At nine weeks of age on Jan 23, 2022 Cedar joined our family and quickly stole our hearts. We celebrated his first birthday on Nov 22, 2022 (that’s a lot of two’s). He is now a teenager in dog years.
Our little fluffy puppy has certainly grown up. He is now about 45 pounds (almost the max weight for a male of his breed) – his webbed paws have fully formed, and he has a thick double coat of fur. With his ‘Toller’ markings and bright shiny orange colour he gets a lot of compliments whenever we are out walking.
The first few months were challenging – setting boundaries (aka, puppy proofing the entire house), sleepless nights of taking him out to ‘potty’ every few hours, endless walks and playtime so that he would give us a few minutes of rest, and OH My those razor sharp puppy teeth – he was very mouthy (apparently that’s a retriever trait). But, all that was expected and although frustrating at times, we knew the ‘puppy’ would quickly grow up, so we often reminded ourselves to thoroughly enjoy his; energy, awkwardness, curiosity, and that new puppy smell (of course). It was such a treat watching him discover the world. We used every opportunity to give hime exposure to new places, people, things, and he was a very confident and curious pup. For a few months we took him to a weekly training and agility class where he excelled. We got some great training tips and Cedar came home exhausted from the brain games and exercise which was perfect.
Once the crazy puppy days were behind us, we all settled into somewhat of a routine consisting of 3 meals, 3 walks, playtime, and training every day. With Cedar getting bigger and being more socialized and obedient, we were able to go on longer more challenging hikes. We did a little camping and even managed to get him out in the canoe. In June (when dogs are allowed back on the beaches) beach time became a favourite place for Cedar to run and chase sticks – and an awesome way for us to really tire him out. He was nervous to actually go in the ocean and swim but eventually, one warm summer day, we decided to go swimming and he followed us into the water.
When he was eight months we embarked on a long road trip in our camper van. We knew Cedar was a great traveller, always settling in his crate, waiting to arrive at the next fun destination, but we had no idea how three months on the road would go over. He was a trooper. Chris had trained Cedar really well to recall and walk off leash and with his eager to please attitude and trust in us, he proved to be a great nomad. He is not prone to barking, although the breed is famous for what is called a “toller whine”; he became very good at demonstrating this if we left him alone in the van. Of course, whilst travelling with Cedar, we soon realized that we needed to change our travel habits, stopping more frequently and not driving as many hours per day. Finding places for the night where we could walk a dog, and re-arranging the van to find room for his crate, food, toys, etc. took a bit of time to get right, but we figured it out.
Back home after three months, Cedar now older, well travelled, and having been with us 24/7 in a small van where he had to learn down time, is now a calmer pup. He still needs his three walks (or more) every day + play time + training, but in between the activities, he now settles beside us for a bit and allows us to do our own thing for brief periods.
He is down to two meals a day now, along with snacks for training, and the usual after dinner treat that he always gets while we eat our dinner. We continue to feed a holistic diet, and since he is so food motivated, this works out well because we can use no calorie veggies and fruits to rehydrate him on hot days, and use as rewards without worry about overfeeding him.
Training is built into his day at every opportunity and that will always continue – although it will become less training and more ‘doing his job’ as he get older. Cedar has been testing his limits while out on trails lately, running farther ahead than we would like, sometimes getting a scent and losing us (not a good thing in these woods); it’s that teenage thing rearing it’s head, so we really have to watch him now and are reinforcing his recall and heel as much as possible.
In January we start a new training program. It’s specific training for therapy and service dog teams, and we will do a six week session. At the end we will be evaluated to see if we will make a good team and will go from there. This was the plan when we decided to get a puppy instead of an older rescue dog, so it’s exciting to think we may make it happen.
Well, time will tell what the next year with our pup will bring us. For now, he keeps us active and on our toes, amuses us with his funny faces, and allows the rare snuggle which is a special time.