Roko: Week 2

Day 13 was very chilly. Outdoor training was held to practicing polite leash manners on walks – of which Roko had several. Indoors, we did more work with “place” and practiced patience with some fun training games. While his mouthing has become much more gentle when he plays with humans, he still needs to learn to stop mouthing completely. To that end, I played with him several times so I could continue helping him learn. He did a great job, and the play sessions were a lot of fun.

My husband has been volunteering to take Roko on long walks so that Roko can get used to being walked by a male. As seen in the video below, he grabs at his human dad’s legs, he jumps against him, and he nips at his clothing.

Roko is holding steady on the treadmill at about 10 minutes per session at a moderate pace. He’s still exhibiting a bit of anxiety about it, but ironically, he continues asking to go on it. He isn’t comfortable with the movement of the tread, even at its slowest setting, but he loves the “walks” so much that he does it anyway.

Daytime kenneling continues to be problematic. Roko is still refusing it. He tolerates it for a minute or two, and then he starts vocalizing. When he gets no attention for that behavior, he bites at the wiring, he attacks and tries to destroy anything in his kennel with him, and he throws his body against it to try and break open the door. He is not making the connection that being calm and quiet earns him rewards.

Today marks the end of Week 2 with Roko. His family is coming today to see his progress for themselves, to start learning how to work him and how to do it properly, and – for the first time – to walk him as a family. Roko still has a few issues to be sorted out, but aside from the kennel issue, most should start to resolve as he gets closer to adulthood.