One of our beautiful Misty x Laddie boys, Copper, returned to us at the age of 8 months for a couple of reasons which have not reappeared in the 9 months since we've had him. We happened to be in the area, so picked him up on our way home from vacation.
Authority was established in short order when I placed him in a sit, which he did, but then immediately attempted to rise from that position without being released. I gave a quick leash correction, he stayed on his fluffy butt, and thereafter accepted my direction.
This was our very first assessment walk shortly after receiving him.
We drove to a relatives' place prior to leaving the city. Everyone he met he loved, rolling on his back for belly rubs, etc. He was happily excited to greet and tried some puppy jump ups, but was easy to correct. He listened to commands without treats. He heeled well most of the time, with occasional simple corrections - if I'd had his training collar on, he would have needed even less than he got, which was minimal.
Please NOTE **with all videos, select the bold blue link, then click on the thumbnail to open fully**
At our first rest stop after heading home with him. Copper was not entirely settled but his whole world had just been turned upside down, so that's reasonable. Intelligence and his quick response to authority were demonstrable as he stayed sitting without me having to correct him after that first 'sit' (& auto wait) refresher several hours earlier, shortly after receiving him. Good boy! Copper had one instance on the way home where he showed quiet unease. That was while we were at a travel stop on the first day and a thunderstorm was blowing in. He still sat and waited, but his eyes were concerned as he looked around. I don't find that abnormal, though, given that shortly afterwards, the skies opened into a full-on deluge, with water running all over the parking lot about 1" deep within seconds of starting so the storm was significant, and very close. He stayed sitting here in spite of his discomfort, not blowing up nor freaking out at the end of the leash / trying to run away like some dogs do with thunderstorms.
Of course, we placed him in the truck just before the rain started. On day 2 of our trip home, this was Copper's first intro to water with me. I'm not sure of his previous experiences elsewhere. He was fine with a lady sitting on a lawn chair in the water off to the right in the videos, but briefly alerted to a man who joined her. I found him reasonable and guidable in his response.
During this time, I engaged in a little bit of water play with Copper, both to begin bonding but also to transition from his alert to the newcomer. Basically, ignoring them while being in the same area & having fun, normalizing the situation. We continued our excursion and moved out onto a dock. Yes, I ignored my camera man 🥴 Copper gave a soft growl as he was unsure what something was in the distance (people on the dock). I felt leaving at that point in time would send the wrong message. Rather, I wanted to expose him to what he was concerned about, so continued onto the decking. After the 1st guidance in regards to what behavior was expected right at the beginning he did fine. He was interested & wanted go see them, eager to make friends, but he listened to my direction the entire dock walk, with no more vocalizations. While there, I introduced him to the water off the dock; he showed typical puppy curiousity. Then, when it was time to leave I switched directions to encourage him to keep his heel on a loose leash since he was eager to go see the other people on the dock. He heeled nicely past them, then I slowed the heel near the bushes since slower heeling tends to be a lot more difficult for a young pup to maintain without pulling, but he did well.
After the excursion, I was walking him back to the pickup, when behind me from the pickup right beside our truck, came furious snarling and thunderous barks.
Well, doggo was in a truck, but you get the idea... lol
Copper responded with a look, and a quick bark / growl. I deliberately quelled my own start of surprise, refusing to respond as if the noise were anything different than normal but told him to 'leave it', and 'heel', which he did while we just kept on walking at the same pace we had been, right past our truck. I was very pleased with his prudent and obedient response. When the dog roared so nearby, hubby quickly told me he'd move our truck, so I just left that other dog and our truck for him to deal with. Afterwards, he told me that it was a large, unleashed, unsupervised pit type dog hanging out the wide-open window of the truck. He could have lunged out onto us at any moment. So, I'm glad hubby was there to intercept if it had been needed, but thankfully, Copper just quietly moved on with me, the situation was defused, and nothing happened.
