Chelsea's First Walk

This afternoon we took Chelsea on her first leash walk.  We were able to get the harness on her this morning and will probably leave it on her for a while.   We tried to get her to walk in the house with it but she was totally unresponsive.  So since we had to go get the mail, I decided to take her along.  

We brought her outside, put her down and she wouldn't move except to pull back towards the apartment.  So I picked her up and carried her down to the mail box where she wasn't able to see the apartment anymore, and then she began to smell around and explore a little.  A group of 5 or 6 people walked by and she didn't cower or hide.  She just watched them and looked back at us.  I was expecting her to run away or at least put her ears back in fear, but she acted totally normal.  The little kid in the group wanted to pet her but I didn't think she was ready and told her that Chelsea was afraid of people and maybe next time.

Then we made our way back to the apartment.   A few times she stopped and laid down or sat down, as if to say "I can't go on...".  But I just picked her up to stand her up and continued to walk.  She followed after a minute.   We even took her over to an area where most of the dogs use the potty, and she sniffed a lot and seemed to warm up more when she smelled the other dogs scents.  

Here is a video of her on her walk...

A little after the video was taken, she did this... 

But I picked her up and she continued.

Toward the end of the walk she sorta gave up and tried to jump into my arms.  So I picked her up and carried her the last few steps before getting to the stairs.  

I plan to take her with me to the mailbox every day.  Not only will it help her get some exercise, but it will help us form a bond and will help her get used to leash walking.  It is also helping her learn the meaning of "come here".

Now she is sleeping like a baby.  Too much excitement for one day! 

Tomorrow is a big day too.  Charlotte is going to get her nails clipped at PetsMart and since Chelsea did so well on her walk we are going to bring her along so she can see the other dogs and hopefully socialize a little.