Little Zen is 1 year old today! It seems like yesterday I came home from Slovenia with this guy! He is an amazing dog who gets along with all kinds of people and dogs. He loves to train and works just as well for food as with toys. I cant wait for our journey to continue!
Development
From the day he opened his eyes, he has been a charmer. Everyone he meets is charmed by his polite ways and proper language. He always seems to know how to pose for the camera as well.
Friends
When it comes to making friends, Zen have a fantastic language and seems really skilled at reading other dogs. He usually gets most dogs to play with him and if they prefer not to he knows when to leave them alone.
Training
Whenever I have a puppy we usually train several times during our day but its more a part of our daily routine than set training times. I will reward when the puppy waits for my signal to come out of the crate in the car. I will reward the puppy when he balances on a log during a walk. I will reward the puppy when he drops something he is carrying because I am showing a treat. When Zen came home he was already well trained by Tina, so he knew a lot of stuff like leash walking, sitt, wait, recall and so on. I kept training this stuff in addition to balancing, staying with distractions, wait for his turn, remain calm around other dogs/animals and fitness training.
Socialication and new places
Zen was pretty confident in new places, because Tine had done excellent work during his stay with her. The week I was in Slovenia Zen came with us everywhere without any problems. Back home in Norway we visisted new places every now and then, sometimes alone with me and sometimes with other members of our pack.
