If Ranger was struggling, the answer was not automatically more pressure.
Staff could reassess the surface, his footing, his level of fatigue, and whether continuing the exercise made sense at that moment.
Progress in rehabilitation sometimes means knowing when to stop.
Then Ranger Began Getting Closer Before He Froze
The changes were subtle.
At first, Ranger might stop well before a threshold.
Later, he came closer.
His pauses sometimes became shorter.
He still watched Echo closely when she went through first, and there were still doorways where he seemed reluctant to commit his weakened hind leg.
But staff began seeing more attempts.
One step.
A pause.
Another step.
Weight forward.
Weak leg through.
None of it resembled the fast, powerful movement people might associate with a working Belgian Malinois.
That was no longer the standard Ranger needed to meet.
His success was measured against yesterday's Ranger, not the police K-9 he had been before his injury.
Echo Never Had to Pull Him Through
Perhaps the most striking part of their routine was how little Echo actually did.
She did not physically support Ranger.
She did not pull a leash.
She did not push him from behind.