Dog Sitting

This weekend my roommate, Caitlyn, is out of town on wedding business and I am watching her two biggest dogs, Manii and Shelby. They can be frustrating when they are chasing the cat and getting into things but they are sweet and fun to be around. I had an idea that I would try to walk Keena, Manii and Shelby all at once. I have never walked Keena with another dog. I can control Keena without much effort anymore but I had no idea how her two dogs would do with me in charge of them. Caitlyn uses a slitter for the two and Manii wears a little backpack and carries things for us! This time in his backpack he carried poo bags, bottles of water and a bowl to drink out of. We walked two miles today and it was about 76 degrees which is pushing the limit for Keena. She likes her walks much cooler than that. They all did very well and I was really proud of myself. I found that I felt empowered walking 270 lbs of dog all by myself through city streets, people and traffic. I think the lesson I learned today (one that Keena taught me from the begining) is that it really is mind over matter. I am not physically strong enough to stop these dogs if they all saw something that they wanted or decided to run off in one direction. The way to control these animals is by gaining their trust and respect. They know that I will take care of them and I feed them...and I have never hurt them so they trust me. It was a pretty powerful feeling for me. I plan on doing it again in the future!

Manii (drinking while laying down), Shelby and Keena.