Stairs

Walker is doing such a good job of overcoming his anxiety about coming into the house from the back yard. I have to admit that we haven't exactly made it easy for him. We have a really tall set of deck stairs and TWO exterior doors.



 

He's at the right contemplating his journey of 1,000 steps.

A little closer . . .

My camera work has annoyed him.  I thought he was going to go all the way back down the stairs instead of coming to the door.

I was wrong.  He came right up and is waiting to go inside. 

When he first came home with us, it seemed as if he would hold his breath and run through the doors.  Now he walks through them as if doing so is no big deal. 

I'm so proud of him!

Pillow Trouble

Maggie was laying on this very fluffy bed.  Walker stood over her and stared at her long enough to get her to move.  It's his favorite bed. 

Unfortunately, his "weightiest" end always slides off because he has to make sure his beloved toy "Squirm the Worm" has plenty of space.  You can barely see the red part of Squirm in these photos.

When his hind end hit the floor, I heard a thud.  Then I laughed at him - which must have hurt his feelings.  Now he won't even look my way.

See?

Poor Walker . . . at least Squirm is completely comfortable.

Thanksgiving Break

Walker had a fun Thanksgiving! 

He probably would say the nail trimming wasn't much fun but he was very good to lay still on his bed and let me clip each nail.  Then he had enough patience to let me file each nail.  He did not have enough patience to let me take a photo of his newly manicured nails - trust me, though, they're trimmed.  Yay!!

Since he was so good about getting his nails done, for the rest of the holiday, Walker didn't have to do anything he didn't want to do.  He spent a lot of time in the back yard playing with his foster sister, Maggie.  They play together all the time.

They stand in the yard together.  Walker's on the left.

They stand on the stairs together.  Walker is a very tall boy.

They look at the sky together.  Walker took a step down so he wouldn't tower over her. 

Walker took some time alone to stand in the sun.

He really wants some of that turkey.

They BOTH want some of that turkey!

Walker can't leave until he knows the turkey has been put away.

Walker stares at the fridge thinking the turkey will come out? 

I realize it's not the best photo but just had to share this face . . . and tongue!

Walker knows we all get back to business tomorrow morning.  He says he'll be happy to have the humans out of the house so that the hounds can get some rest!

Nails, nails, nails! Oh, my!

Since Walker's been with us, we've tried not to do anything that we knew would unnecessarily cause him stress.  We have, however, tried to "train" him to come inside the house when he's called even though doing so is a major stressor for him.  The sound of the phone ringing used to startle him, so we made the phone ring enough times that he got used to it.  Same with the camera.  Now, he doesn't even react. 

However, stress or no stress, it's time to do something about his nails.  From these photos, you can see why:

Poor boy.  My unwillingness to do anything with Walker that is out of the ordinary has kept me from trimming these nails.  So, tomorrow is the day.  I'll keep you posted on our progress!

Pretty Days

Walker loves, absolutely LOVES, a pretty day.  He gets so excited when it's time to go outside!  He'll grab a tennis ball or a toy and run it around the yard a couple of times OR he might challenge his foster brother or sister (or both) to a game of tag.  Our yard is really small, but that doesn't stop Walker. 

Once all the playing is done, you can find Walker taking a snooze in the sun or just standing in the sun.

On the flip side - Walker really, really doesn't like the cold.  If it's chilly, he does his business pretty quickly and is more than happy to come back in the house.  He is a Florida boy, after all!

The Sweetest Boy EVER!

Walker loves to be petted.  He loves people.  The fact that he doesn't like to be approached directly if you're standing/walking hasn't changed -  but he wants affection.  If you're sitting down at his eye level, he'll walk up to you, and if you pet him, he won't leave you for a really, really long time.  :)

Look at this sweet boy -

He falls asleep on his nose like this a lot.

The sound of my camera used to startle Walker.  He's gotten used to that sound now.  I took these shots from less that a foot away from his face and he didn't flinch.  In fact, he seems to have gotten bored with the process!

He comes in the house from the back yard when called almost every single time.  The exception to that is if the weather is really nice and the sun is shining.  Sometimes, he's finds a sunny spot in the yard to lay down.  (The same is true for my female greyhound, too.)

He always come straight back in the house after his dinner time because he knows he will get a "treat."  He always comes straight back in the house at night because he knows when he does he's going to get to go "upstairs" for bed time.  He loves his routine.  He likes to know what's going to happen and he really does try to do what we expect of him. 

Walker is the Sweetest Boy Ever!

Visitors for Walker

Walker was very pleased to have two people and one hound visit him Sunday afternoon.  He loves guests!  He was kind enough to share his toys, especially his most beloved toy, Squirm the Worm.

While all the humans were sitting on the deck watching the hounds play together in the back yard, Walker decided he wanted to go back in the house.  I think he was thirsty.  So, he came up the deck stairs without being called and stood on the deck while I walked over to open the door for him.  That's a REALLY BIG DEAL for a dog with anxiety related to people coming toward him and entering exterior doors.  We are all so proud of him!

Once our friends left, all the dogs were ready for an afternoon nap.

Here's Walker in the middle with my hounds on either side of him.

Here's Walker closest to the camera and my girl hound above him.  By this time, they had stretched out so much that they ran my boy hound off to another bed.  They were tuckered out and they napped like this for most of the afternoon.  That is, of course, until it was dinner time.

Walker loves people.  In fact, it seems that his desire to meet new people allows him to overcome his anxiety - for a bit, anyway.