One year ago...

One year ago today we adopted Pepper. And boy, he has changed during that time. The little teenage rascal has turned into a wonderful companion.

For giggles, I'll revisit this post from January 6th:

"Walking on the leash - A (as in awesome!)." - Yeah. I had no idea what "awesome" really means ;). In this year we've gone through a plethora of harnesses to find the one that works best for him. His problem is, as always, his nose: 

 When he smells something he MUST follow that scent, and that means a lot of back and forth (and often a "let's just see how this tastes" finale). In addition, he was super-excited when he saw other dogs. So to combat both we had him on a Halti/Gentle Leader for a long time. During that time I practiced the "Leave it" (treat), "Come" (treat), and "Pepper, watch me" (treat) over and over again, until he did all of these on the loose leash, at least when there were no other dogs around. I then switched him to various chest harnesses (he hated all of them), continuously practicing the "Watch me" (treat) when we encountered other dogs. And by now he's on a flat collar. No pulling, typically. If he gets a bit too excited I can always call him back to me to ease the tension on the leash. Pretty remarkable. I'd call that an "A" now.

"Riding in the car - A." He was (and is) pretty good with that. We did have the occasional climbing over the back seats to see if there's more fun in the front area of the car, but a safety barrier took care of that too. He usually just sleeps while we're driving. Good :).

"Being calm in the office so that I can get some work done - B+. Being alone in the office or his room - B+" That has improved significantly. I still have his kennel in my office, just in case, but he hasn't been in there for a good half year or so. A simple "Not now." usually does the trick. And no barking or whining when I leave the office. He usually just takes a nap under my desk. So, up to an "A" from a year ago.

"Feeding time - by now A-." I can move that up to an "A" without hesitation. He walks (sometimes runs) to his blanket and waits patiently until I tell him to "Take it". We've also switched to exclusively feeding him from his kong toys - he LOVEs them. And it keeps him busy for a while.

"Lastly, moving around freely in the house while respecting the kitties: C+." I'd bump that up to an "A-". He has gotten much, MUCH better, but every once in a while he is still interested in chasing the kitties up the stairs. Rarely though. And, I can usually call him away from that. By now, Abby and George have also begun slowly approaching and sniffing him. In another half a year or so things have probably fully calmed down here.

So yeah, all in all we couldn't be happier with him. I'm very much looking forward to taking him backpacking next year!