Nubble

Even though Nubble is over 70 pounds, he still likes to squeeze into Gizzy's crate, sometimes while Gizzy is inside! He just lays down and curls himself into a little (well, big) ball. He has his own, much larger crate, but he seems to like the smaller one.



His puppy raisers took him to Cabela's, a huge hunting, fishing and outdoors outfitter. It was a good outing, although Nubble was pretty excited. Not only was there his normal excitement at being on an outing, but a thunderstorm was brewing and it was extremely windy outside. The Cabela's decor includes real stuffed animals, and Donna was sure that Nubble would have a hard time around the animals. But he surprised her. He behaved his best around the animals! He did bark twice at some of the deer, but that was it. The store was full of people, and Nubble was very attentive to Donna. They practiced up and all the way up on the benches in front of the fish tanks. However, they didn't stay there very long. Nubble loves to swim, and they thought he might want to jump in with the fish!

In puppy class, the Northeast Division has been working on shaping. Meg, the SSD coordinator in the Northeast, brought in a collapsible tunnel, and Donna worked with Nubble to shape him to go through it. Shaping is a learning process for both the puppy raiser and the dog, and Donna and Nubble are starting to get the hang of working together to shape a behavior. By the end of the session in puppy class, Nubble was putting his head into the tunnel!

Nubble always lets Donna know when he needs a break from a training session. He simply lays down and that's it!

Nubble and his puppy raisers had their puppy evaluation. It went well. "I was happy with the progress," says Donna.

Nubble is on his way!