3 Acres of Exploration for a Leonberger Pup: Clara Joyce's Story

June 1, 2020

Meet Clara Joyce, a lovable pup from Jasper, New York

Meet Clara Joyce, a loveable pup from Jasper, NY! Her story began when she met Tyranny, who could not fathom the thought of her home without a canine companion. After thoroughly researching large breed dogs who have a personality similar to that of a Lab, she came upon the Leonberger breed. She had never heard of it before, but was pleasantly surprised and without a doubt fell head over heels for Clara the moment she saw her. Tyranny knew that Clara would be a very special addition to the family. Of course, they honored their tradition of adding the middle initial of “J” for Joyce, their late grandmother, to her name.

This 11-month-old pupper is a GIANT person-loving goof. She sleeps on her back with her tongue out and has absolutely no idea of her size—she constantly makes her humans laugh!

Before SpotOn

Before the SpotOn Virtual Fence, Clara was limited to leashed activities and her life revolved around constant training and correction. This was extremely challenging, as Clara is quite headstrong and easily distracted by her love of people. Her natural inclinations to be cute—like chasing birds and hopping in the air to try and catch them—were no fun when tethered. Also, Clara did not like walking on their main road, a very busy state route. The larger, loud vehicles scare her, making going for walks around the neighborhood rather difficult.

Urgently looking for a containment solution that allowed her pup the freedom to roam in their spacious yard, Tyranny finally came across SpotOn Virtual Fence and was very pleased to learn about its portability and custom mapping feature. Being very intelligent, Clara learned the system in no time! She now has three acres of her 86-acre property all to herself, where she spends a lot of time in the yard romping—chewing soccer balls, digging up rocks, pulling up Mom’s plants (yes, a bit naughty), swimming in the pool and pond, and playing tug of war with the family. In spite of her sometimes naughty ways, her family is happy she is safe and spoils her with her favorite treats for being such a good girl (yak bones and raw carrots—very appropriate for the way she hops like a bunny)! Clara is loving her life off-leash exploring and intensely watching an abundant amount of wildlife from a distance, including a fox den visible from the front door, deer running around, and bunnies.

“We were strictly leash training and it was difficult. She tends to be quite head strong and needed the extra reinforcement to ensure her safety.” - Tyranny Butler, Owner

A little extra reinforcement goes a long way

Tyranny is happy SpotOn is able to provide Clara with the extra reinforcement needed to ensure her safety, and that Clara has the freedom and space to do all the fun activities of her doggie dreams! Now that Clara has learned her boundaries, Tyranny has found that Clara’s freedom without the leash has been more pleasurable for the both of them. They can be assured that during training, Clara will not break her boundaries and will remain safe while perfecting her recall.

Being trained to a system that can be taken anywhere, Clara has many new and exciting adventures to look forward to this summer. Her family is hoping to make another trek to South Carolina and camp by the ocean! This will be Clara’s first trip since she was adopted. Anything that involves spending time with her humans gets her really excited. Even if her owner showers or runs out quickly, her greeting upon return is the most ridiculous display – you would think she had been gone for months! So being able to bring Clara along to more places is a definite plus in her eyes.

”It took no time at all [to train Clara to SpotOn] as she is intelligent, mostly obedient but at the same time her love of people can easily distract her. In addition, I believe as a puppy she still had a lot to learn and continues to learn and improve daily.” - Tyranny Butler, Owner

Though, the fun doesn't stop outdoors for this silly doggo. At the end of a long day of exploration, Clara finds it fun to chase her kitty sister around the house! The cat, on the other hand? She doesn’t necessarily enjoy it too much, but that just makes her even more grateful for her alone time during the day!

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