Dog walking

Hello! Today is our final day of senior project! It is so crazy to think about how fast this year flew by. Today McKenzie and I completely finished up our presentation, video, and essay! I am so happy that our hard work payed off! Although this project may have seemed easy to outside eyes, we spent a ton of time figuring out the schedules, making sure all of the dogs got exercise, and their specific needs were met. I love how the video turned out and I hope that everyone at express fest does too. I think we highlighted Proctors trails and campus well while also showing how fun the dogs were to play with. I am so excited to start the next chapter and come back to visit Proctor next year when my sister graduates. Below are a few of my favorite pictures form the project. We also hit 56 total hours today. Thank you so much to Kelly, Dan, Karin, and all of the Proctor dog parents who participated in our project!  Best wishes and see you soon! Jaime :) 

 Hello! Today is the beginning of the last week of high school. SO crazy to think about! I remember my first day here sophomore year like it was a few months ago and not three years. Today we started off our day with senior seminar hosted by Will and Laurie. We talked about microagressions and basically how to be a decent and empathetic person. It was a valuable lecture and I sincerely hope that my classmates know not to be racist. Afterwards, McKenzie and I walked Joe and then headed over to walk Stanley but he wasn't there today so we will walk him tomorrow. After that we grabbed some snacks and spent a few hours working on our reflection paper and putting together the final presentation. Today we worked for 3.5 hours which puts us at 51.5 in total!

 Hello. McKenzie and I were able to maintain close to the same schedule as last week. This week we focused on being in the sun while we have it and making sure the dogs have a great time on the walks and get adequate exercise. Our system of emailing the parents of the dogs the night before to confirm the time and pickup location seems to be working well. We have also obtained a good amount of videos of the dogs enjoying their walk around Proctor for us to make progress with the final presentation. This week I was interested in learning about the effect COVID-19 had on animal shelters and rates for adoption and surrenders in the country. What I found was that there was a massive increase in adoptions in 2020 since a lot of people had to work from home. An article written by TIME Magazine details the increase of adoptions by saying, “We’ve seen an incredibly compassionate response from people willing to open their homes to foster and adopt vulnerable shelter animals during this period of

 Hello! Today McKenzie and I had to abbreviate our schedule because of vaccine appointments!! We started off our morning walking Joe. Next we walked Stanley. I am very grateful that Proctor is having a vaccine clinic on campus and since I didn't have a game today and was wary about the effects of the second dose, I spent time learning about kill shelters and the rates of dog adoption and surrenders since covid. Turns out that many shelters are running out of dogs which is amazing that so many animals have recently found a home. An article from the Washing Post says, " Last Chance saw its pet adoptions — mostly dogs — increase 30 to 40 percent last year over 2019. Lucky Dog Animal Rescue in Arlington said it expected to finish 2020 helping about 3,385 pets find homes, up from about 1,800 the year before." Today we worked for 4 hours.

 Hello. Today was a little hectic. With games happening in the afternoon, McKenzie and I had to abbreviate our schedule. We started off our day with Joe the golden retriever. As always, he's a great dog and loves pets from everyone we pass. Next we walked Orwell. He was very excited to see that we had treats with us today. He was ran with us for a bit, then played in the grass and got many pets from people walking by. After our first two walks, we headed over to the theatre for the senior seminar. Afterwards, we spent some time working on our short video and continuing to learn about the effects of different types of training. We then had other commitments to go to, but worked for 3 hours while we could! 

 Hello. Today we started off our day by walking Mac the basset hound. We picked her up from the counseling office and walked her around the pond. Mac said hi to a class which was happening outside and then got tired so we bought her back to the office. Next we walked Flirt and Cricket, two of the most well behaved dogs I have ever met. While we were walking on the rail trail, I threw a tennis ball for Flirt. She brought the ball right back to me, ready for the next throw. Next we walked Stanley around our regular route. We ended up running into Jill and she took Stanley home with her. Next we took Comet around the playground and did some training with treats. This was our best walk with him so far. Finally, Rocky and Mindy were the last walk fo the day. They are beautiful dogs and very well behaved. Today we worked for 5.5 hours. 

