Puppy For Sale/Rent

Yellow Labrador Puppy For Sale: Five and a half months old, housebroken. His name is Cooper, but should be easy to modify since he doesn't acknowledge it. Price is negotiable because he may be hard of hearing since he fails to respond when called; he just sits and stares. He has been trained to lie on the sofa and will occasionally sit on command. He has a calm demeanor and requires minimal exercise - a brief ten minute ZOOM around the yard usually tires him out. Only a few phobias remain, he recently overcame a fear of the bathtub and we are now finding it difficult to keep him out. 555-1234

We took Cooper shopping last night which he was less than excited about. He wanted to stay home with Monte and eat dinner. So as payback, he refused to lie down while Lisa and I were evaluating gift options. It was actually very good practice for him and me. The store was rather busy and as usual we are on display, so I had a choice to make: let him get away with his disobedience or feel stupid because my dog "in training" won't even lie down. I imagine parents face this dilemma on a daily basis.

I chose the latter and we "trained" for ten minutes until he would DOWN on command. It took a lot longer because I didn't have any motivational aids, no treats. I had to laugh because at the next store he was lying down almost before I said anything. One might think that it was superb training on my part, however, he was just really tired and preferred to lie down.

Cooper does not like bath time. He has had a fear about entering the tub and sits like a statue when bathed. This is actually good behavior, however, it is easy to tell that he is mortified, not compliant. For the last week I have been coaxing him to enter the bathtub on his own. We have used treats and used Monte as a mentor. Yesterday, he finally jumped in by himself. After playing in the water a bit, he found he enjoyed it. Now we can't keep him out - I have created a water monster.