Today was our fourth day of camp! The campers arrived and started their day by cleaning their crates and discussing how their nights went.
 
Then, it was time to start crate exercises. The goal was to be able to hold open the crate door, while still standing in front of the crate, without your dog barging out of their crate.

Most of the dogs have picked up crate exercises fast and waited patently in their crate. 

Once the dogs were released from their crates, the campers headed outside to work with their long lines.

The campers continued to work on engaging the dogs and recalling them whenever they started to walk too far ahead of their camper. Many of the dogs have progressed far and are now walking with their campers instead of rushing ahead.

Back in the barn, the campers one-by-one worked on loose leash walking. This is different from long line, where instead of allowing dogs to sniff and explore, the campers worked on keeping their dogs on their left side.

Whenever a dog would leave their camper's gait, the camper would recall them by walking backwards or doing inside turns to regain their dog's attention.

Then it was time to head back outside for another training session with the long lines. Already showing improvement from the morning, the campers continued to work on recalls and walking with their dog.

The dogs then got a needed break and the campers played some games. For one game, they all held water in their mouths and tried to make each other laugh.

After some fun, it was time for lunch.

Our lunch questions were:

• "What time period would you time travel to?"
• and, "What’s your worst injury story?"

Following lunch, it was time to take the campers' loose leash walking skills outside. This offered a challenge to some whose dogs were eager to walk towards the other dogs or watch the ducks in the pond.

However, the campers continued to recall and inside-circle the dogs. This helps redirect the dogs' focus to their camper instead of outside distractions, so they move with their camper instead of being distracted by everything around them.

After the successful training session, it was time for massages. The lights were turned off and the dogs settled down in their campers' laps to get a nice massage to bring down their stress levels and calm them down. This gave both the campers and dogs a chance to catch their breath and in some cases take a nice nap.​​​​​​​

While the dogs continued to sleep, the campers began to work on poster boards. This, along with their bandanas, will help to draw attention to their dogs and hopefully find them their forever home!
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After that, experienced campers got to talk to Teena about their camp experiences and then joined the others to take a dip in the pool without the dogs. The campers got to play some games in the pool while their dogs continued to enjoy their naps.

Once everyone got dried off from the pool, the barn was blown out and campers were given their homework for the night. After being measured for cooling shirts, the dogs were ready to head home with their campers ending their fourth day of camp!

-Sofia