Rudy #4 Yellow Labrador Retriever Male 2 Years Old ID#3249

September 27, 2024

Rudy has completed three weeks with us now and we’ve settled into a comfortable routine. His day starts around 6am, when FM comes downstairs and lets him out of his crate for lots of pets and belly rubs. Then it’s a trip to the backyard for potty time, followed by breakfast around 6:45. Once breakfast has had a chance to settle, Rudy and FM take their long walk of the day—usually between 2.5 and 4 miles, around the neighborhood or on local paved or wooded trails. Trips to the creek now involve water retrieving, which Rudy would do until nightfall if FM let him.

Rudy has discovered for himself that walking in heel position and sitting when FM stops results in lots of clicks and treats, and he now expects FM to stop at every corner before crossing the street and is occasionally surprised when she forgets to do so. He has also learned not to approach passing pedestrians, joggers, or cyclists, and is beginning to grasp that he can sometimes receive pets from strangers if he sits nicely to receive them. He’s now usually good at spotting squirrels without feeling the need to take off after them, and has become pretty reliable about not reacting to other leashed dogs as long as they’re not too close or carrying on too much. If we need to pass by another dog and there isn’t enough room to give it a wide berth, we can play a fun game called “Ready? Find it!” which involves FM tossing treats onto the ground for Rudy to find and enjoy as we’re walking.

Once he gets home, Rudy is generally ready for a lazy late morning/early afternoon, snoozing on his bed while still managing to keep an eye on the neighborhood outside the window and make sure that FM doesn’t leave the room without an escort. In the afternoon when we’re feeling well rested, we have a couple short training sessions where we practice “Sit” and “Touch” and “Chin” and “Paw” (all of which we’re now very good at!), and we work on “Lie Down” and “Bed” and “Crate” and “Leave it” and “Wait” (doing quite well) and are working on “Back” and “Get it” and whatever silly thing FM thinks up next.

Sometimes we run an errand in the afternoon—Rudy loves car rides and visits to PetSmart and he can wait patiently in the car while his person makes a quick trip into a store on their own. The other day we were lucky and happened upon the Cousin’s Maine Lobster Truck! (Even though he was a very good boy, Rudy did not get his own lobster roll.)Dinner is served around 6pm (and would be finished around 6:01pm if FM didn’t keep serving it in tricky puzzle feeders or snuffle mats just to make it last a little longer.) Then there’s usually a short walk around the neighborhood and perhaps a vigorous game or two of tug in the backyard, before we settle down to watch a ballgame, then enjoy a stuffed Kong or a rawhide alternative. After a final visit to the backyard, Rudy’s generally quite happy to settle down in his crate by about 10pm. FM usually keeps him quiet company for about 15 minutes before heading for bed herself, so we can both be ready to do it all again the next day.

Because FM and FD are retired and have a teenage son, Rudy doesn’t often have to spend time at home alone. On the couple of occasions when he has been left home alone, he has been in his crate and he’s showed some signs of separation anxiety—he wasn’t destructive or frantic, but he didn’t really settle well. We’re going to work on helping him get comfortable with short absences and returns, and expect him to make quick progress on this as he has with his other training.

We’re looking forward to meeting friends old and new at this weekend’s meet and greet at Braxton’s in Wayne on Sunday!

September 21, 2024

It’s only 3pm but we’ve already had a full day! First, we must report that the squeakerectomy was a success but the patient died. In other exciting news, we went back to our favorite creek today, and this time FM remembered to bring the long lead. Instead of just dipping his toes in, Rudy got to go for a real swim.

While we were there, Rudy seems to have discovered his purpose in life. He enjoys fetching tennis balls in the yard, and he loves galumphing around in the creek, but today he learned “playing fetch in the creek,” and it was like a whole new vista of joy and delight opened up before his eyes. He was absolutely vibrating with the thrill of it.

Then we went home and had a bath. Distinctly less thrilling, but Rudy tolerated it without complaint and now smells considerably less like creek.

We’ll be putting in an appearance around noon at tomorrow’s Meet and Greet in Spring House, PA, and we’re looking forward to meeting lots of new people. We’re a little less sure about meeting dogs, but we’ve been working really hard on reducing our dog-reactivity on our walks, so we hope we’ll be able to stay for a while and hang out with both human and doggy friends.

September 18, 2024

With a week and a half under his belt (under his collar?), Rudy has begun exploring some limits. So far he has discovered quite a list of items that we don’t want him to have: our socks, our shoes, the bamboo coasters from the coffee table, a pen, deodorant… He is usually happy to exchange these forbidden items for a favorite toy or a little snicky-snack. In theory, he knows what we mean when we say “Drop it,” but there’s a wide gap between theory and practice.

Rudy is continuing to learn the value of ignoring passing dogs (he’d rather growl and bark), pedestrians (he’d rather greet and collect pets) and squirrels (he’d rather chase). We work on this every day on our two 2+-mile walks, and we work on it in the house and yard as well.

