Riche -- GBNF

Riche is an energetic young (~6 mos) shepherd mix who is very very excited, quite intelligent, and lots of fun. I first met Richie several weeks ago and took him for a nice walk and had a great time with him. While he has grown a bit since then, his energy level is still the same -- he is very very excited, especially in his kennel.

So sweet and handsome!

For a dog as bouncy and energetic as he is, he does amazing well on the leash. I was shocked, honestly, because usually the ones who are that excited in their kennel tend to go all over the place on walks, but he didn't pull me at all!

Happy face!!

In fact, he not only stayed with me, but would also look to his side at me for direction. He wanted to follow whatever I was doing and go wherever I wanted, regardless of which direction he thought the best smell were!

Pensive

Richie is an exceptionally smart dog. He already knows "sit" and "come" which he exhibits very nicely with either treats or toys -- although hot dogs will do it every time with him! What we worked on today was "wait". This is a command that I love working with with the younger dogs because often they learn a command and then go straight for my hand which is holding the hot dog after they've done it and I've approved.

A very nice sit -- so smart!!

Today I would tell Richie to "sit" and once I praised him for that I would hold up my pointer finger with the hot dog hand -- pretty close to his nose/mouth and tell him to wait for it. He understood and gave me the behaviour in three (3!!!) tries. Incredible.

Run Richie, run!!

The best thing though actually was after we played in the grassy pen for 10 minutes or so, I sat down on a bench and did the routine again. He had plenty of time to forget and we were in a different place and he "waited" the first time I asked. So incredibly brilliant and easy to train! (I wish my three were that good at recall!!!)

Loving his duck toy!!

Richie had a lot of fun with his toys in the grassy pen. He absolutely loved running around with the soft toys in his mouth. See the video below for proof of this happiness!

While he doesn't know any retrieving or fetch commands, his happiness of just running around and playing with the toys makes me have fun.

All-star athlete

He is also a very affectionate dog who LOVES having his ears scratched. When I sat down on the bench he immediately came over to me to crawl on my lap and give my neck kisses as I scratched him.

If you would like to meet Richie, he's in Kennel 37 at APS and he would love to walk with you and play in the grassy pen.