Earning his keep

It has been a long time coming but Rocco is finally calm and social enough to work for his keep.

His joins me at work almost everyday to help socialize, exercise and analyze client dogs. From his body language I am able to discern a lot about the other dogs. Having a calm and social dog around really is a great tool for helping other dogs find the same peace.

Rocco has even come as far as to play with many new client dogs, including some that were too reactive or nervous 6 months ago. Pictures to follow soon.

New house, new friends.

We moved again, this time for the better. We are out of the country and back into the small city life. The dogs have a fenced in yard for the first time which is wonderful but comes with its own set of challenges. Rocco is sharpening his skills by working hard to ignore the dogs and people as they pass by our yard.

Today a good friend helped us work on some training in the yard. Rocco was rewarded by a nice romp around with a small schnauzer mix named Lucy. They played like old friends, and even shared a stick together.

Rocco is a completely different dog than a year ago. It's amazing what a little structure and exercise will do for even the most neurotic dogs.

working dog

We are now past pregnancy and baby G is nearly 8 months old. I have returned to work and Rocco's life has taken a wonderfully modern turn.

After a year and a half of hard work and socilization he is finally ready to get to work. He spends his week days walking, playing and sniffing with client dogs and his weekends sunbathing and baby licking.

He is still nervous around some new dogs, but everyday is an improvement

Sharing

Rocco is very good at sharing with his cat friend Rudy

And Little Dog