growing up

From the first moment I picked Mango up, I had people telling me that he would never quite grow up, that once he reached maturity (six, seven months old) that he would become unruly. Their reasoning stems from the fact that Leader Dog puppies aren't allowed to be fixed. All puppies are potential breeding stock, so they don't let any be fixed until they come back to the facilities once his year in foster care is up.

Personally, I have found the exact opposite to be true. Mango has been fantastic, calming down substantially. It was last Tuesday when I first noticed the change. We opened up our living room, because we felt with him being older and done teething, he would be less likely to chew the cords or destroy the furniture. And you know what? We were right. Now we can trust him without having to worry that he'll run off with a shoe, because even if he does you can call him back and he'll give it to you without a problem. He tends to have less accidents in the house, and rarely goes off running around like a madman. Although he still has problems trying to get at the cats, saying "leave it" results in him leaving them alone and coming to you instead.

Most of the major frustrations have gone away. He's stopped trying to dash and get away from things; he's realizing his place as a member of the family, but he still has to listen. He comes every time you call him, and although he still has troubles being perfectly consistent, all that can be fixed from more work with him. He still tries to jump on people, which is a BIG problem, however I will admit that I haven't been working with him as stringently as I should be. Besides this, however, he's being really amazing.

Although he still tries to eat small things like erasers, he's much, much better at giving these things up. I'm not sure if everyone in the house finally clicked to become totally consistent or if he just grew up, but whatever the case he's becoming amazingly well behaved. His loose-leash walking has hardly any problems, and he doesn't bite or bark anymore. He's finally becoming a Leader Dog.