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.
Roo did his therapy dog training through Austin Dog Alliance, so I learned a lot about their programs. Aside from working with schools, libraries, hospitals, nursing home, etc to set up therapy dog visits, one of the major things ADA does is train service dogs for veterans. They usually find dogs in shelters who show promise as service dogs and then train them. Pretty cool!
Not every dog is able to complete service dog training, it's pretty intense, and a dog has to be just about perfect to be a service dog. Luke is one of the dogs who showed promise, but didn't quite complete the training. I believe his downfall in service dog training was that he loves other dogs too much.
I told ADA that we'd be willing to short term foster a dog for them from time to time. Short term at ADA generally means about 2 or 3 weeks. About 3 days after I told them this, they asked if Roo and I would come up and meet Luke and think about fostering him. Luke and Roo got along well at the meet and greet, so home we went with Luke!
ADA says Luke is a Labrador/Shar Pei mix. He does love to retrieve and he's got lots of cute wrinkles around his face. But I think he may have some Australian cattle dog (Red Heeler) mixed in too. Some friends who've seen him say "yeah, for sure he's got some red heeler" and some say "no way" so who knows. But whatever breeds he is, he's very sweet and very smart.
Luke is well house trained, he has not had one accident in the house. He is crate trained and does well in the crate for as long as 8 hours at a time. I usually have to guide him into the crate rather than just telling him...who wants to go to bed when there's fun to be had!?!
Luke came to us knowing how to sit and lie down, and quickly learned to shake paw after watching Roo do it a couple times. He's very smart, learns quickly and is motivated to please people.
Luke loves to play fetch and he's learning to drop the ball/toy in your hand when he brings it back. But for now, I mostly use 2 balls, which makes him drop the first one at my feet immediately when he brings it back.
Luke is also great at walking on a leash nicely. He generally wears an EasyWalk harness for walking (that's what Roo wears too) and he rarely pulls at all, it's pretty impressive! I've also taken him on 2-3 mile runs and he LOVES that.
Luke loves to play with toys, but he needs the indestructible kind. He thinks all squeakers must be removed! He has done really well with West Paw zogoflex toys, rope toys, Benebones, and Galileo bones.
Luke also loves to play with Roo. I think Luke would like to live in a home with another dog, but it should be a fairly high energy dog, as I think Luke might annoy an older or low energy dog. I think Luke would also love to have kids to play with. We had him at an event last weekend and he loved meeting all the kids and was very good with them. He actually had a little girl at his last foster home.
I would say Luke is moderately high energy. He loves to play and go for walks or even runs, but he also loves to lie down and cuddle and watch tv with you. He'll chill for hours in our office chewing on a toy while Jeff works.
Luke is really smart and learns quickly. I think he would really enjoy getting to do something like agility training or nosework. Luke is a great dog and just waiting to find his forever family. If that might be you, please contact Lindsey@austindogalliance.org
