Weekly Reflection 1!

 This week was so much fun! We have gotten to walk a lot of the on-campus and off-campus dogs, who are all very cute and nice! We have learned so much about each of the dog’s personalities and if they can be on or off-leash, if they can be around other dogs, if they know their way around campus, or if they are food motivated. This week, the dog that impressed me the most, from his cuteness to his ability to walk with us and being a good dog all the time, was Stanley. Stanley was always so excited to come outside with us and walk around, stopping for smells a lot. He comes to the door willingly and allows us to put on his leash for our walks. I loved what we were doing. I have always had a passion for animals and being able to spend almost every waking moment with them has been so nice, especially because I get to be at Proctor while I am doing it. We are also getting so much exercise, which is so nice, and it’s built into the project. This week we need to find a way to spread out the dogs we walk while simultaneously satisfying the wishes about the times and how many times a week that the owner wants. Last week we had some complications because we have a total of 17 dogs to work into our schedule, and that proved to be pretty difficult. But I think we have worked out most of the kinks and have a pretty solid system down for our walks. We are learning a lot about training and doing research about different breeds and how they are personality-wise. A very common misconception is that certain breeds, like German Shepherds and Pitbulls, are bred to be aggressive to humans, and this causes the unfortunate euthanasias of many dogs, but in reality, it has nothing to do with what breed they are, only with how they were raised. It is unfortunate, but I hope that with the right research and education among humans, that misconception could be eliminated. I think that because I am learning so much and spending so much time with dogs that I will have more experience in the field I plan to explore in my future, Veterinary Medicine. See you tomorrow!