He's Ba-ack!

Stanley had his first walk in tandem since his surgery, yesterday. As usual, he was all about the lovin'!

Working Dog

Moby wore his saddle bags today. They have lead weights in them, but even after more than an hour in the newly arrived (and enthusiastically welcomed!) warm sun, he was still full of energy. The weight helps him to use his energy (I already reflected on how important that is), and satisfies his instinct to be useful. With shepherds (and shep mixes), work and structure are extremely important to their health and mental well being, and even the way they play is a manifestation of said instinct.

Moby

Moving from one of my newer canines to the absolute newest, we have Moby. What this shepherd/border collie mix lacks in seniority he more than makes up for with an active intelligence and eagerness to learn. And this boy can GO!!...I've worked him hard for as long as an hour and a half, and starting next week he'll be spending the bulk of my Tuesdays and Thursdays with me, scooting all over the greater Park Slope area.

It's a good thing Moby gets along so well with other dogs -- he loves to romp with Maggie (you'll meet her later), slows down his pace for Billie (one of my senior dogs) and puts up with some of Stanley's more outlandish puppyness. He's actually a great teacher for Stanley - older and well adjusted dogs are great at setting boundaries for newbies. As a herding dog, he literally keeps the others in line!

I hope you'll notice Moby's wide set eyes and alert ears - two cardinal marks of intelligence. That can actually be a frustrating thing for a caretaker without a lot of attention to devote since he needs regular engagement on an active level, and lots of exercise. Without it I'm sure he'd become frustrated, but he gets what he needs and more every day...if you saw the way he catches your eye when he wants to play you'd know why! I swear this dog knows Jedi mind control techniques; fortunately he's on the light side.