# New love



## Scooter's_Mom (Feb 1, 2012)

Some of you remember my posts about Scooter, adult rescue mixed poodle and his long list of health issues. I posted shortly after his passing and pretty much left this site for a while. My heart ached terribly for my buddy but for quite a while it seemed like there would never be another that could make my heart melt. Then it happened....I started missing having that furry kid around my feet, my little shadow. Hubby gave me the go-ahead and I started looking for a new addition to our household. It only took a short time and I found a litter of pups at our local shelter. So, in December, we adopted a little black ball of energy, named Nikolai (Niko for short).

Niko is a border collie mix (we think with lab) and is an absolute joy, bundle of energy, mess and holy terror all mixed in one. He is so smart and loving, somewhat different than what we were accustomed to, and oh what a handful! Can you tell he's a mess?!?!? 

I'll probably look for a B.C. group to chat with but wanted to pop back in for a brief moment just to say that the heart does heal with time. I still miss Scooter. I miss my Max (he's crossed the bridge 7 years ago) but I wouldn't have them back in the conditions they were in. They did what they were put on Earth to do... 

The first pic was "gotcha day" and the second was a trial run attempt at a short hike in Mammoth Cave National Park. He did so well that first day except for the episode of car sickness on the way to the park....

That being said, if anyone has any suggestions on how to handle college class work (returning after 28 years), a full time job and a bundle of energy pup, please fire away!


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Niko is a cutie and with. Border collie in his DNA he’s going to keep you busy. With a full time job and college classes does that leave you any time to take training classes with Niko? 

If you can carve out a little time each day for training (in between tv commercials or a break in homework) that brainwork will help temper some of his energy. You can also teach him some games/activities for exercise in the house when the weather is poor outside. Flirt pole and fetch are good. Training the basics like sit and come are important but you can add tricks for fun. 

Good luck, you definitely have a lot on your plate.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I’m happy you found a new furry companion in your life.

This is going to be so much work, but how rewarding !


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

Niko is a really cute puppy and bc are so smart. Good luck juggling your time. I know my daughter had/had and will again have difficulty juggling her time just between roy and school. She recently failed out of her RN nursing program in the last week of school by 1.4 points and cannot retake the semester, without working a lot during school her cash is low so she must work full time, pay down a car loan then reapply to a different program. She cannot go back for RN but can do LPN and later bridge, otherwise she has a 5 year wait. Ugh..Well you will do it! It will be tough in the beginning until things fall into place.


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## Molls (Apr 26, 2019)

Good luck with Niko! He’s a cutie! 

It’s hard to balance puppy training with a full schedule, but the time spent will definitely be worth it.


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## Scooter's_Mom (Feb 1, 2012)

Skylar said:


> If you can carve out a little time each day for training (in between tv commercials or a break in homework) that brainwork will help temper some of his energy. You can also teach him some games/activities for exercise in the house when the weather is poor outside. Flirt pole and fetch are good. Training the basics like sit and come are important but you can add tricks for fun.


Can you tell me a bit about flirt poles? That's not something I'm familiar with. 

We haven't thought about taking any training classes yet, but that may be coming soon. We do spend plenty of time working with him because we could see the wheels turning in that pretty little head of his early on. He gets one on one time with both of us (me and hubby) throughout the day as I'm the early bird and hubby comes home for an hour at lunch everyday. He loves to play fetch and very quickly learned sit/down before we would toss his toy. We are also working on learning other commands, stop and stay are his hardest (and most important) but will get there, I'm sure. Until then, he is rarely off leash/line because he can dart very quickly. Kennel Up has been his most recent learned assignment and is progressing nicely with it. We did try out our local dog park and he learned to traverse some of the obstacles very quickly but, this park is not a great park so hubby might have to build me my own set here at home.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Scooter's_Mom said:


> Can you tell me a bit about flirt poles? That's not something I'm familiar with.
> 
> We haven't thought about taking any training classes yet, but that may be coming soon. We do spend plenty of time working with him because we could see the wheels turning in that pretty little head of his early on. He gets one on one time with both of us (me and hubby) throughout the day as I'm the early bird and hubby comes home for an hour at lunch everyday. He loves to play fetch and very quickly learned sit/down before we would toss his toy. We are also working on learning other commands, stop and stay are his hardest (and most important) but will get there, I'm sure. Until then, he is rarely off leash/line because he can dart very quickly. Kennel Up has been his most recent learned assignment and is progressing nicely with it. We did try out our local dog park and he learned to traverse some of the obstacles very quickly but, this park is not a great park so hubby might have to build me my own set here at home.


A flirt pole for dogs is basically a sturdier version of a teaser pole you use to play with cats. You can make your own or buy one. I've seen instructions using PVC as the pole and at one of my dog training clubs, someone made a nice one using a fishing pole - the fishing pole works great in the training facility because you can really set the dog off running after the toy that is attached to the end of the fishing pole string. Plus this fishing pole has the cutest little squirrel toy attached to the cord running through the fishing pole. Here are some for sale at Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=flirt+po...507380&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_7jrzoqaaxb_e

You do need to train first so the dog learns to sit, wait, and watch before they are released to chase the toy. You also need an ending to the game so the dog releases the toy once they catch it. The dog expends some nice energy and excitement chasing and catching the toy.

He sounds like a fun loving, smart little puppy.


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