Welcome to the May 2024 edition of ZENFULdog of the Month featuring Finnigan! Finnigan is a very curious, fun-loving chocolate lab who completes Christine(Chris) and Rick’s family of three! Finnigan, and his family, are beloved members of the ZENFULdog Training community.
Finnigan
Age: 3
Birthday: May 24th (Happy Birthday, Finnigan!)
Meet Finnigan’s Family
(Chris—Finnigan’s pet-mom): Christine and Finnigan have a special bond and enjoy being challenged! Christine handles Finnigan’s training which has taught her patience and eye contact communication.
(Rick—Finnigan’s pet-dad): Rick had never had a dog starting from the puppy stage until they adopted Finnigan. Rick enjoys hanging out with Finnigan who is funny and attentive—especially at mealtime. Their relationship has grown with admiration on both sides.
Finnigan's Personality According to Chris: Finnigan loves his pack! When he hears the car started, Finnigan is at the door with the correct assumption that he is going too…he goes everywhere his parents go. Finnigan is fun-loving, comical and has a stare that can melt your heart. He is very affectionate and can be intense about showing love and adornment.
Chris Shares The Most Unique Thing about Finnigan: Finnigan is intense when he learns something in training and gets fixated on the task. Chris can almost hear the wheels turning in Finnigan’s brain as he tries to figure something out. Then, once he has figured it…POW! Chris says it is so much fun to watch as Finnigan gets a satisfied look on his face and she can almost hear him saying “Yep...I got it!!”
Finnigan's favourite Treats/Foods according to Chris: Finnigan’s favourite treats are liver treats, butcher bones and his veggies: “One time, we went to Dairy Queen and they gave us a “doggie cone!” Who knew? Finnigan didn’t know what to do with it, then I put some on his nose—OMG…his eyes got huge!” So his favourite food is totally ice cream but Chris wants to be clear that it is a treat he does not get very often!
Finnigan’s Favourite Activities: Finnigan is all about the fun. His favourite activities are ball chasing and playing with other dogs as he is incredibly social. Finnigan also loves to be challenged and enjoys practicing training moves that he and Chris are working toward perfecting.
Chris Lists how Finnigan Unwinds After a Full Day of Activity: Finnigan unwinds with his special blanket: “He will drag it around, play with it, then curl up by either Rick’s or my feet. You can almost hear him sigh…”
If Finnigan had a human voice: Chris believes Finnigan would sound like funnyman—Kevin Hart—saying catch phrases like, “I got you,” and “Watch this!” “Finnigan is funny, makes us laugh and acts silly no matter what is going on, he is such a comedian.”
Finnigan’s Training
Finnigan and Christine started training with ZENFULdog Training when Finnigan was about 12 weeks old. Chris and Finnigan participated in Puppy training classes, completed Parkour levels 1 and 2 and completed Canifitness levels 1 and 2 (so far). Chris and Finnigan also engaged in Private Training sessions with Kendra to work on manners, attention, listening skills and patience.
Chris Tells Us How Training Has Shaped Finnigan: When Chris and Finnigan began their training at Zenfuldog, Finnigan was “the pup from Hell…even Kendra felt sorry for me…I had ‘that dog.’ Kendra’s love and patience have taught us to become a confident team. Now, he is gentle, and kind, listens to commands and acts on cue. Training has brought out his best self.”
Chris Describes Finnigan’s Biggest Training Challenges/Successes: The biggest training challenge Chris feels she faced with Finnigan’s training was learning to communicate better and read him so they could work closer together to achieve positive results: “I needed to check my frustrations when teaching him something and learn different ways to remain [clearheaded] and calm when training him [because] he felt what I felt.
Finnigan’s biggest success is becoming dog of the month! He is well-balanced, and well-behaved and has come a long way.”
Chris recalls Finnigan’s Most Rewarding Moments of Training in Action:
Chris is proud to have enjoyed two especially rewarding moments since Finnigan started training. One was seeing his training skills in action when he reacted to seeing his first skunk. When Chris called out: “Finnigan NO, COME!”—he listened!
The second was when he was about to cross a busy highway, and Chris yelled out “STOP” and raised her hand at the same time: “Finn stopped and sat which may have saved his life…and mine.”
Chris adds: “Both Rick and I are so lucky to have [Finnigan] in our lives. He knows when to come sit beside you and give you a look of love and admiration. He brings so much laughter, life and unexpected emotion to us. I think only like-minded people will get this…Finnigan makes our life full.”
If Finnigan was talking right now, he would say, in his Kevin Hart voice: “Kendra, I got you girl, I love you!”
Kendra adds: “I was so excited to tell Christine that Finnigan was ZENFULdog of the month! Chris worked really hard to get to this incredible stage with Finnigan, it's incredible to share their journey. They deserve to be recognized for their beautiful relationship and all the ups and downs they have shared with us.
Finnigan was the most rambunctious puppy in puppy class. He seemed more like a pup overwhelmed by the adolescent phase long before he was one and he was so strong! Thankfully he is as cute as he is energetic ;)...like an adorable bull in a china shop. I could tell it would be no easy journey to help support him to be the best dog he can be and to have an enjoyable time learning together. Thankfully, Christine, who is so vibrant, positive and always so supportive of everyone, isn't a quitter! She dug in deep, found patience when it was hard to come by, learned how to teach him new skills that were new to her, how to advocate for his needs and how to sometimes pause and have a good laugh when things didn't go the way we hoped.
I am very proud of this duo. I am always excited to have them in classes, they are currently rocking Caniftiness which takes considerable skill and thoughtfulness. Both Christine and Finnigan are just the absolute most fantabulous!”
A very special “Thank You!” to Christine for providing fantastic content for this feature. Your Zenfuldog Training family definitely understands how Finnigan makes your life full and we are so proud of you and Finnigan for your hard work and accomplishments! Congrats!
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