Im having a blast with this puppy of mine

He's so much fun to work with. He picks up different commands very quickly. Last night my husband was working with Buster on "roll over". He was successful several times. To add more of a challenge, hubby took a few steps back and told Buster to "come". Buster rolled onto his back and gave him a look like "What? It worked the last few times. Where's the cookies?".

We've only had this guy for 3 1/2 weeks, I cant imagine life without him. He's a therapy dog, of sorts. I was diagnosed with depression/anxiety around 10-11 years old (I'll be 30 next month). Plenty of time to have figured out meds dont work real well for me and "therapists" can be told (and will believe) most anything. Since my diagnosis, Ive always found it easiest to talk to my pups (they wont tell my secrets, after all). I knew the time was coming to either try another medication or find myself a puppy. The silly puppy stuff keeps me laughing, he's more than willing to walk with me and he provides enough security that Im not having nearly the same amount of trouble with either the depression or anxiety.

I will be forever thankful that I was lead to Buster. He is everything I wanted (plus some) when I started looking for a puppy.

 

they are fun! Loki had already learned all the basic obediance commands and was learning to pick up colored rings and put them on a stick in order. Just little things to hone in on her skills for service dog work and therapy work... ugh hope i get my babies back...

 

What a smart girl! I, too, hope you get your babies back...very soon.

My husband insisted on a puppy, I was more interested in a 1-2 year old...teething, need I say more? Im now glad I let him have his way, I would have missed so much.

 

just remember if he chews on something he's not suposed to have make sure when you take it away you give him something that he can have. That way he knows what he can and can't have and doesn't go looking for something when you take away the bad.

 

About the only thing he chews (more mouthing than actual chewing, no broken skin) that he's not supposed to is human hands & feet (he loves feet...)....we're pretty quick to distract him with one of his toys since he cant chew both at the same time and prefers to chew his toys/chewies. He's a very gentle boy, very "soft" so a mild correction is all thats needed with him.

I seriously couldnt ask for a better puppy. When we started looking we had some fairly specific ideas of what we wanted due to some animal fears with our girls (6 year old was attacked by a cat a year ago, other 3 saw the attack). We wanted a large breed (50+lbs at maturity), light color (6 year old is afraid of black/dark dogs and small breeds), 8-12 weeks. I wanted a walking buddy, my husband wanted a dog that would be calm in the house. About the only thing left undecided was a specific breed and gender, finding the perfect puppy was far more important (we'd already agreed the pup would be desexed asap anyway). Buster is everything we wanted. He walks beautifully with me (twice a day, 2/3 of a mile each time..weather permitting) and he's already very calm in the house (we though we'd have to wait a couple years for this one!). He may not be what every one considers the perfect puppy, but he's the perfect puppy for our family.

We're just a little crazy about this big boy :wink:

 

Thats all that matters is that he's Your perfect puppy...

whatever you do with him, keep it fun. Puppies and dogs respond more when things are fun and intresting.