Day Seven with Foster Dog Bruce

Sunday - but we still work on training

In the morning I walked Bruce up the road to the pond. I figure he can be off lead next to the road since he is able to focus so well on the ball. There is not as much traffic on this road on Sunday. Bruce did fairly well with keeping a loose leash on the walk to the pond and I did do some recalls when he forgot. The command COME is an important one that should be consistently worked on.

Bruce LOVES the pond and the ball fetching. If his new owns can bring him to pond, lake, or other waterway often he will be in heaven. Bruce is bit too much in a hurry to leave to get the ball that he sometimes doesn't notice where I toss it. I kept changing the spot in the pond where I threw the ball so he would learn to watch where I tossed it. He is still chomping too much on the ball and it is still hard to remove it easily from his month. I am now asking for a sit each time before I try to take the ball from him. I am also clicking for when he stops chomping on it for a second. It will take time for him to learn to have a less active mouth when holding the ball.

I had family over today and Bruce did a lot of barking as we where working in the yard and he could see us, but was in his dog yard. After a long while he did shut up, but would start again if I past his yard while going to get tools. He does need to learn more self control and it will come when he see that the barking just doesn't get him what he wants. From time to time when he was quiet I would bring him a few dogs kibbles and ask for a sit and click and treat.

In the evening I played ball in the yard with him. He got too hot and went and jumped in my goldfish pond with his ball. My largest fish was upset and nearly jumped out the pond. I will have to keep Bruce out of my fish pond.

Good News

My golf cart is fixed again! Bought a part at the store yesterday to fix it. So now I can use it once again to help exercise Bruce.

I have been having some Internet connection troubles and it is hard for me to get online and update this blog. It is especially hard to add photos to it. Hope this problem ends soon.

Fostering Bruce now day six

Saturday - rainy day

With the rainy morning I didn't exercise any of the dogs. As I took care of my ponies and did a few other outside chores Bruce barked and whined wanting to try to demand my attention. I just ignored him. When he finally shut up I and went and feed him.

By evening the clouds were still thick, but it was not raining so I walked Bruce on a six foot lead through the woods to the pond again. Without his morning exercise he was extra hyper, but he did control himself rather well and didn't try to drag me down the wet trail. I did a few recalls when he put a little too much pressure on the leash.

At the pond I asked for a sit and then took out the tennis ball - a new one I just bought today since I didn't have time to look for the one Bruce lost yesterday. Seeing the ball he grew even more excited. For about five minutes I played fetch with Bruce tossing the ball both in the pond and on land. He is fast and was able to jump and catch the bounced ball a few times. I wonder how he would do with a Frisbee?

He did choke a little on the pond water from time to time. He also chomps on the ball too much while trying to give it back to me and he pinched my fingers a few times. I also started to ask for a sit before attempting to take the ball back.


Down needs more work

I asked for a sit and then a DOWN before tossing the ball. Bruce sits very fast, but is having a hard time with down while playing ball. He is just too excited. He also still flops on his side for the DOWN command. He will need to get better with DOWN without the distraction of the ball.

The mosquitoes were out in large numbers and really starting to bug me so I cut the playtime short and started to head home. Bruce kept wanting to find where I had the ball and tried to circle me a few times. I shorten the leash and asked for more attention and for a heel back down the trail. I also keep stopping and asking for a SIT which I would click and treat.

Back in my yard I let Bruce back off lead and tossed the ball for him some more. The rain was holding off if not the mosquitoes. I also tried DOWN a few more times and he did do a bit better with them now.

By the way, I was told that Bruce has been adopted and will be traveling up north on Thursday April 23, 2009. I do hope he will have owners willing to keep up his training and give him enough exercise.

Lab and pond they go together

Friday - fifth day - the pond

I dug out my extension leash, six foot leash, and tennis ball, clipped on my treat bag, then went to get Bruce. As always I asked for a sit and attention on me before I clicked and opened the gate. This time instead of letting him straight out I blocked the opening and waited for him to sit again before clipping on the leash.

