Copper

Copper was our second foster dog through Austin Dog Alliance. I didn't write a blog about Copper while we had him, but I thought I would now. Austin Dog Alliance adopted him from a shelter in Buchanan Dam TX because his personality shows promise for becoming a service dog.

When they adopt a dog, he/she always goes to a foster home for 2 weeks just to de-stress and get healthy if needed. In Copper's case, he was stressed from being in the shelter and he was severely underweight. He also needed to get neutered before he could move up to ADA and begin his service dog training.

He came to our house and it was pretty apparent that he had never lived in a house before, he wasn't house trained and didn't even seem to understand that when I hold a treat in my hand, I want to give it to him. But he adored Jeff and I from the start, followed us around the house, always hung out right by us. We had to put his crate in our bedroom so he would sleep at night.

Copper is very sweet and has a great personality, he loves to play fetch, loves to play with Roo, and loves to play in water.

He clearly had never been taught anything, before coming to our house, but he's smart. I was able to teach him to sit, and we got him house trained in the 2 weeks he was with us. He's working on polite leash walking and chilling out around other dogs at ADA now.

He gained almost 6 pounds in the 2 weeks he was at our house, he got neutered, and he seemed to gain energy and feel healthier in the time he was with us. It was pretty cool to see the difference in just 2 weeks.

Copper moved up to Austin Dog Alliance on July 31st and since we were there for my party on August 5th, we got to see him. He looks great and his trainers agree that he's very smart and a fast learner.

Good Luck with service dog training Copper!