The Tristan Project, Part 2: Tristan's First Year

A Funny, Smart, Happy Hound!



Tristan, sitting, with his mother, Grania. 
Tristan has a wider stripe on his nose.

Tristan and his mother moved in on December 8, 2007.  He was four months old, and quickly picked out his favorite place in the living room, in front of the fireplace.  Seven and a half years later, that's still where you'll find him on winter evenings.



Dibs on the hearth!

He loved to run and play in the snow, and going for walks.  The living room was his play room. 

About six weeks after they moved in, we took them to the beach for the first time, on long ropes.  As usual when outdoors, Tristan was in perpetual motion and it was hard to get a picture of him that wasn't blurry.

 

Come on Mom, play with me!





 

The trip to the beach was in January.  Come March, Tristan went to school.  Obedience training was required by his adoption contract.  We completed two six-week sessions.  It was a group class, and he was friendly with all the other dogs.  He wanted to meet and play with them, but was not obsessive about it.  He didn't bark more than anyone else.  There were no memorable incidents regarding other dogs, and he learned all the obedience cues very quickly.  He seemed to concentrate so hard that he looked like he was frowning sometimes.

 

The trainer recommended a "Gentle Leader" head collar for Tristan, to keep him from pulling, to easily direct his focus back to the person on the other end of the leash, and to keep that big hound nose off the ground and all the distracting smells.  We picked one that wouldn't stand out too much (which makes it a little hard to see in the pictures).

 





At the beach again in August 2008, just after Tristan's first birthday.
The tan strap across the nose is his Gentle Leader head collar.



Grania is wearing a purple Easy Walk harness.





Tristan and Grania had frequent walks during their first year with us.  He would happily heel hundreds of times per walk (because he never quite figured out he was supposed to stay there)!  I can't say that we practiced "heel" and "loose leash walking" as we learned in training on most walks.  We wanted walking to be more fun than work, and it wasn't important to us for the dogs to be perfect little walkers.  And walking two, with one of the humans using a cane, made it a little more complicated.  But it was all good!  The dogs loved to walk, and passing other dogs did not present any problems.

Until someone flipped the switch!


NEXT POST:  Tristan's inner reactive hound emerges, and walks are never the same again!

DISCUSSION TOPIC:   Have you had a dog that developed a new behavior when s/he turned one?  Tell us about it in the comments!

The Tristan Project: Part 1 - Background

Introducing Misterrrrrr Tristan!

Sir Tristan, almost 8 years old



Tristan is an almost-8-year-old tri-color hound.  Possibly an American Foxhound.  Possibly a Treeing Walker Coonhound.  He was born in a shelter in South Carolina and transported with nine siblings and his mother to upstate New York by Help Orphan Puppies.  We think he was the runt of the five puppies who survived.

Sir Tristan of the Muddy Paws, often called "Buddy Boy" or "Misterrrrrrrrrrr Tristan" moved in with us (along with his mother) when he was four months old.  Funny, full of energy, he would rather play than eat.  And people that love hounds love his voice!

When he moved in with us, Tristan hadn't ever had a bad day (that he could remember), so we really didn't expect him to become a "project."  But between some health issues and some bad training advice that -- not knowing any better -- we tried too long to follow, a project is what he has become!  He's still what he was when we first met him - a funny, full-of-energy, mostly healthy, mostly happy hound.  But there have been some challenges that I will write about, with the objective of hoping that what we've learned might help others.  I'll also write about my personal journey, as a dog-obedience-trainer-in-training!  Tristan's helping me with that, as I'm trying to help him overcome his biggest issue - on-leash reactivity to other dogs.

I'd love to learn from you, too, so if any of my posts resonate with you and you have ideas or advice to share, please do so in the comments!