Teddy

At less than a week after the Black Friday Sale, the shelter was nicely low on dogs.  Everyone had already been walked so I took the suggestion of the volunteer coordinator that Teddy would really appreciate another outing.  He is young (two), mostly Catahoula Leopard Dog with just a dash of Pit Bull mixed in and very eager.  He greeted me happily at the back of his kennel  jumping up on his hind legs but when I said sit and  slowly opened his door just a little,  he immediately went down and sat quietly.  He was  a little timid about getting harnessed but a few treats did the trick.

Teddy was excited to be getting out again but when I told him to sit, just outside the shelter door, he was in a sit looking up at me before I could get a treat out of my pocket.  I usually let a dog relax a little in the exercise yard before doing any commands but both yards were occupied.  We began our walk into the desert immediately.  After a few minutes, with Teddy trotting briskly along, I slowed down and said his name.  He stopped immediately turned around and looked at me.    I did this several times - same result. Each time he did this he earned a treat, according to Meredith, it is a very important part of obedience training for the dog to look at you when you say his name.  Further into our walk Teddy found a big bone, I said "No", he slackened his jaw while took it out of his mouth and replaced it with a treat.  A few minutes later he found another one, I said, "Drop it", he complied and received another treat.  Amazingly in just a few more minutes he seemed to be going for another big bone, it was a root!  He absolutely knew it was a root, he was just trying to fool me into giving him another treat!  When I called him on it, he just wagged and came back for a pet, not really wanting the root at all.  

On our return we had the exercise yard to ourselves.  I started with basic sit and down, Teddy of course is perfect.  We progressed to fetch, perfect again, dropping the ball right at my feet sitting eagerly waiting for the next toss.  Then I tried  the run out and catch the ball in the air, perfect again.  Teddy is so smart and eager to work.  He also likes other dogs and, according to his profile, cats.  Teddy has been at the shelter for a few weeks possibly because he does not have a fluffy cuddly look, but whoever  adopts him will probably consider themselves the luckiest dog owner ever for the rest of his life.  What a dog!