Moku's Thursday at Frisky Fitness Camp!

Daily CHALLENGE & ACTiViTY Summary

Dog’s name: Moku

Date: Thursday, October 8, 2015

Physical Fitness

Moku got in lots of exercise today! First thing in the morning, we walked around the block with Ginger and Clancy, which equated to .8 miles. Then, Moku swam, ran around (and I mean actually RAN around! See video for proof!), and played like crazy with several dogs who came over for the afternoon (including Moku, there were 9 dogs here; you won’t see the three little ones because they were napping under the kitchen table on the cool floor tile while the big guys were outside pup-partying).

Cognitive Fitness

We worked hard on commands at The Mission this evening. In fact, Moku was our model student – showing the other dogs how to give their handlers eye contact when it is requested, sit, lay down, touch, and wait on command. He truly is so well-behaved at the Mission, so good on his loose leash, so lovely and friendly with the other dogs.

Social Fitness

We definitely dove into the social side of things today! Friends of mine, who are rescuers and who take a big group of dogs on pack walks in the mornings, had an emergency: one of the rescues they were walking took off, and vanished into the Kern River Parkway for the entire day and night (luckily, he went to someone’s house and is safe and sound now). But in order for my friends to be out looking for this guy in the heat, I brought their grip of (6) dogs to my house, to spend the afternoon with Moku, Clancy and Ginger – which made for a total of 9 dogs. Moku was just one of the pack. He especially liked playing with 6 month old Hershey (perhaps he sensed a fellow chunk of chocolaty love in this other brown puppy). They ran around the yard and played like puppies do. It was really fun to watch. I love that Moku is pretty much “foolproof” around other dogs: even keeled, open and friendly. At times I think he is a little TOO sweet, and the other dogs chase him around some. But he holds his own, and also knows he can “throw his weight around” (literally), which keeps his confidence up. Over all, he is just super sweet, mellow, and a great buddy to anyone who wants to play with him.

Emotional Fitness

For the couple of hours I was out with my friends looking for the lost dog, Moku had to stay at (my) home in his travel-kennel. I left him (after a nice walk) with a bowl full of ice cubes to both cool him down, and give him something to focus on as I left the house. It may not be a big deal that he was alone for a few hours. However, I count it as “emotional progress” when a dog is able to chill by himself, in a home that isn’t his own, either in the bigger space of my room, or in his zipped up kennel. He is able to generalize his “okay-ness” about spending time by himself, regardless of whether he is at home or somewhere else (at least such is the case here; granted this is his second home). To me, this means Moku is a confident boy – because the people in his life have communicated clearly to him that they/we will always keep him safe J .

Primal Fitness

See above discussion re: the Super Pack Puppy Party over here! Moku also did lots of swimming, along with two of the other dogs…racing to bring one toy or another back to the steps alongside Lucy or Sonar. It was/is always so fun to watch dogs interact, especially when there is a whole group, and their dynamics are somehow more accentuated.