Tonka

Hi Becky, Thanks to you we met Nancy Gallant of the Cocker Rescue. Through your email messages and photos along with Nancy's, we were able to adopt Tonka the Cocker in Battle Creek. This little guy shows us that in his former life, he was very loved. He is happy, healthy and a joy to have. He is better trained to commands than our Vizsla, Stuart, the one we raised from puppyhood. Socks, our other adopted dog, is beautifully trained too, but Tonka is the champ. His first family did a wonderful job with him. Every day we discover something new about his personality. Within a day or two of arriving, after he adjusted, we found out that Tonka is crate trained. No dragging or cajoling, you just say "it's time for you to go to bed" and off he trots into his crate. He doesn't beg for food and only plays with his own toys. His house training is like clockwork; we were able to train him to a doggie door within 5 tries using a clicker and kibble, (while Stuart the Vizsla took 5 months!) All of our dogs are getting along very well. Our two residents have greeted him as a true part of the pack. Tonka is really getting use to our long daily walks. The beauty of this guy is he does not need the leash. He will walk no farther than 10-15 feet away from you. Then just one "Tonka come" and he zooms right to you. He snuggles up with one of us at night on the couch, eats fruit and vegetables (!), can catch a ball like an agility champ, can shake your hand, knows sit, stay, down. After a little false drama, he allows his ears to be cleaned and his teeth to be brushed. He loves getting a bath. He is an absolutely wonderful dog whose first owners did a very nice job of training him and have got to be heartsick that economic circumstances forced them to give him up. Once again we want to thank you for keeping us in mind when Tonka became available. You and your Mom did us a terrific favor by working with us to find the right match, since we needed a dog who would fit right in with our "beta" dogs. Now all three of them are good friends and not one of the dogs tries to dominate the other. It's a fascinating thing to see a new dog enter the pack and watch your other dogs watch and learn. Our first two have certainly taken a new interest in tennis balls since Tonka arrived. And after watching Tonka eat carrots and apples, Socks, now eagerly accepts them. We'll see you at the picnic. We are looking forward to visiting with you again. Very best regards, Floyd & Nancy Prospero, Gaylord