New Puppy Visit Part 1

Our friends dropped by with their new 8 week old puppy named Harley.

Harley was very calm and curious.

He's about 2 pounds lighter than Cooper.

Harley found Cooper's chew bones that he never showed much interest in.

He chewed it for a little while but couldn't really figure out how to really get his teeth into it.

Cooper watched him try for a little while.

Then it wasn't long before this baby fell asleep.

Cooper still kept a distance from him.

He wouldn't even go close enough to rescue his Aflac duck from little Harley.

Learning About Horses 6 - Doing GREAT Alone

When I was finally able to step back and let him be.

He stayed low at first. 

The horse would step a little and graze on the grass.

Cooper had been feeling that all along so he wasn't  very concerned with that.

At this point he was wondering why I stepped back and not touching him any more.

At some point he was ok with me being back a bit and he started to look around.

Instinctively he usually goes to a high spot so he can see everything.

It seems that now he realizes this in another really good high spot to be in.

He was comfortable enough to sit up more and really look around.

Look how comfortable he is here.  

Learning About Horses 5 - Trust

The more I gave him some time and encouragement, the better he did.

I just stood there and let him process his thoughts.

He's such a smart dog.

  

He's a thinker for sure.

Sometimes I wish he would trust more and think less.

But when all is said and done, we figure it out together.

Look how you can see him think.  

No real eye contact for a while.

He will look at me when he's ready to accept my encouragement.

There it is!!!  Eye Contact!

Learning About Horses 4 - Needed A Break

I respected Cooper's need to come down and have a short break.

I held him in my arms for about 2 or 3 minutes, then put him back up when he relaxed.

He very willingly took his place back up on the horse again.

He laid down, trusting his center of gravity more that way.

When he began to shift and move around more without fear I was able to step back a bit again.

Learning About Horses 3 - Encouragement

I had him up on the horse for a few minutes before he really began to settle down a little bit and pay attention to my encouragement.

He struggled and fumbled for a little bit but I kept my hands on him with very little restraint.  

Just enough for safety.

He began to trust the horses movements and also understand that I wanted him to settle down.

He started to look at me for direction which meant he was beginning to trust me more.

That was when I was able to begin to let go and let him figure it out.

I never took my hands completely off in case he lost his balance, but I was sure he wouldn't jump at this point.

Learning About Horses 2 - First Time Getting On

Here we go!  Time to see how he does on the horse for the very first time in his 13 years.

I could feel his tense body not being sure what he was expected to do.

He reached up and willingly got up there but clearly didn't like it at first.

He didn't know what I was going to do either.  

If I moved away he probably thought he would have to jump all the way to the ground.

I NEVER leave him in danger.   He knows that.   He began to be brave right away.

Learning About Horses 1 - Just Touching

Cooper has been close to a horse before but never touched one before this day.

I held him close to me and kept his front paws in my hand so he wouldn't use them to block me from toughing him to the horses shoulder.

I gave him breaks to think about it when he needed them.

We went back to the horse and touched shoulders again.

He became more and more comfortable with it as time went on.

It wasn't long before he was about ready for the next step.