The exercise outing planned for this morning would be to walk Bruce down a wooded trail to a large pond on my neighbor's land. This pond was a bit bigger than the one right off the gravel road and I didn't have to worry about letting him off lead and him getting in the road. We don't have a lot of traffic, but do get enough to worry about the dogs loose on the road. I didn't know yet if I would let him off lead or not, it would depend on how attracted he would be to the ball and pond.

I asked Bruce to stay in a heel position until we came to the trail through the woods. He was very good at keeping the leash loose most of the time. Once on the trail I let him go ahead of me to the end of the six foot leash so he could do some good sniffing of whatever passed along the trail before us.

If he kept only an ounce of so presser on the lead I would keep walking. But if he pulled harder on the leash I would quickly start to run backwards and pull Bruce towards me while saying the word, COME. This was the start of his new recall/come lessons. Once he arrived in front of me I would ask for a sit then click and treat. Then we would travel on again until he pulled on the leash and then I would repeat the come lesson. He was very excited about the new smells along the trail and also did some marking.



Once at the pond I asked for a sit and had to ask again before Bruce in his excitement over seeing this large pond would give me any attention. I replaced the six foot lead with the 27 foot extension leash. Then I clicked and let him go into the pond. He ran right in until he was swimming. I pulled the leash a bit to lead him to circle round and back to the land. He came out coughing from water he swallowed while swimming.

Once he finished coughing he want to ahead back info the pond. I wouldn't allow him to return to the water without first having him sit and look into my eyes. I would then blink-click and allow him back into the water. I took the tennis ball from my pocket and when he came out of the water I showed it to him. Well, he must have played ball in the past because he got even more excited and kept jumping up. I would not toss the ball until he would sit to the command SIT. I tossed it into the water just a few feet off shore. Bruce quickly fetched the ball and returned to me.

He was chomping madly on the ball and jumping up on me wanting to give it to me. I couldn't get it out of his month without in countering his moving teeth. He would have mangled a duck retrieving it.

Well this water retrieving was Bruce's passion! He was so excited about it that he had a hard time giving me any focus. When he couldn't see the ball - it was right in my hand -- he would run around in a frenzy sniffing the ground and water looking for it. Calling him did nothing. I had to wait for him to finally get a sniff of the ball in my hand before he could focus enough to hear my sit command.

Bruce is a fetching fool!

With each toss he got better about refocusing back on me once I had the ball. It was also getting a bit easier to take the ball from his month without getting pinched by his teeth. He also stopped jumping up to try to give me the ball back. Unlike the day before with the sock game each and every time he would return the ball all the way back to me. He didn't want any treats right now all he wanted was the ball tossed so he could retrieve it again. After he became entangled in the extension leash for the second time I removed it. I could see that he would not take off -- this game was way to much fun.

I threw the ball near, far, high, and low, on land and into the pond. I was soaking wet along with the ball and Bruce. It was a bit too early in the morning for good light to take photos. I will have to try for photos in better light.

I also asked for DOWN but Bruce had a hard time with this. He just didn't want to lay down in his excited state. I wouldn't toss the ball until he finally laid down. I repeated the down lesson a few more times until Bruce would lay down quicker. We will have to work more on this again.

I hope whomever adopts Bruce from Labs4Rescue will take him swimming often. Many labs love water and retrieving. Once we returned home and I put him in his crate and took my dogs for their walk Bruce didn't whine and bark for as long a time when we walked out the gate. He is learning that fussing doesn't make me run back and that I always return. And once back while I cleaned his dog yard he didn't whine and bark but just watched as I worked. He is learning self control.

Evening fun - Bruce is not a tracker

I worked late on the computer and it was nearly dark before I noticed. My son found our cat and brought her inside and I let all the dogs loose but Lobo my shepherd. Bruce ran around the yard sniffing and then back to me. I had a tennis ball so I asked for a sit before I tossed it for him. We played fetch. He attention was on the ball and he didn't pay no mind to the other dogs in the yard.

The ball bounced into the crawling iris ground cover and it took Bruce a few minutes to locate it by smell, probably because of his excitement. But then later he went into the wood area and came back out without the ball. For the next ten minute he ran around the whole area yard looking for the ball but couldn't never find it again. It will turn up, but I have had dogs in the past that would have found it very quickly using their nose.

I put the dogs up and gave them a raw beef bone.