could come and sit for treats. She still needs work on "lay down;" although it was wet! As we began our walk I was ready to wrap the leash around her to prevent pulling-she is big and VERY strong - but I did not need to. I let her do the requisite rambling and sniffing that I especially do for a hound, but she did not pull - except once. A distant rabbit crossed our path and she leaped and lunged like a bat out of ____! Like the great hunter that she is, her nose was either up catching wind scents or down for ground scents constantly. Though she wanted to follow the scents she seemed to understand that today was not the day for that. I was pleasantly surprised that she did her come and sit commands in the midst of her happy rambling; some hunting hounds can be so single-minded, she does not seem to be one of them.

At the end of our walk she was perfectly OK with going back into her kennel and chomping down on lunch. She is a great dog; let's hope she finds a hunting family who will show her the kindness she deserves.