Tasha's Progress

Well, I know I have been talking a lot about Tasha, the adorable cattle dog that has some issues with human affection, but she is just making so much progress that I can't help but be excited for her. This past week was a very good one for her. She loves to go for rides in the golf cart (or cars, whatever), she just sits on the seat and watches the world go whizzing by, she loves it. Last Saturday, I took her for a ride around the Lodges on my golf cart (yes, they are still letting me drive one) and went up to the kitchen to say hi to some of the other caregivers. Tasha is really good with other dogs, so she got to meet Mini, our team leader, Michelle's, adorable and super laid back grey-blue pittie (she acts more like a cat than a dog sometimes) and even let Michelle pet her a little bit. Later in the week, some of our regular staff walkers (aka staff that work in other areas of BF, like the Welcome Center, that come up and walk our dogs, because they are staff, they are able to take out the red collars that volunteers can't take) had Tasha and her run mate Chow Baby out for a walk when I crossed paths with them on my golf cart. Tasha immediately climbed up into the cart and sat with me for several minutes so I could pet her. Another staff member, Mike, who has known Tasha for many years, was also standing there and commented on how much she has improved over the years, saying that they used to count to ten and then stop petting her. He said he always knew how long he could pet her before she would start growling and snapping and it is amazing to see how much progress she has made (not just with me, but since she initially arrived at BF). I have also gotten approval from management to take her on an off-leash hike sometime soon. The trainers have been organizing several weekly off-leash group hikes and I just know that Tasha would love to go and would do great off-leash (she used to go off-leash all the time), but because she is red collar, I had to check with a lot of people about it before I could get the okay, since volunteers and interns are often on the hikes. Now it is just a matter of finding some time to do it. Schedules have been a little up in the air of late and so the Dog Day thing hasn't really been happening, but hopefully over the next few weeks things will calm down some and we can get back to doing it, if she hasn't done an off-leash hike by the time I have my next Dog Day, I will do my very best to make it happen.
I might be able to get another post in tomorrow, it will just depend on whether I have time tomorrow night or not, don't hold your breath, but I will try. If I don't get it done, have a great week and I will get another one up on Thursday. (Photo copyright Best Friends Animal Society.)