After a long hiatus, baxter is back

Brought Baxter home this evening. He hasn't been home for like a month. There were 2 weeks with Oryo, 1 week with Mike and Shelli's dogs and the week of Thanksgiving. He is laying curled up in his crate relaxing, calling it a night. Wonder if he will sleep in there tonight, if I should close the door or if he will want to wander into the bedroom and sleep on the comforter on the floor. Hmm, what to do? Tomorrow is supposed to be really cold, it is already getting pretty chilly outside. I will have to put his jacket on him in the morning.

The good, the bad and the stinky

The cleaning ladies came yesterday. I met them at the door and told them that Oryo likes to growl at new people and isn't very trusting. I put a jar of treats there for them to have some to drop for him and asked them to not try to pet him or look at him, but rather just to toss a treat in his direction and go about their business (kind of Cesar Milan's no talk, no look, no touch). Jeny tried to pet him anyway and he wasn't having any of it. One of the other ladies took a handful of treats. Oryo was leery of the first treat and didn't pick it up so I took him back with me to the guest room and he stared out in the hall as they worked. One of the cleaning ladies kept tossing him treats occasionally and he got used to it and started to follow them around a bit. He let one of them pet him and overall he was very good with no more barking or growling.

I was sorting some old race packets yesterday to break them down and recycle the old papers in them and I went out on an errand and dinner and left some boxes with shopping bags full of stuff on the chairs at the table. When I got back, Oryo had jumped up at one of the boxes and knocked it on the floor and stuff had spilled all over. There were 2 bags in that box, 1 had "give blood" rubber bracelets in little plastic wrappers and blood bank pens and the other had Snickers Marathon energy bars. There were about a dozen bars around the room and into the next room with teeth marks through the wrappers and one had a corner ripped off but no evidence that the dog actually ate any. I cleaned up the mess and sealed the box and put it up out of reach.

I planned to bathe Oryo with some tar shampoo today as he is always itchy and it is good for that. I was going to wait for this afternoon, but on our walk this morning, he rolled in the dew filled grass of a yard and came up smelling like poo. Then he felt the need to shake off, yuck. We went home, I put my dirty stuff in the laundry and put him in the tub. He got an early bath and then I got my shower.

Another week of Oryo

Oryo spent the weekend at the shelter while we had family stuff going on here. He did well last week other than being guarded around new folks and nipping my teenage son who was home from college and he felt threatened by when Ben came close to his doggie cave and then was between Oryo and I. I am waiting on a followup with the behavioralist to see what to do about that.

I have left him free to roam the house for 6 - 7 hours yesterday and today. There were no issues with anything being chewed/torn, but he did have pee accidents in the house both times. I know he had gone to the bathroom before I left in each case, so perhaps the volume of water I am leaving him is too much or perhaps he needs to be left in his crate so that he remembers to hold it. Both times, when I came home, he went right out and did "all his business" and he hasn't had any poop accidents in the house. I praise him whenever he goes outside, so I just need to work on how long he stays inside alone and whether to leave him out of his crate. We haven't had any accidents when I am home, so that is a good indicator at least.

I was just walking Oryo down to the mailboxes. He doesn't like it there because there are dogs inside the wood fence right by the boxes so he stays away from the mailboxes themselves. He wriggled out of his collar and he headed home and waited at the door as I was walking behind him. This collar doesn't get any tighter. I think a Martingale collar is better for him when he walks.

A good first day

Well, the first night with Oryo went fine, no chewing of his crate bedding or any noises, etc and the first full day yesterday was good also. He went out to the bathroom when I let him out and when we walked and didn't have any accidents. He eats well and follows me around the house to hang out with me. His confidence level as measured by his tail on our walks is picking up and he seems to be learning the way that I want to walk. His tail is up for the whole route but he shies away from a fenceline where there are barking dogs along one sidewalk. He seems to prefer laying on the cool floor to the comforters which is fine. He ate the ends off a bone that was sitting around here yesterday and a couple of hours later he got up from laying beside me and walked over to the comforter across the room and spit up. I appreciated that he went to the comforter to spit up as it was a dog comforter and it was easy to just pick it up and take it outside and hose it off instead of having to mop the floor. He didn't have any other stomach issues and I think it was just too much of a good thing. I left him home today in his crate for half the day while I was at my office. I chose to change out the bedding in the crate for just sheets instead of leaving any temptation for him to unstuff a comforter and he didn't do anything to the sheets. He was happy to see me, to get out of the crate, to jump up and down and head outside to "take a break".

The tale of the tail

I put Oryo in his crate last night about 10:30 after letting him out for one last bathroom break and shut out the lights. He was quiet all night and was waiting patiently for me to open the crate at 7 when I came back out there. He hadn't messed up his comforter at all and he went right out and went to the bathroom and came in looking for some breakfast.

I got Oryo ready for a walk and decided to put on the Adopt Me vest. He was a bit leery of it but I got it adjusted and he was fine. He went right to the door and I got him to sit and I put on his leash. He trotted outside and we went for the 1.5 mile loop. His tail sits up as he runs around the house, but as we walk, the tail moves from up to mid level. If he hears a noise or a dog barking, the tail comes down a bit. He isn't extremely confident, but he isn't tucking his tail under and hiding. He does sometimes scoot out to the side to get away from a perceived threat, but mostly just walks along happily trotting ahead with tail at mid-height.

Oryo

I brought home Oryo tonight. He is a bit uncertain but overall seems fairly calm. Picture at http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=12900568. He is laying on the comforter on the floor here in the office with me while I am on a conference call. He has been following me around the house, but that is expected as the house is new territory, but he and I have spent time together before. He seems just as happy to curl up on the floor. His rep at the shelter was that he would tear up "stuffed things", but he hasn't made any moves on any of the comforters on the floor here yet, but again, it is new surroundings, so that may be keeping him "on". Have to determine what to leave in his crate tonight and see how he does.

