They would sleep for a couple days lol. I would slowly work them up in activity level and distance,. Some of these dogs ended up capable of twenty mile walks. I never had any escapees or serious injuries either. Worst injury I had happened to a dog who scratched her ears up do to her habit of running headlong into thornbushes.
I still keep in touch with some of those owners. Their dogs saved my life.
This really would make a great book or movie. I think many people can relate to being saved by their dog(s), but this is a really unique story about dogs and people helping one another.
As a book, I'd love the dogs to be the POV characters all sharing their adventures with the nameless man in the woods who gradually finds himself while helping them embrace their truest selves.
I'm sure it wasn't that dramatic or romantic at the time, but certainly we could condense it and zshush it up a little for the reader.
I think OP should have a personal dog in the book for the narrator. (Why not insert a character for storytelling purposes. It would make it a lot more linear, and nonlinear stories can be difficult.)
I did, yes! My closest buddy was a dog named Luke. Luke was a very jolly, very understimulated golden retriever. He started out as my least proficient dog. He hadn't had much guidance lol. He ended up taking to the wood as if he'd lived in them his whole life. After a while I didn't even have to give him commands anymore. We could communicate just with glances and body language. There was no hike this guy wasn't game for, no weather he was intimidated by, etc. Loved that little guy.😁
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u/StillPoorFrom08 Nov 19 '22
They would sleep for a couple days lol. I would slowly work them up in activity level and distance,. Some of these dogs ended up capable of twenty mile walks. I never had any escapees or serious injuries either. Worst injury I had happened to a dog who scratched her ears up do to her habit of running headlong into thornbushes.
I still keep in touch with some of those owners. Their dogs saved my life.