The Zorro thing wasn’t only about the playing. That was just part of what got interrupted and messed up when he broke his back leg as a 7-month old puppy. They put him on four different drugs which after a while became unnecessary. His mood changed significantly about an hour after his pills. He became more guarded and fearful and began to randomly charge and bark at family members.

When Zorro was gone for four weeks Elianna would drive there every week to go see him. My sister has an apartment twenty minutes from the training place so she would stay a couple of days and join the trainer for his sessions. She was able to learn more about dog handling and the things she could do to help Zorro feel better. She had always had trouble trying to get him to play fetch.

He still doesn’t like it much. He loves to chase things but doesn’t like to bring them back. Laura has a dog named Angel who you could play fetch with for a long time. They have this tool that picks up a tennis ball and then you throw it so you don’t have to touch the slobber. She runs and brings it back then wants you to throw it over and over. The trainer gave us an extra kennel for the ride home.