Third Day with Cooper the Lab

Hump day with my foster lab - Cooper

From Cooper Chocolate Lab

Morning Run

Cooper is getting very excited when I pull out the golf cart for his road running. He cries, barks, and claws at the crate door. I make sure to wait until he is quiet and sitting before clicking and letting him out of he crate. I also did a little heeling lesson with him and then let him find a spot to pee before starting the run. Boy, he does like speed and I can drive the golf cart as fast as it will go down the hills and Cooper can keep up with me. He as good lungs and fast moving legs. 

On the breathing breaks I ask for a DOWN and a STAY from Cooper. He is doing pretty well with this but I am not moving too far away from him right now. He is in a DOWN-STAY in the above photo that I took this morning. I also ask for him to stay in the down position while I return to him and pet him all over. 

I run him up and then down the road. I stopped at a deep puddle and let him walk in it to cool off, but unlike the other two foster labs I had Cooper doesn't flop down into the water to get wet. I will have to try him at the pond and see if he will fetch the ball from the water. 

After the run I put him back in his crate and gave him a little dog kibble on while I took my dogs for their morning walk. Cooper barked for a while while we walked down the road away from him.

Dog Yard -- Fussy Fit

When I got back I put Cooper in his dog yard next to Howie the Hound my other foster dog. I gave them both a large raw beef bone to chew on. At first Cooper was busy with the bone and didn't bark when I walked away, but that didn't last long soon he was whining and barking up a storm. I just waited to see how long he would keep it up. After about 15 minutes or so he stopped barking and must have went back to chewing on his bone. Then after about 15-20 mintues he went back into his frenzied barking and whining again which he kept up for about 20-30 mintues until I finally went and got him and put him back in his crate. I was tired of hearing him bark and worried that he would get overheated with all that activity. 

Maybe he has spent too much time in the vet kennel and the dog yard causes him a lot of anxiety. He does well in the dog crate most of the time -- does bark and whine when I go out and he sees me and wants to demand that I let him out.

Visiting the Neighbors

I took Cooper on a run along to my mom's house down the road to check on my two ponies in her pasture. Cooper was just mildly interested in the ponies and a little worried about them when they ran along the fence with us on the other side. He didn't bark or growl at them just sniffed at them a bit when they stopped at their feed bowl to eat the food I gave them. 

I ran Cooper back and forth to the ponies' yard to the the pump shed to fill up buckets to fill up their large water bucket. Then I clipped Cooper to a picnic table so I could go inside to visit with my Mother. I thought that he would throw a fit like he did in his dog yard but he surprised me and just laid down quietly and waited for me to return. My two small dogs were close by hooked on the golf cart.  I was inside about 12-15 mintues and Cooper didn't bark once. When I returned home I put him in his crate. 

From Cooper Chocolate Lab

Evening Fun - Fetching Toys

I let Cooper loose out of his crate and showed him a Tennis ball. He got excited about the ball and jumped up and tried to grab it. I asked for a SIT and then clicked and tossed the ball. He likes this game runs fast to go and retrieve the ball. He is not consistent in returning the ball back to me. Sometimes he gets close and just drops it and then walks around sniffing the grass. I would pick up the ball and get his attention and ask again for a SIT. He would give the sit pretty fast and then I would throw the ball again. 

Once the ball went in the tall brushy area and he would not go in it to look for the ball. The area has some thorny blackberry bushes in it so that maybe the reason. I had to go and find another toy to toss for him. A couple of times in his excitement Cooper jumped up to grab at the ball before I could toss it.  I started asking for a SIT and even a DOWN before I would toss it. He would sit but I had to help him into a DOWN to get him to do that. Will have to work on DOWN more when he is excited and challenged. 

I also took Cooper for an evening road run too. He should sleep well tonight from his busy day. 

From Cooper Chocolate Lab

Notice that in the photo above that Cooper is wearing a "Gentle Leader Headcollar". 

Cooper the chocolate lab

Second day with my new foster dog, Cooper

From Cooper Chocolate Lab

Morning Run

At about seven thirty in the morning I took Cooper for his run along the golf cart. I put my two small dogs on the goft cart in their dog harnesses and ran Cooper alongside on a four foot leash and a choke collar.  Just like yesterday evening he ran fast and enjoyed the running.  When we went alongside the pasture with the cows he was interested but also frighten of them at first. I stopped so the cow and Cooper could get closer to each other by the fence.  Cooper lost interest when the cows just stood there not moving and started to sniff the grass clumps. 