 Hello. Today McKenzie and I met Joe at his house for our first walk of the day. We had a pretty standard walk until Joe saw the neighbor and really wanted to say hi. Next we walked Radley and Stanley. They are both great dogs and walk well together. At the end of our walk somehow the dogs became tangled and Radley was able to get into a mud puddle. We then brought the dogs to the pond for a swim. Although we were not thrilled about the mud, Radley seemed proud of himself for seeking in the puddle. Next we went over to Maxwell to get Orwell but he was already out for a walk with another dog so we decided to let him play and will see him tomorrow. Finally we walked Novasota and Merrill. They were very keen on sniffing everything. After the dog walks, McKenzie and I spent some time putting video clips together and researching about training techniques for our final presentation. Today we worked for 5 hours. 

 Hello. Today we started off our morning going over to walk Joe, but we couldn't find him. Turns out he went with his family to run some errands so we will see him tomorrow. Next we went to assembly to meet Orwell. He was tired from his morning walk so we stayed with him in the shade. Next we walked Stanley on our normal route. Towards the end of our walk, Stanley saw Jill outside of Slocumb and decided that he won't leave until she does. We ended up leaving Stanley with Jill. For our last walk of the day, we picked up Mac from the counseling offices and played with her in the grass area by the softball field. She had fun with a ball she found in the field. Today we worked for 5 hours. 

       Hello. This week has been filled with some ups and downs. To start, it is very hard to make everyone you work with happy. No matter how hard you try to make things work for everyone, someone will not be satisfied with your work. It's frustrating but realizing this has made me feel better. McKenzie and I had to create a schedule where 17 dogs needed to be walked at specific times, have their own rules and abilities, can and can not walk with others, and have to be picked up and dropped off all at their own locations back to back for around five hours a day. It is amazing to be able to walk dogs for our project but sometimes is overwhelming. We have been walking about seven miles a day on average. I have learned thus far that even the most simple tasks can become difficult without the right preparation. However, hanging out with dogs all day has been great. A few standouts: Joe, Stanley, and Radley have been amazing on the leash, and Orwell, Mac, and Comet like to play in one

 Hi. Today we started our first walk at 9am with Joe. He was so excited to see all of the proctor students in the pathways between class. Next Orwell ran in one of the small gardens we have on campus. It was very cute! Comet found someones old piece of gum in the rail trail which was kind of gross. Finally Stanley saw Jill teaching an art class and wouldn't leave her side. Jill ended up talking Stanley with her for the rest of the day because he was so keen on staying with her. Today we worked for 4.5 Hours. 

 Hello. Today started off with Joe the golden. He wasn't super keen on walking today. It took some convincing but we were able to do a full lap around campus before returning home. Next Mac the basset hound wanted to play with the other dogs at assembly, so we hung around and let the dogs play. Radley was super excited to walk around, saying hi to everyone that walked by. Today we had one less dog because I had a job interview. Although we spent a little less time walking today, we spent time researching some training techniques and methods. We are also hoping to met with a dog trainer over Webex next week to learn more about the most effective ways to train a dog. Today we worked for 4.5 hours. 

 Hello. Today McKenzie and I walked Mac the basset hound first. Next we walked Flirt and Cricket to the ski area. While we were out this morning we made sure to get pictures and film for our short video. After stopping by Jakes for coffee and a muffin, we headed back to the dorm for some film review. We have a lot of usable footage already and are excited to start putting it together. After we picked up Stanley for our usual 10:30am walk. After lunch we walked on the rail trail with Comet, who was still as excited to see us as the first time. Before dinner we walked two new dogs, Rocky and Mindy. This was my favorite walk of the day because of how well behaved the dogs are and how sweet they are to people. Today we walked/worked for 5.5 hours. 

 Today McKenzie and I started our day of dog walking with Joe the golden retriever. He was initially very energetic and excited but as advisory began, Joe wanted attention and food. After many pets, Joe reluctantly went back inside his home. Orwell, the 10 weak old puppy was our next walk. We didn't walk very far with him but many people played with him and gave him some attention in the hallway of Maxwell Savage. Stanley and Radley came with McKenzie and I for our last walk before lunch. After lunch, Mac the basset hound walked with us until she got tired. Finally, Novasota and Merrill were our last walk of the day. We walked and hung out with theses dogs for a total of 5 hours today. 

 Last night McKenzie and I created a schedule to walk faculty dogs around Proctor. We made sure to take things such as dog age and location on campus into consideration. Our first walk was with Joe, a young golden retriever, at 9:00am. Next we walked a 10 weak old golden. Comet was very playful and still unsure of being walked on a leash. Our next walk after that was with Stanley, a very friendly lab. Stanley was so happy to walk with us and was sad to go back inside. Today we completed 5 hours towards our goal. We took some videos and pictures today for us to use in our final presentation.