Moose is a 7-month-old Golden Mix that the owner had for one day. The minute they walked into their home with Moose, the resident Dachshund tried to bite, snap and growl at him. Moose did not respond, just backed up. They realized that until they can get the Dachshund socialized, they cannot have a second dog. Moose was in good health but needed all his vaccines, tests for valley fever and heartworm and had to be neutered. He was a wild child and we hoped the neutering would calm him down some, but he was still crazy energetic and untrained. We initially placed him with a foster who had a puppy and cats. It didn’t go well – Moose was too much for the puppy and wanted to chase the cats, which was unacceptable. We moved him to a single woman who had no other pets and was able to give him the attention he needed. We told her we would pay for her to take him through basic obedience classes at Master’s Kennels University near her home, so she enrolled him and spent 6 weeks learning to work with him. When asked for a follow-up story, she wrote:

From the moment I had my home visit to the time Moose/Cooper was brought to my house, was very quick. Since mine was technically the fourth home he was in, I found out that it would be necessary to have stringent training to break him of some bad habits he had developed. He didn’t respond to “Moose.” I decided he looked more like a “Cooper” than a “Moose” and spent a lot of time getting him to come to me using the name of Cooper. He loved running from the get-go which was something my flower garden did not tolerate very well. However, putting up hog panels deterred any further destruction. He was super resistant to get into his crate (I think maybe it was used as punishment) Big Comet snuggling with little Blitzen and it wasn’t really a place of solace for him. So again…more training to get him to feel his “den” was a place of peace and rest. We quickly started professional training which curbed his naughtiness in many areas. He gets bored when he doesn’t have anything to do, and it’s in those moments that he looks for trouble. He still struggles with wanting to chase after bunnies or cats, so we’ll be starting a beginners 2 class soon which will hopefully curtail those impulses. He loves the tub. I say the tub because he loves baths, but he also jumps in it almost every day and “digs” at the drain when there is no water in it. I’ve found him many times on his back trying to get water from the spigot. Cooper loooooves to eat. This helps when trying to train him since treats seem to catch his attention. He doesn’t really bark, which is wonderful; he’s more curious than aggressively protective. But, he certainly does have his sassy moments. I’ve been working on “place” training with him – he has a designated mat and when I say “place” he should go to the mat and stay there until I release him. His sass means he sometimes howls and “talks” at me until I shush him. He absolutely adores people and getting all the love and attention he can get. It’s really hard to be mad at him when he is bad because he is so darn cute. I have to keep reminding myself he’s only 10 months old and has a lot of growth yet to come. Everyone who meets him loves him (as he’s one big fuzzy furball of love and excitement) and I have no doubt he’s going to continue being an amazing dog! I found that he even likes watching TV, specifically the Muppets. I put on a Christmas special and he was glued to the TV. He loves his walks – we try to go 2-3 times a day. He gets to do all the sniffing he wants for the first half of the walks. Then we get serious and work on our training (which he doesn’t mind because he is rewarded a lot for doing well). He loves playing tugo-war, and he’s getting better at dropping toys so I can throw them for him. If I have to crate him during the day, he is getting better about going into the crate with a Kong filled with peanut butter. When I get home, he doesn’t whimper or bark, but waits for me with a sweet look and a wagging tail. He is a wonderful addition to my home. He has certainly found his “fur-ever” home!

Carrie has enrolled in the basic 2 class where she says: He’s/I’m going to keep getting better with training. He still pulls a little with heeling but he’s such a quick learner.

We wish all our adopters would take their adopted dog through basic obedience! Cooper is much better behaved now that he know who is boss – and that isn’t him!