In the meantime, he’s gotten very good at “sit” and “chin,” pretty reliable at “wait” and “touch” and at stopping his licking of a person when gently told “no thank you.” We’re working on “down,” and if FM could ever remember to have her clicker and treats handy when Rudy’s first getting up from a nap, we think we have a fair shot at learning “bow” very soon. He remains firm in his conviction that the basement is no place for dogs.

Today, Rudy received his care package from BLRR filled with exciting new toys and a couple spooky bandannas! Just in time, too, since he’s been tearing through his “indestructible” toys at a startling pace.

September 12, 2024

We’re nearing the end of our first week getting to know Rudy (and vice versa). He’s still 100% accident-free in the house (yay!!). He loves mealtimes in his crate, snoozing on his bed next to the living room sofa while FM goofs off on her iPad, and long walks at the park or around the neighborhood. We’re doing about 3.5 miles a day and it tuckers us both out, hence the snoozing and sofa time. He’s been sleeping quietly all night in his crate in the sunroom from about 10:00 PM to 5:30 AM, though he needs a little company in the room with him to get settled in for the night.

We spend some time each day doing clicker training, currently trying to reinforce the sit command and teach him to rest his chin in my hand and to get comfortable with the dog bed in the kitchen. He’s also learning to sit and wait a little way back from the door when we need to open it. He’s getting better about not bristling at other dogs on our walks and we’re working on not pulling towards other pedestrians and (even harder) squirrels. Other than those temptations, he’s gotten pretty consistent about keeping a slack leash.

Rudy still alerts and barks at passing pedestrians, dogs, and loud trucks when he’s in the house, but the reactions are getting less intense, especially during the daytime. Once it gets dark out, he’s more likely to bark at things outside that get his attention.

Among his accomplishments in the past day or so: lying down and or staying put in a room where FM isn’t (getting ever so slightly less Velcro) and sticking his nose over the threshold to the basement. He also got a nice little wade in the creek this morning!

September 8, 2024

Day 3 and Rudy continues to be delightful company. Last night he slept in his crate in our sunroom and it was a peaceful night for the most part. I kept him company, sleeping on our futon out there. Tonight we’ll see if he’ll sleep quietly in the crate while I go to my own bed.

We’ve been discovering we have a lot of likes and dislikes in common. Dislikes: the washer and dryer, brooms, vacuum cleaners and yard work. Likes: car rides, long walks, cuddles, learning new things, naps, strawberries and blueberries and hot dogs. We have a difference of opinion on the hair dryer—Rudy’s not a fan while I don’t particularly mind it. He remains leery of the basement. On the other hand, he’s much more enthusiastic about chasing tennis balls than I am.

He’s also starting to believe that he doesn’t need to alert the whole house when an interior door opens, a neighbor comes home or departs, or a dog walks by outside. He’s not entirely relaxed about it all—he’ll still startle and investigate—but he’s less inclined to bark and fuss. Right now he’s snoring away on the dog bed next to me.

September 7, 2024

Yesterday I brought home this lovely almost 2-year-old yellow male Lab, who spent the last 4 months in a shelter in Maryland after his owner abandoned him.Rudy was a delightful passenger for the 45-minute car ride home, staying calm and easy in the back seat once the car got moving. Once home, he explored the house and the yard, met FD, our teenage son and a couple of our son’s friends who couldn’t wait to meet him. He was friendly with everyone and loved getting pets and attention, but he never jumped on anyone.

We started work on clicker training and he quickly figured out that click=treat. He seems to already know “sit,” though he’s not always quick with it, and he started picking up “touch” in short order.

Rudy has been a dream in the house—no accidents, and just goes politely to the back door when he needs a bio break. The nice folks at the shelter sent him home with a couple of tennis balls and a plush duckie (actually, I think it’s a chick, but I started calling it his duckie so now it’s his duckie). We had a number of toys already here for him to sample as well, and he has enjoyed carrying each one around and chasing, tugging, chewing or squeaking it as appropriate. He did a pretty thorough job of shredding the red Kong wobble to get at the treat inside, so it’s black Kongs from here on out for this guy.Rudy quickly took to eating his meals in his crate. I’ve only closed him in the crate once so far, for about 20 minutes while I did some stuff around the house, just to get him used to the idea. He took it quietly, though he didn’t really settle.He’s very Velcro-y so far and really wants to be where the people are all the time, though he draws the line at following me down the short flight of tile stairs into our finished basement. He handles the wooden stairs to our second floor with ease, so I don’t know whether it’s the tile surface of the steps or something about the basement that makes him nervous, but he is very much not interested in going down there. Just the door being open makes him uneasy.

We went for a couple of short walks around the neighborhood yesterday, and a long walk on a paved trail nearby today. He was a bit skittish at first when walking along a road with moderate traffic, but seemed mostly to acclimate to it by his second walk. On the trail, I found he was inclined to react and bark at other dogs on leash. I had the clicker and some treats with me and this behavior improved very quickly with a little bit of effort. He also found my water bottle alarming, so I left that in the car while we walked.He’s right here at my side, trying to wait patiently for more pets while I’ve been typing and occasionally interrupting me to demand them when his patience runs out. All in all, so far I’d say he is a very good boy who should fit easily into the right (catless) home.