Moku's Busy Day

Daily CHALLENGE & ACTiViTY Summary

Dog’s name: Moku

Date: Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Physical Fitness

I brought Clancy with me to pick Moku up, and the two boys ran around the yard for a few minutes. Mostly, Moku followed along behind Clancy as Clancy did his typical “perimeter check” in any new or unfamiliar area. Moku, Clancy and I pack-walked around my ‘hood, as usual. Also as usual, Moku trotted along, but somewhat sluggishly. Once we got home, however, and he got in the pool, he became a furry little tornado! He plowed through the water with fervor and speed, and then got out and ran around the yard! I LOVE seeing that!

Cognitive Fitness

Moku and I worked on expanding his ball-rolling skills today. Specifically, I wanted to see if he could generalize the concept to different contexts, besides simply rolling the ball directly to me. I used a skateboard deck as a target, at first sitting in front of it and having him do his typical ball-roll in my direction. Then I moved, and indicated that I wanted him to hit the target that was behind me. Then I moved the board to a different location in my room, to see if he would transfer the behavior to the board when it was set up in a different space. He got it. I know he did…though by the time we got to the end of the exercise, he was getting silly and distracted. We’ll keep working on it.

Social Fitness

Moku’s social activity today revolved around Clancy. I love that he rallies around his buddies when he senses they are uncomfortable or nervous. While in your yard, Clancy was a little nervous (as he is in situations anywhere outside the comfort zone of home). Moku sensed this, I think, and stuck close by.

Emotional Fitness

After I picked up Moku, I had to run into Von’s (which ended up taking probably ten minutes). When we pulled up and parked, I noticed that Moku didn’t go into his crazy-excited mode, like he typically does as soon as the car engine turns off. When I returned to the car, he and Clancy were comfortably and calmly dozing. Moku’s mellowness is so sweet and so reassuring in moments like these. This aspect of his personality definitely balances out the “bull in a China shop” element.

At home, while I worked on my computer, Moku curled up right at the foot of my chair. My room is huge, and there is a comfy dog bed across the room from my desk. But he just wanted to be close to me. Over all, it was just a pretty quiet, emotionally comfortable and comforting day.

Primal Fitness

Swimming in the wintertime. It’s the moments when Moku hops in the pool with reckless abandon, while I’m bundled up in gloves and a scarf, that I remember how deeply ingrained swimming is in a lab’s genetic code.