I went there with the intention of just looking.  The kennel was clean and had a lot of fenced pens for the dogs to run and play.  The owner welcomed me and offered to show me the puppies which were 9, 8, and 7 weeks of age.  The 7 week old puppies were in the first pen I approached.  This cute ball of fur ran up to me and started pulling on my shoe strings.  I looked at all of them and moved on to the see the other litters.  I liked one of the male pups from the nine week old litter. But keep in mind, I was just "looking".  As I walked back past the pen with the 7 week old pups, the puppy that had pulled on my shoe strings was sitting by the fence looking up at me and started jumping up and down and barking.  I spent some time going back and forth looking at the litters and the parents, all the while debating whether I wanted to buy one or to keep on looking.  Once again as I passed the pen of the 7 week old litter, the same puppy was still at the fence.  I walked into the pen and he ran over and sat down between my legs and looked up at me as if to say, "I've picked you, now pick me".  The rest is history and for the last eight and half years Jack has been my companion.

 

Jack was the ideal puppy.  He never chewed on anything but his own toys - no horror stories of gnawed up shoes or getting in the trash.  I knew the fundamentals of obedience training having had a lot of dogs in the past. I started basic obedience training with him and he was a natural.  He learned so quickly it was amazing to watch.  I took him to a once-a-week for six weeks puppy class and we graduated with flying colors.  I say "we" because the instructor's method was to train the owner to train the dog.  From there, we moved on to the advanced class of off leash and incorporating hand signals.  (I incorporated hand signals from the start in training my other two dogs.)  The key to obedience training is "proofing" the dog.  Jack would perform every command without flaw - until a person would walk by or a he would see a squirrel and then he would break the command.  However, over time and with a LOT of practise, he has become a well trained dog.  (Okay, he still has his moments)  Everyday as we walk and at other times throughout the day, I run through the obedience commands with him, Kelly and Summer to reinforce their training.  Everyone comments on how well behaved my dogs are around people, (Summer is still learning), and I credit their behavior to the constant on-going training. 

 

Jack loves to retrieve - a tennis ball!!  He will direction and blind retrieve a "dummy" if I insist, but he has an "okay, if I have too" attitude about doing it.  But bring out the tennis ball and he will retrieve for hours.  He loves to swim, sit in my lap, and is very content laying at my feet while I do paper work at my desk or sleep at the foot of my bed at night.  

 

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