Welcome to the September 2024 edition of ZENFULdog of the Month featuring Tula! Tula is a black and tan Shepherd. She is short and stalky so her pet-mom, Alanna, playfully calls her a “pocket shepherd.” Tula is Alanna’s first dog and is beloved by her pawrents and the ZENFULdog Training community.
Tula
Age: 5 and 1/2
Meet Tula’s Family
(Tula’s pawrents): Tula is very loved by both of her pawrents. Alanna, her pet-mom, feels that Tula is the best dog she could have ever asked for—she is her world. Tula's dad thought he wasn't a dog person until he met Tula which is when he realized he actually loves dogs.
Alanna adds: “Tula's dog mom is her favourite. They have a special bond like no other until her Dad comes home from work and then mom is chopped liver unless she has a treat in her hand. Tula loves her grandpawrents very much and is an angel with them.”
Tula's Personality According to Alanna: Tula marches to the beat of her own drum. She is loving, sassy and will do anything for a treat. She loves people and food. Tula is socially awkward with dogs but wants to love them.
Alanna Shares The Most Unique Thing about Tula: “Her ability to be goofy and aloof while being so smart at the same time. She will run full speed into a wall in the house, fall up the stairs or down them, trip on the stairs and then act like nothing happened. Clumsy but indestructible.”
Tula's favourite Treats/Foods according to Alanna: Tula loves ‘people food,’ especially pizza—she will steal it from your hands if it's in her proximity: “She will sit beside you and politely beg while you're eating...and sometimes not so politely haha. She loves all treats, especially her Denta bones.”
Tula’s Favourite Activities: Tula loves to sleep. She is an excellent sleeper and tries to put her pawrents to bed if they don’t go on time.
Tula also loves:
Parkour.
A good sniffari walk.
Paddleboarding but her version: where she tries to paddle with you, tries to eat the seaweed and then falls in which is followed by her climbing up your leg to get back on the board. Then she repeats all that as many times as she can while out on the board.
Snowballs! She will abandon any treat or any toy in favour of a snowball.
Alanna Explains how Tula Unwinds After a Full Day of Activity: Tula is not the most relaxed animal, she needs help to unwind: “We help her by putting her into her crate with a treat, putting on music and sitting on the couch beside her crate. Tula loves her people and takes her job very seriously in protecting us. When she is in her crate she knows she can relax and not guard the home—Sargeant Barkers is off duty if you will.”
If Tula had a human voice: Alanna believes Tula would sound like the small but mighty thrill-seeking celebrity Tom Cruise!
Tula’s Training
Tula has been training with ZENFULdog Training for at least two years. She takes Private Training classes and goes on the Pack Walks. She is also working toward being part of Group Training Classes.
Alanna Tells Us How Training Has Shaped Tula: Tula went from being a scared dog with little training to a dog who can now go for walks and see another dog with minimal reaction and recover much quicker after being triggered. She also went from being a bit of a difficult dog where her pawrents had to avoid seeing anyone when they were out of the house to walking through Canadian Tire!
“ZENFULdog Training changed Tula's life. She is now fulfilled mentally and physically. She is a much happier dog and can participate in so much more of life now. She is more confident and less scared or anxious.”
Alanna Describes Tula’s Biggest Training Challenges/Successes: “Tula was making huge progress a year and a half ago and we thought she would be ready to join group classes. Unfortunately, Tula was attacked, and all of the progress we had made vanished. With Kendra’s help, however, Tula is coming back better and stronger and the progress she is making has surpassed anything I could have expected. She has progressed beyond any of my wildest dreams and she can do things I never imagined she would. With the help of ZENFULdog, Tula is becoming our dream dog.”
Alanna recalls Tula’s Most Rewarding Moments of Training in Action:
Being able to relax around other dogs and joining and succeeding in Pack Walks on Canihikes: “Tula used to be so scared and would freak out when seeing a dog to the point that we had to walk her at weird times of day and avoid any dog we saw. Now Tula enjoys and looks forward to seeing her friends on her Canihikes!”
Walking through Canadian Tire/ running errands with her pawrents instead of having to stay home.
Loving Parkour so much and becoming physically so much stronger that she no longer has pain in her hips when jumping on the bed!
Making healthy friendships with not only Kendra but also other dogs in ZENFULdog.
Alanna adds: “Tula has many nicknames such as ‘Stinky,’ ‘Sargeant Barkers,’ ‘Tula Fish,’ ‘Turskey Winesday,’ ‘Tula Fish Sandwich,’ ‘Stinky Cheese,’ ‘Tutu,’ ‘Tulanator,’ ‘El Tulador,’ ‘Tuts’ and ‘Magoots.’
Tula is very loved by all who meet her (human-wise). She is picky with her friends and prefers labs or male dogs. Tula loves her Aunty Hotdog (Kendra) and looks forward to her training sessions. Tula can tell when we are on our way to training and she always gets so excited and happy to be going.”
Kendra adds: “I love TULA WULA! She is a fun-loving beautiful goofball! Her pet-parents are equally fun and awesome and every session with them is a party while training, which we know is a more effective way to teach our dogs. I love the easy friendship they all share and Tula's trust in her pet-parents is evident in her confidence building.
Tula loves parkour behaviours and it's so cool to see how much strength she has gained in her ability to perform them with better form and better focus. She is lovely to watch on a course and to see her joy in accomplishing an obstacle not to mention the delicious reinforcement ‘scooby snacks’ afterward!
She recently had a tremendous victory learning alongside ZENFULdog's lovely Willow and her wonderful pet-mom. Willow is a young dog in the adolescent developmental stage so her mom is working hard on proper socialization and calm—thanks to that and all the hard work from her dedicated and skilled pet-parents, Tula was able to learn alongside her and was even interested in playing, it was such an awesome moment.
To see Tula feel good, to see the joy on her pet-mom's face and to know that Willow and her pet-mom succeeded in being an ally to a dog lacking confidence was such a cool moment to share. I am so proud of Tula and love seeing her grow and find joy with support from her fantabulous pet-family.”
A very special “Thank You!” to Alanna for providing fantastic content for this feature. The ZENFULdog community is very proud of Tula and her family for their amazing hard work, great attitudes and success in overcoming challenges.
Remember to follow ZENFULdog Training on Facebook to stay connected to your like-minded dog-loving community every day!
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