Tear Drop Winken: the Beginning Adventures of K9 Chevy

So I woke up like every other day, went and fed the horses, then went to work in surgery. I worked until noon and then went home to change for the barn. I made plans with LuAnn to go out with Rowdy on the trails again. Very excited! Chevy gave me that look like he wanted to get out and play (kept throwing his ball at me) and I decided since his e-collar was charged... Why not? Threw him in the Jeep and off we went.

Let our ponies out (left them in because there was a storm brewing), threw some lunch, walked over to the main barn and threw more lunch, Chevy plotting along right beside me. I can't believe how good he was. I only had to correct him once when we got there, it's been a long time since we've gone and worked in the field. L was at the barn when we got back and we did stalls then tacked up. She does SAR (K9 Search & Rescue) with her dog Abby who is up for the K9 Hero Award around here, and she let me borrow her "Rescue" harness which is orange and has "Service" tagged on it. I got on Brantley, strapped Chevy's leash and remote to the horn and off we went!

B was so good yesterday ducking under trees and branches that I decided to take the path where the dirt bikes go and bring L backwards through the trail we did yesterday. Up the steep side of the hill and down the other, he maneuvered very well. Chevy... Outstanding. He stayed right by the left side of Brantley just like he used to with Lucky. I can't believe he remembered how to trail with a horse from when he was 6 months old. He trotted about between the horses, sniffing off the side of the trail, loping up beside us with a jingle. B was so well behaved even when the pup weaved in around his legs. It was like the accident in the ring never happened.

I have to explain real quick that Chevy was tied to the picnic tale next to the outdoor when B and I had our really bad accident... I have never seen him act like that. Growling, snarling, barking, howling. Pulled the picnic table a few inches. Ever since then he had been distant around the horses and vicious towards B, especially when he put a foot out of line. To see them how they were today, you would've thought they had always been two peas in a pod! I can't tell you how happy I was.

A mom and her two kids came out of the woodwork and Chevy trotted over wagging his tail to greet them. The mom welcomed him with open arms so I didn't call him off but one of the boys stayed far behind. She explained that he had been attacked by a black lab earlier in the summer and you could see how nervous he was. I called Chevy back and asked him to sit and lay down for the boy and offered him to pet him. He said no but thank you which was very sweet. What I was really impressed with was that it was like my boy knew he was nervous and didn't run over to him. This made me very happy and they sent us on our way.

We walked through the trails, back over the bridges (Rowdy leading this time) and around to where the water was. Chevy plowed right in swishing around in the water like a fish. B followed right and Rowdy watched, he finally went in too. Heading home I saw another walker with their dog on a leash and whistled to get Chevy's attention. He looked at me, then looked over and saw the dog. Tired enough where he only tried to lope over, I said "leave it" and he came back to me. No correction, no second recall, nothing! I just said "leave it" and he came over, happily wagging, and we walked down another trail home.

Moral of the story, Chevy and I were welcomed into the AMPWDA - American Mantrailing Police Working Dog Association. Chevy will be beginning his training as a Search and Rescue K9 Service Dog... He will no longer be just a dog - K9 Chevy, K9 Officer. Glad to see I've done something right!