Proud of my boy

Lizbeli

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Long read..

Lately I have noticed that Jasper is really maturing, confident, and reliable off leash. He is shaping into the dog I wanted. My past dog was a rescue who needed a ton of work. Highly reactive. After I lost him I knew I wanted to try raising a puppy and spend my days bonding and training with the hopes that I can shape him into a well behaved companion dog.

Now he is 1yr 3mths old.

In the past two months he has surprised me with loose dog encounters. We go to a park and usually play in an open field. A few weeks ago we were charged by a black lab who came so close she skimmed my leg at full speed (good thing she missed my knee). Jasper chased her when she passed me and I just stood there, yelled for him to come, and he came. Stood right by me when this lab was only 10 feet away. Thankfully the owner got his dog and there was no incident.

Today I was running Jasper. A man from behind me yelled to ask me a question and I turn around and realize its actually my cousin, how weird I haven’t seen him for years. Meanwhile, his girlfriend is about 50ft back holding the collar of a 2yr old female shepherd. He told her to let the dog go and she immediately ran to my cousin and started snapping at Jasper. I could tell it was more of an insecurity thing and/or lack of confidence. She was literally chasing Jasper, nipping and barking at him. Jasper would just walk right into her to get to me when I called him. She made contact with him several times before my cousin was able to grab her. I knew she would have bit me if I tried anything so I let him handle it.

When I left, I thought wow. Jasper was off leash getting nipped at and chased by this dog and he still focused on me. I couldn’t have asked any more from him. I knew if I let him react there was probably going to be a serious fight. A few times he turned towards her to stand his ground but I gave him a verbal correction and he didn’t lay a tooth on her. I gave my cousin a few tips so he can try to train his dog. She was a nervous type german shepherd, which is NOT a safe dog for people either, imo. I didn’t even bother trying to touch her. I bet she would have gotten me.

Now I understand every encounter can be different. But the fact that Jasper is showing me he can follow my commands under this kind of stress really makes me happy. I will say that I am not sure what I would have done if that wasn’t my cousins dog. But in a way I think me acting calm was better than me trying to kick the dog :angelic:

So to sum it up, I am proud of my dog and I love him to bits. Can’t wait to see him a year or two from now.

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Very good boy for not reacting and relying on you to handle the situation. I know it can often not go so well and then you have a lot of work on your hands to try to reverse the damage. If only people knew better to not let out of control dogs LOOSE to run up on others. I'm glad it went ok for you guys!
 
What a weird encounter with a long lost cousin!! :wacky: But Jasper was awesome and followed your lead! :dobe: Well done! You should be proud!
 
I'm so proud of you both! I love the puppy days (now 6 1/2 months) but look forward to more maturity and training under the belt!
 
I am bursting with pride of you and Jasper. All the hard work pays off and Jasper proved that.
You being calm was a huge factor so way to go!!:thumbsup:
 

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