Some of you may remember my first post about Bear who came for some basic education about life.
Great news, he did lovely. He ended up spending about three and a half weeks here and learned all sorts of good stuff, all the basic commands and important things like Fire Hydrants Will Not Kill You! He came around just like I thought he would, we did lots and lots of treat motivated stuff and while it took him longer than usual to pick up things like eye contact and paying attention to his name, once he got it the floodgate opened. Usually once a dog who is behind that way understands one thing, the rest sort of snowballs. Poor guy had spent his life just sort of stuck on his own in the backyard twiddling his paws. Makes for a somewhat socially behind doggie.
Lucky for Bear, he met a guardian angel who saw his potential, had the means to send him to school, and found him the most wonderful, loving, patient home a dog could ask for. Bear is still settling into his new home, and has now been joined by his doggie companion, an older lab named Missy. Missy came from the same broken home, and came here for just a week of brush up training, and now they both live in doggie heaven. Missy is about 8 - I still wonder why anyone would ever give away an older dog like that, they are just getting perfect - and somewhere in her life someone worked with her. She caught on to things very quickly, and once I found some treats she liked (see post about Natural Nibbles) and her beloved cheese sticks, we rocked right along. Such a delightful, lovely old soul - she makes a nice counterbalance for Bear’s youth and exuberance.
I’m more than thrilled to have had the opportunity to worth with these two dogs, Missy is officially my last in board dog, and I have closed up shop so I can concentrate on getting ready for this human baby. I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful it is to work with this team of people who helped these dogs get a better life. The lovely lady who took them in and rescued them from a life where they were simply left to their own devices, and the wonderful couple who wanted to adopt them both, keep them together, and will surely love them always. In a world where all too often I see people throwing away dogs like so much garbage, I like that I can close this phase of my life with feeling like I helped a couple of truly nice dogs be just a bit better so that they can have a better life.Best of Luck always Bear and Missy, enjoy those hugs and kisses, you deserve them…
Posted on July 28th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Random run ins, Training
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