Over weight

Cooper is a bit on the pudgy side and needs to lose some fat. He will lose it fast with our daily runs. Too many dogs in the US are over weight and that is not good for their health. The main reasons many dogs are over weight is that they are over fed and under exercised. All dogs need daily exercise and most labs are active dogs that need more exercise then some other breeds of dogs. But since most labs like to retrieve balls they can be easier to exercise than a dog that doesn't care for retrieving. 

DOWN - STAY

Duringthe  breathing breaks on the morning run with the goft cart I started Cooper on DOWN and STAY lessons . I was able to get him to go into the DOWN position rather easy and he also started to get the idea that I wanted him to stay in that position quite fast too even when I moved a small distance away. Cooper seems to be a smart dog and so far it looks like he will be easy to train.  He likes the hot dog pieces and takes the treats nicely from my hands.

I put him back in his crate when I took my dogs for their morning walk. Cooper barked and whined while we were leaving him, but didn't seem to keep it up once we were way down the street and out of his sight.

Lunch time lessons

At about 12:30 am I took Cooper out of this crate and put in the dog head collar (a Gentle Leader Headcollar). He let me put it on without a struggle and only attempted to remove it a few times as we walked around. I like to try out different training tools on the dogs and see what they do and what works best for each dog. I also like to switch around on using the different collars so the dog learns that no matter which one he is wearing I still want him to listen to my commands. 

Cry baby

After the lunchtime lessons I placed him back into his crate. He was quiet until my son left to go down the road to my Mother's house using the golf cart. Then Cooper started to whine and bark. He continued for about five mintues and I wondered if he also had to pee so I went out to his crate. He clawed at the crate dog and barked at me. I just stood there in front of his crate until he settled down and sat looking at me without barking. Then I clicked and open the crate door. 

You have let the dog learn that all his noise and fussing is not going to make the door open any faster. If you wait each time then you wait less as time goes on.  Dogs are learning all the time and many people end up being taught to listen to their dog instead of the dog learning to listen to the person. 

Evening Run

In the evening I took Cooper for another road run. He likes to run and fast! With these workouts he will be loosing his extra weight (fat) quickly. 

If you don't have a golf cart and a quiet road to run on you might want to look into biking with your dog. There are a few different dog walking devices you might want to check info. I like the looks of "WalkyDog®" dog bike leash. These devices help you bike with your dog safer than just trying to ride along holding on to their leash.

Chocolate male lab - Cooper

My new foster dog arrived Monday evening

 

Cooper is a pretty chocolate brown male Labrabor Retriever. I think he is already adopted so he will be leaving on a dog transport to the north soon. He is just with me for a short while to get a little training before his adoption. 

Cooper was delivered to my house yesterday evening. I put him in a dog yard and he cried and barked as his first foster mom and I walked away from him. He has a high pitched bark. He also jumped up and down by the gate. I do hope is will not be like Travis and start climbing out. 

First Run

As soon as my guest was gone I pulled out the goft cart and took Cooper for his first "run along". He likes to run and is fast! But he didn't try to pull my arm out socket like Bruce -- my first foster lab. He also has pretty good lungs and stamina and was able to run faster and longer than Travis but not quite as much as hyper Bruce. We went up the road nearly to the highway and then back down the road past the pond. 

First leash work -- Heeling

I stopped from time to time to let him catch his breath and do a little heeling work with him. He pulled a first but not with a lot of force.  I would like change direction and when he pasted me by and started to pull on the leash again I would change direction once again. You cannot get anywhere walking like this but that is not the goal. The goal is to teach the dog that when he feels his collar tighten that he better check on where I am going and come along with me. Cooper doesn't seem to be a hyper dog and doesn't run pass me going full speed like Bruce started off doing. 

After our outing I put Cooper in his dog crate so I would go walk/run my three dogs and my other foster dog.  He did whine and bark a bit when I first left him and he saw me leave the yard with the other dogs. 

Dog Training Tools

• choke chain
  
• 4 foot leash
  
• 6 foot leash
  
• golf cart
  
• clicker and treats -- treats: dry dog kibble and sliced hot dogs
  

First Night

I left Cooper in his dog crate for the night. At about 10 PM I took him for a short walk around so he could pee before I went to bed. He was quiet in his crate all night. 

From Cooper Chocolate Lab