Dogster

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Dodger Day (every day!)

He's going to his forever home!!...

Well, good news. As of yesterday, Dodger is officially adopted!!!

My in-laws have adopted him. They are TRULY great, loving people. And I really couldn't wish for a better home for him to go to. I know he will be in good hands there, and he's going to make a good buddy to everyone in the family.

Dodger will have a brother there, named Copper. He's a hyper fun loving huge -but sweet, golden retreiver. I'm sure they'll spend the rest of their lives together wagging their tails and banging them on everything in sight. He'll also have two human siblings, Jake and Jenna.

I'm sitting here in the office watching Dodger, curled up on a dogbed. He doesn't even know yet how happy he is going to be.

He's come a LONG way in the past month. He's warmed up to Jordan tremendously, and will now walk up to people to be petted. He's hardly showing any signs of fear from normal every day things. He's doing really great. I'm really proud of him. We have him for 2 more months until we fly him out to Chicago with us, and I know he is just going to blossom into a confident happy dog. We had him temperament tested last weekend and he was barely even effected by toys being thrown towards him, around him, people walking by him, people running by, people on bikes, and even a rooster named Studders (aka Studman) didn't get to Dodger. Most the time he just looked and blinked and stood still.

We let our own ACD, Flower out of the car for a bit and there she was pulling at the end of her leash choking herself. Anxious as can be, barking, lunging towards little Studman (who of course, was cockle-doodle-dooing).

Anyway, I am so happy for Dodger and for his new family. I'm jealous they get such a special dog, but I'm glad they're family so I can bug them all the time and get pictures and still visit every now and then. :)

He's our newest little circus monkey!

Dodger is now learning commands and obedience tricks for fun.

The only ones he seemed to know really well when we got him were "crate" and "No". Which is actually kind of a sad thing. But now after he does either of these things he is highly rewarded with praise or a treat, so neither has to be a "bad" thing.

He's been doing really well learning "wait" (before going out a door), "sit", "down" (lay down), "off"(off of furniture, off of a bench...) and "up up" (jump up in the air w/out touching the human, or to get into the car). The easiest way to teach him these things is with some treats, and by him watching our own dog getting treats or praise for doing these same behaviors. That is how he caught onto "sit", he learned that in about 2 days after doing a few sessions every day. Now we just incorporate it into our every day routines..

Mr. Happy

Just thought I'd give a short and quick update on Dodger.

He is doing extremely well, I've found that he trusts people he's seen only 3 times to pet him and hug him...

He is really starting to warm up to my husband, we changed a few things we were doing and it's helped a lot.

My only problem with Dodger is that sometimes he's too happy! :) It's not really a problem, I just get smacked a lot by his tail! This is a good thing. He loves playing, he loves walks, car rides, gets along with our cat, is eating on a normal basis, he's crate trained, microchipped, up to date on shots. All that good stuff.

Anyway, Dodger is doing really well. He's a big sweetheart. I've added a few new pictures.