Another Moku Thursday!

Liz R. Kover
Sep 17, 2015
2 min read

Daily CHALLENGE & ACTiViTY Summary

Dog’s name: Moku

Date: Thursday, September 17th, 2015

Physical Fitness

Today it was quite challenging to get Moku up and moving around; he seemed extra tired. He did swim a fair bit, approximately ten lengths of the pool, which was great. I used the bungee leash to help keep him on track. After that, I took him and Clancy for a walk around the block (.6 mile), as the weather was nice (78 degrees this early afternoon). In spite of the cooler temperature, and the fact that he was still wet from swimming, he was quite sluggish, and almost seemed to struggle to make it around the whole way. He had a runny poo just before we got back to the house, so hopefully he is feeling okay! We were up and moving again at The Mission, as we take multiple walks around a small sidewalk/track, which is approximately .1 mile around. But for most of the afternoon, I had to work extra hard to keep him from doing anything but sitting or laying down.

Cognitive Fitness

Today, we attempted to finish the Memory games on Dognition.com, but didn’t get through this section. Reason being, while I have managed to skirt the “two person” rule thus far while playing these games, this particular one was virtually impossible to play with only Moku and myself; we will need to pick up with it at a later time when I have a second person assisting. In the meantime, we switched tracks a bit and did some beginning nose work. This entails learning the command FIND IT, as associated with “finding” treats (or toys, if one’s dog prefers), first in plain sight, then in boxes or hidden away throughout the house or yard. Moku did well with the game, except that it was very challenging to get him excited enough to want to get up from a DOWN position in order to play. I am guessing if I had used chicken or steak, rather than blueberries and dry jerky treat bits, he may’ve been more enthusiastic.

Social Fitness

Besides his usual interaction with Clancy (which I wish was more involved…they typically sort of “play around each other” vs. with each other, and Ginger (and Nixie, for the ride back to her foster’s house), Moku had tons of interaction with all kinds of dogs and people at the Mission, including two new dogs he had yet to meet. Moku became quick friends with one of the two newcomers, an Aussie mix named Emma. She was immediately drawn to him, and they made very cute playmates! The other dog was out of her mind over-stimulated, barking and yapping like a mad-dog! Moku ignored her. He did great with all the other dogs, and also as a demo dog for me when I was explaining the basics of clicker training to the guys.

Emotional Fitness

As always, being at the Mission and handled by “strangers” is a great exercise in emotional fitness…nurturing independence, confidence, and Moku’s ability to be comfortable in a variety of situations. He does great in this regard!

Primal Fitness

See above re: “nose work”.