She hated it.
She refused to walk in it so we had no choice but to go back to a regular collar. At this point she probably figured she had won and us weak humans would give up.
We did not.
Instead we spent another $30 and bought her the Chest Plate version of the EzyDog harness, also in pink camouflage. The idea was the points of contact on her would be different, allowing her more freedom of motion at the shoulder. We also decided to go a little slower this time and allow her to get used to it, rather than throwing it on her and taking her immediately outside.
She still didn't look very thrilled. (These first couple pics are from the first day, so if the harness looks too loose, it is.)
We put it on and gave her a few treats, enticing her to walk around the living room for a few minutes, moving from treat to treat. After a couple minutes, we took it off and praised her.
We did this every day for a week or so and she gradually warmed up to it. At the beginning of a session she'd move a little awkwardly, but then decided it was okay. Well, okay enough.
Then we decided she was ready for a real walk. Mother Nature proceeded to dump 10+ inches of rain and snow on Portland over the course of two weeks and Misaki never left the house (if I didn't have to go to work, I wouldn't have either).
But today, FINALLY, it was both light out and dry when I came home from work, so Wifey harnessed and treated Misaki and we took her outside.
She still doesn't love it, but she managed to walk in it with no issues. We took her to the local park and back, our normal basic walk. We left her Lupine Martingale collar on just in case, which was good because the harness still needs a little tightening. Overall, though, she managed to walk and sniff whatever she needed to.
She even was willing to pose for a picture with her momma.
Success! We hope, at least. Apparently the QuickFit was just not for her, but then again should I be surprised? She's very particular.
And Misaki, I'm sorry, but this picture was too cute not to share:
Our poor puppy...she puts up with so much. I may want to sleep with one eye open tonight...
She is a Shiba Queen, she has to be different from all the others! :-) And yes, I'd sleep with one eye open for a few weeks. I heard about the squirrel.....
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, that squirrel...she took him down - that's another blog post. :)
ReplyDeleteDay 2 with the harness on a walk didn't go as smoothly. She seemed very annoyed the whole time, but thankfully would eventually keep walking. I had tightened it where it was loose and that might be why. We also took off the collar for this walk and only attached the leash to the harness, which inevitably pulls to the right (since she must always be on the left...).
Misaki looks SO thrilled, especially in that last picture! The kind of thrilled-look that says "I'm going to chew all your toes off tonight." Is she looking down to hide herself from the shame? =P
ReplyDeleteYes, so emabarrased. :)
ReplyDelete