Later while I was waiting for hubby to get some food, Copper softly woofed with a bit of a growl when another dog on leash hopped out of a vehicle ~20' from us, but nothing over-reactive, still completely re-directable. After the correction / redirection, he just sat and quietly observed the dog, and was praised for such. I was alone with my phone accidentally locked in the truck, so didn't get a chance to video it.
Copper traveled beautifully - not a peep the entire time in the crate in spite of spending 2 days and a night in it except for potty breaks and the one adventure walk.
My notes during the trip were that, "Overall, I haven't found him to be fearful or shy, however, I think, as with all puppies, he'll benefit from continued exposure to new activities to build his confidence further and expand the situations in which he feels comfortable."
I can now further attest that I have seen no issues thus far. He has grown into a HUGE, smiley boy who is young enough to still be a bit of a goofball at times. That being said, I'd love to take him BACK to a big city when he's fully mature to observe him further.
On Sept 5, 2022, I brought Copper out of quarantine for the first time since arriving here and did some heel work with the distraction of Opal, an introduction to one another, and a down stay. He tried sniffing the ground at first, but was corrected for it and did not persist with that. Meeting with Opal. Her hair looks raised a bit on her shoulders, but it's just squished up by the 2 collars she's wearing. Copper Heeling Vid 2. He needed a few corrections in a row with this one. He was ramped up a bit from playing with Opal (and she had been put away for a while at time of video as their behaviour made me suspect that she was coming into heat). And then she ducked up behind him to sniff his butt, so he wanted to turn to face her. But he ended up acquiescing to direction. Once he did that, I gave him the first treat he's received from me since I brought him home. Start of down stay. Down stay. Somewhere in between these vids, the wind blew plants against our screened in porch, creating a scritching noise. He briefly low growled lightly under his breath, while sniffing the air trying to figure out 'what was there'. I looked, told him it was nothing and to quit. He did, and that was the end of that.
Towards the end of down stay. In all, we did it for about 25 min. A good first lesson. None of it was perfect, but he did very well considering the newness and distractions. At that point he wasn't yet bonded to me, so that was a future development in progress. I also encourage more eye contact with specific activities, but I wouldn't and didn't expect him to do that right out of the box.
Copper 16 mos & Gemma - 11 mos
(*Note - you might want to reduce your sound volume for several of the following vids)
Then, on October 3rd, Copper and Gemma got to meet for the first time. That was fun :)
I swear, Gemma has springs for legs, lol.
My impressions last fall state that, "So far, I find Copper alert and athletic - but not hyper or overreactive - as well as curious, friendly. He's got a decent off switch. We'll see if he becomes more reactive as he develops territoriality around here, but as of yet, I haven't seen anything abnormal or concerning. (May 2, 2023 Edit to add: nothing yet!) Imo, he's a young pup who is curious, alert, and needs continuing exposure to fun and safe experiences with clear rules for manners and responses to further develop confidence and awareness of appropriate and acceptable behaviours in many different scenarios. So, pretty much like most young working dogs. But ime, he's doing fine for his age thus far."
Copper 16 months old
In January, I did some work exposing Copper to our neighborhood wandering tomcat with some 'Look at that' sessions. I'm not aware of him having much - if any - exposure to cats elsewhere, so this is his first cat afik. He has a couple of full brothers who were raised with and have cats as best buddies. But he will be a work in progress since he views this new creature as a property invader and therefore expendable. The link above was an impromptu session because I happened to be there when the cat decided to come calling. I was prepared with the long line the next time I arranged a meeting of the feline kind.
We've also done some 'away' and 'come by' practices. Here was his third session. (First and second exercises were impromptu without the camera along). As you can see, training is not straight forward in results. There are both successes and opportunities to learn.
His fourth session was great. We were able to extend the distance and change the direction.
I'm really appreciating the build and overall temperament of this boy, even if he still has some maturing to do. At only 16 months of age, Copper is now bigger than both parents; they tend to throw big'uns! I see both parents combined beautifully in him, but it's clear that his sire, Laddie, definitely doesn't drop them far from the tree!
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