Solid Foundations

Got a good reminder of the importance of solid foundations today. As usual it was my exceptional klutziness that lead to the situation.

So two days in a row I make a hash of dressing a foot. Yesterday it was the off fore, today it was the near hind. Today there is so much duck tape that removing the dressing was somewhat sticky :-)

Unfortunately I forgot myself and started tugging away somewhat impolitely (never a good idea to do these things in a rush). This reminds Grace that people have a nasty habit of tying ropes to her feet. So she very firmly takes her foot away and makes it quite clear I better learn some manners before I can have her foot back.

So we go back to basics, back to a place where hopefully she will feel safe (and I feel humbled). I get the fat end of the lunge whip and gently touch it to her leg, ask for 'foot' and away we go, no problem, no stress. Rinse and repeat three times with appropriate clicking and treating.

Then having 'apologised' and reassured Grace that actually I can do it nicely, Grace lets me remove the dressing from her foot. No stress, no hassle, easy as pie. Now why didn't I do it properly in the first place? Because I am a dumb human and I am lucky to have Grace remind me quite gently that I need to pull my socks up and not be so slack about things. She would have been within her rights to get a strop on and not talk to me for ages, but she isn't like that, she is actually quite forgiving.

Having got that episode over with we spent five minutes doing a little loose schooling. Time to get her exercising again, to develop her feet and to put brakes on the weight gain. I hate to admit it but the girl is getting a bit fat.

I also started to introduce her new diet. I'll post the ingredients separately.