When I take Phoebe for walks, I notice that she gets freaked out whenever we try to turn around, cross the street, go off the sidewalk into the woods, or do anything other than walk straight ahead.
If we go in a giant circle, finally coming back around to the house, she’s usually fine. If I try to coax her into crossing a street or turning around, it takes a great deal of persuasion. I can’t help but wonder if this is the result of prior training. She was a racer (not exactly retired, more like fired), and I’m beginning to suspect that the idea of turning around or running off the track, in this case the sidewalk, is anathema to her. She just can’t bring herself to do it.
So we walk along the sidewalk track each day, so slowly that passersby must think she’s the slowest greyhound in the world, which may be why she didn’t last in the racing world.
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
[…] One year ago today, Action Phoebe, the hound of adventure, came to live with us. Over the past year, she’s learned to go for walks, got an education, had a few baths, and made herself at home. She came to us as a spooky greyhound, but she’s come out of her shell so much that people have remarked that she’s turned into a lab. […]