Remington update

      I've been trying to really get Remi tame recently. It's been so long and I have not had a lot of time to work with him but I've been forcing time.

A couple days ago I clipped a really long lunge rope to him while he was eating. He flipped out of course running away from it but eventually calmed down a little.

"It's gunna eat me!"

After a couple hours he would still kick at the rope and take off when pressured forward but,  he would also freeze with it. I guess to keep the "snake" from moving toward him. This helped me get closer. I spent the entire day just chilling out with him. Rain and shine. He would let me get within three feet of him. I would wait for him to relax and then walk away for a little bit. Then walk up to him until he had just enough pressure to almost want to move away and I would wait for him to relax again. This went on and on all day... Still only getting within three feet and not trying to touch him.

Acting like he doesn't notice me

      I left the rope on him for four days. By the time I came back to remove the rope he was dragging it all over with no issue. I waited for him to eat from a bucket in my lap and quietly un-snapped the rope. He spun away and stopped suddenly. He looked back around at me and then at the rope now on the ground. He came back and sniffed it and looked at me. I put his feed bucket on the fence and walked out his pen. I came back the next day and walked into his pen. He moved away but then turned and walked four steps toward me. I verbally praised him and walked out his pen as he curiously watched. I think he was expecting another day long session of me trying to touch him. I couldn't make it for another two days but finally had a day off to go spend a couple hours with him. I entered his pen and he had a completely different energy. He was really curious.

       I walked over to a post near a tree. He walked to the other side of the tree and looked at me through the branches ears pricked and a very curious look on his face. He creeped around the tree and cautiously reached his head out. I met him with my hand and he sniffed and nuzzled then stepped back to curl his lip and look at me. He came around the tree and sniffed me up and down, licked my arm a little and nuzzled. He still would step away quickly if I tried to touch him but wouldn't flee to the other side of the pen. He also would keep coming back. I stayed with him for about 30 min just standing quietly by the post while he kept coming back curiously to sniff me and check me out. I quietly walked out the pen and left him for the day. This was a real change in him. It was very exciting. I'm hoping it's moving forward from here... we shall see, I'm going back tomorrow after work.

Making friends with Oscar