Puppy Mill Survivor: Cole's story - The River

This is my 6th installment in Puppy Mill Survivor: Cole's story.

Since he did so well with me in the morning walk, I decided to take my chance and have both of them at the same time off leash on the walk for the afternoon. Cole this time was more interested in hanging out and being with Lucy. He would still loop back to me to be at my side. But he was following Lucy’s lead more. Her first lesson to him was how to pick up scents. I had noticed earlier Cole wouldn’t track or stop at any scent he found. Could be Cole was reading the air with his noise, which is only reliable to a point. Dogs can pick up a scent a mile away. Lucy was teaching him to sniff the ground and follow the scent.

Cole would be walking along at my side, Lucy would be slightly ahead sniffing around, and then it was as if Lucy was calling him over to where she was at. Student Cole would willingly oblige and run up to her. She would sniff a certain area, and then back up so he could sniff. She apparently was communicating what it was and if any action was to take place on their part. Sometimes Lucy would look up at the trees after picking up after a scent, looking for the evil squirrel offender. She isn’t one to go after birds, as if she knows she can’t catch them at all. She is positive she has a chance at those squirrels tho.

Cole was alternating his time between Lucy and I. He would run up to her, learn what to do and how to sniff properly, then back to me. Next was his second lesson with Lucy; water.

Labs are the only breed that will actually go swimming for the pure enjoyment of it. They just love swimming, well most do. There are always a few that are rebels and deny their water loving inherited tendencies.

We went to the first section of the river with access to the water. Lucy ran down to get a drink. I tried to get Cole to join her, he wanted to, he was excited about the idea, but not just yet. He was too afraid.

Then we went to the second section, Lucy ran down and got into the water. Cole ran down and right before he got to the water, he ran back to me. He wanted to go into the river, but needed to think about it first. I encouraged him to go with Lucy into the river. He thought about it, then ran back down, this time getting his front paws wet. Then he ran back to me with a very excited look on his face. He now really wanted to go in the water but was still too unsure of himself. Then, it was as if he just closed his eyes and RAN. He head right into the water, all the way up to his tummy. He was walking back and forth in the water, looking up at me for approval. He just loved it. It was the first time he had ever been in a body of water and he was thrilled. He was beside himself with joy.

We went to the third area that was accessible. This time I wanted to see if he would retrieve a stick from the water. I picked up a few sticks to bring down with me. When we got to the river’s edge, I picked up one to throw it. Cole became very afraid of me and backed up to the side of the hill. I was afraid that he would run away, but he sat there and watched. I threw the stick into the water and Lucy retrieved it. It seemed she liked showing off for Cole. She would then bring the stick up to him, try and get him to tug with it. He didn’t understand at all what she was trying to do. He watched us for about 30 minutes throw and retrieve sticks. He then slowly started walking towards me, knowing I wasn’t going to hurt him at all. I don’t know if the puppy mill owner hit them with sticks or what, but he really didn’t like that stick in my hand at all. He slowly got accustomed to the water, walking around in it and drinking it. I would throw sticks in the water just for him, only about a foot into the water to see if he would retrieve. He just looked at it and then at me blankly. We continued our walk and he got into the water every single chance he could. He had awakened his inner labby to the water.

His diet change of the tummy sensitive kibble with yogurt was working out for him. He was continuing to add a pound or two a week. He was still having lunch at daycamp.

They kept him and Lucy separated while inside at daycamp. He was still getting very over excited when he would see me and start jumping up and down. We kept trying the ignore posturing with some success.

On one of our river walks, we ran into Milo. An unaltered chocolate lab, about 1 yr old. He and Cole met, they were appropriate, but then Milo did the dominate humping on Cole. Before I or Milo’s owner could pull Milo off Cole, Lucy intercepted, she had become very protective of Cole. No one was going to be dominate of Cole in her opinion. Not even her. I praised Lucy for her quick action and protecting Cole. Milo tried it a few more times, each time Lucy scolded him off. Cole was still very submissive and didn’t know what to do. I comforted him and told him he was a good boy and could speak up for himself.

Cole was going into the water, but not showing any interest in retrieving yet. He still loved just being in the water, playing around a little bit. Lucy would still approach him with a stick in her mouth, at times it seemed like she was trying to shove it into his mouth. She wanted him to play tug, it still wasn’t registering with Cole.

A couple weeks into his fostering, he was slowly getting better about going in and out the front door. I still needed to straggle myself between the main door and the screen door. He would then bolt right through the door. He still refused to go down the stairs into the basement living area. Even with lights on, biscuits lined the stairway, he would refuse. If I brought him in the back way, he would stay down stairs for a bit, then run up the stairs if something startled him. His coat was already looking better, more silky and filling in for a thicker coat.

He was starting to improve in his swimming skills. He would now go out to try and retrieve the sticks. Lucy or another dog would get there first, but he was trying. It broke my heart when I would see him go out with the other dogs, then feeling defeated when they out swam him and he returned to the shore without it. I would throw sticks for him close to the river’s edge, so he would get the idea of retrieving. One day he was going to get there first and retrieve it.

When there was a group of us, Cole would watch the other dogs play together. Cole would insert himself a bit, but he didn’t know all the doggie games yet. It helped him tremendously to watch all the dogs play together, he saw how they played and interacted with each other. He was coming out of his shell more with other dogs.

He was now started getting over excited when seeing his leash and/or harness. He would start jumping and barking when he would see me pick it up. He loved going to the river and he loved his walks. It would take several minutes to calm down enough to get the leash attached. I was happy that he was now excited about a harness and leash, but he was way too over excited. He almost hit me a few times with his head and did nip me a few times in his excitement.

No matter how calm I was, or anyone was, during transition time, he would become over excited. Whether it would be going for walks, or at daycamp, the river, he would easily become over excited. As if there was no in-between to him. He was not able to control his emotions yet. He would literally go from being calm to jumping and barking in a second. His mouthing behavior was becoming more of a problem also. He would nip anyone near him sometimes when he became over excited. When he would nip me, I would give a yelp, letting him know that hurt. He would respond to that and back off a bit.

Finally, the day came. We were at the river with some friends and their dogs. We were throwing sticks, the other dogs went in too high to retrieve one of the sticks, Cole saw it go downstream and he went for it. He finally out swam the other dogs and retrieved his first stick!! I was watching him swim out to get it and I was so proud of him. I actually had tears in my eyes as I watched him swim. We were all cheering for him! Then I panicked, he still didn’t have much muscle tone and was new to swimming, what if he couldn’t swim back upstream? My friend calmed my fears and said he would be ok, and he was. He so proudly carried that stick in from the river. Lucy ran up to him, wanting to play tug but he still didn’t understand, he immediately dropped the stick when she tried tugging. He then had his confidence. I waited until the other dogs would go after a stick, then throw one just for him. He really started to show he had quite the style in retrieving. He would run out to get the stick, leaping over the water and then he would dive after the stick in the water, like a seal going after a fish. He would proudly come up with the stick in his mouth and swim back in.