June 2020 was a bit more back to “normal” for us. Zooka's training continues as well as our exposure to the world around us.

With things starting to open back up a bit more, we were able to get out more and do some more normal activities with certain restrictions to keep everyone safe from covid-19.

While we are normally booked pretty solid with boarding dogs for the month of June, we were not this year due to limited travel as a result of the pandemic. But we did have some visitors, which Zooka was thrilled about.

He loves having friends here to play with for a few days at a time. In the summer, they tend to play a lot in the morning, nap a lot during the hottest part of the day and then play again in the evening when it cools off again.

We got a few more outings in this month. We had not been to Home Depot since before everything shut down. It was fairly busy when we went, and Zooka was clearly stressed, so I had to be careful about overdoing it with him. I tried to find empty aisles to work in. He had trouble sitting, which normally is about the easiest behavior there is for most dogs. When I would crouch down to him, he would climb on me which he normally does not do. It was clearly a stress signal from him along with some stress yawning. I got him as calm and focused as I could and then we nixed any additional stops. That was enough for him that day.

We were back to Polite Pooches Class this month so he is back to practicing his manners in public locations AND manners around other dogs. His toughest challenge is usually staying focused around other dogs. So, it's been a big challenge for him but also a necessary one. One day he will be a rock star, but that day is not today!

Zooka spotted his first bull snake this month. He was in our back yard and started barking at something. It was clearly a bark that indicated to me I needed to find out what was going on. He was worried about something. I went out to find a bull snake a couple of feet OUTSIDE the fenced yard. It had captured a baby bunny and was coiled up around the poor thing.

Zooka immediately recognized something that was not “normal” for us. I do not know what he would have done if it had been INSIDE the fence, but my guess is that he would have reacted similarly.

I was able to redirect and get him inside until the snake was gone. I would be perfectly happy when he spots another snake in the future, if he keeps his distance and barks. Only time will tell if that will be the case.

We took a day trip to the mountains, did a hike at Kenosha Pass then drove around and made shorter stops in Breckenridge and Frisco. He did well and enjoyed getting out. He does not love riding in the crate in the van, so we are continuing to try to do some fun trips with him.

The hike at Kenosha Pass he loved. He was doing well. . . until he spotted a squirrel. Let's just say his focus diminished significantly after that. But he sure enjoyed himself!

We met up with a friend for a walk on a stretch of the Highline Canal Trail. He was super excited by all the bunnies along the trail. I seriously have never seen SO MANY bunnies on that stretch of trail ever. Do I really need to tell you that is leash manners were not stellar? You already knew that!

However, he did well with dogs passing by. We pulled off to the side and waited for dogs to pass by. This has always been hard for him, and he handled it pretty well. So he does get points for that!

We continue with our training every day. Though he does get a meal once in a while out of his bowl (that would be when Ed is in charge of the meal, of course!) he still works for the vast majority of his meals. We continue with things like Eye Contact/Watch Me, Wait, Stay, Sit, Down, Stand, Spin/Twirl, Around, Heel, Front, Finish, Swing, Weave, Figure 8, Over, Under, In, Mat, Touch, Target, Lift, Sleep, and probably a few others I am forgetting at the moment. Some he is very fluent with, some less so.

We also continue with our nail trims. We use the filing board for his front nails so he can trim those himself. And I trim the rear nails with the clippers. He does not love nail trims, but he generally cooperates well if I catch him when he's relaxed but not sleeping.

When we leave him alone now, we have transitioned to leaving him loose in the house for up to a couple of hours. Probably around 2.5-3 hours is our longest so far. He seems to do well without being kenneled. We have seen no destruction and no excessive barking.

We are definitely still dealing with that adolescent brain. He is doing better on our daily walks, but still needs more work on listening and being able to focus. He checks in well most of the time but is not reliable on his recalls at this stage.

While he does get to be off leash on walks at home (we mix off and on leash) he is not ready for that on hikes away from home yet. While I am confident he would stick close if there were nothing to chase, he is NOT yet ready to be off leash if we encountered deer or similar animals out on a hike away from home.

You might already know what I am going to say next. . . Over all, he is doing well, but we still have lots of work to do!

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