This and that

The leg is seeming fine now. Baxter has been very well behaved even though he hasn't been getting a lot of exercise. He has been laying around when he isn't allowed to go anywhere. He did find a phone jack splitter on the ground in my room and chew it up, but that's all he has gotten into this week. My sister in law came over with her 2 dogs to meet Baxter because I am going to dog sit and the meeting went fine. Her dog Curly was a bit protective of me and didn't want Baxter coming over to me, but I made a point of petting him in front of her and then petting her and taking a treat away from her and giving it to him. Baxter just kept trying to induce the 2 dogs into playing but didn't get far with it. I think things will be ok if I have the 3 dogs at once, but Curly may get a bit testy.

I took Baxter to the shelter this afternoon so that he could spend a little time outside with Karma. While I was there, I pumped the excess water out of the courtyard. Monica talked to me about taking either Payton or Oryo into temporary foster. Payton could use a break from the stress of the shelter and Oryo is being a pain with the other dogs and needs some "home" experience which he seems to have never had. It is a tough call, but I will take one of them home next week. Still pondering it.

Baxter's back home

The leg is doing much better. I have to keep him off it because if I let him go around too much, he starts to show just a hint of a limp. He still has a few more days of Rimadyl and then I will start slowly reintroducing walks.

Injured leg

Baxter hurt his leg running down a flight of stairs last week. I was at a friends on Wed evening and he was upstairs. I called him to come down and he came running down the stairs, turned at the landing and came on down and then he was holding up one leg. I was a bit concerned. He limped his way to his bed and home and aside from jumping on the guest bed to nap when he wasn't supposed to, he was pretty subdued. I let him out back in the morning to go to the bathroom, but that was about it for him. He was still limping but no visible trauma. I took him to the vet Thurs. morning and the doc said it is most likely just a sprain and to give him Rimadyl for 2 weeks and keep him pretty quiet. He is hanging in his crate at the shelter now since I had a busy weekend.

Not so brave now

Wed. Baxter and I went walking after work. We headed out and we walked past the hedge between my neighbor and her neighbor where there is a electric power meter that often smells like cat and sometimes has a cat on it. Baxter turned at the hedge and headed right over there. He put his nose almost right up there and there was a cat laying there. It hissed loudly at him but didn't move. He stood there staring at it and after 10-15 seconds, it hissed again and took a swipe at him. He jumped back and yelped. I got a hold of his head and took a look and didn't see any scratches or blood, but he was not interested in going right back to hassle that cat. That cat put him in his place but good. It has been rainy and so we haven't been back by that spot, so I don't know if Baxter will dash right over there again or not, we will see later when the rain is supposed to stop.

Cassie in the house

Cassie is back with me as I mentioned before. She is doing very well, doesn't seem to limp noticably and can go for a walk without any problem. In fact, she really loves to go for a walk. She is still dog reactive, so I have to avoid fences where I know there are dogs on the other side that will bark at her. She is surprisingly strong. The new rubber tubing leash I got from my mom is really springy but she will stretch it quite a bit. She saw a frog this morning as we went for an early morning walk and true to doggie form, she followed it around for a minute, but then she got bored. I already miss the fact that Baxter almost never poops when he goes on a walk. Cassie does. I forgot a bag yesterday when we went to go get the mail and she did her business right there in the neighbor's yard at the mailboxes. I had to come back and get it. Oh well, she is a good girl.

Dogs and frogs

If you have been a reader here for a while, you remember Hermes and the frogs/toads and the video of him trying to play with them. Baxter has been chasing geckos in and around the house of late and this morning as we went for our morning walk in the dark, he came across a frog on the sidewalk and started sniffing it and then followed it around the grass and was pawing in its direction to get it to play. After watching in amusement for a couple of minutes, I decided it was time to move on and he grudgingly came along.

A few minutes later during the walk, it was getting a little lighter outside and we were walking down the sidewalk and Baxter slowed a bit to walk alongside me. I noticed a man getting in his car on the other side of the street and I couldn't help but wonder if Baxter was being protective of me or was pulling closer to me for his own protection.

2 weeks at the shelter

Baxter is going to be going to stay at the shelter in mid September through beginning of October as I will be dog sitting Cassie and she is not dog friendly. I have been thinking about introducing the 2 of them and trying to set my role as pack leader in place to try to get her to be more tolerant, but since this is just a 2 week thing, I will not upset the apple cart and not risk any injury. Baxter does fine at the shelter and Stephan will be making a nice donation to the shelter to cover boarding costs, so it is a win-win.

Eating in peace

I haven't posted in a bit, have just been busy. I noticed at dinner last night that Baxter has been being good about not bothering me or my friend Lori (when she visits for dinner) during dinner. He had been a real pain at mealtimes and it was hard to ignore him, but I seem to have been getting that going better and he came to the dinner table last night and was ignored so he went to lay back down on his comforter. He didn't make any fuss or come back over time and time again which was really nice. I really need to work on the stay command and "place" to be most effective, but it is nice that I might not have to "place" him during a meal.

Seatbelt

I took the jeep with the top off to pick up Baxter after having left him at the shelter for a week. I had to get a harness because the seatbelt leash I had for him didn't stay locked if it went in a certain angle. I put the harness on him and put him in the front seat and threaded the seatbelt through the loop and he couldn't move much or jump out of the car. He was hot and tired and was twisting around a bit so that he could lay down. He wasn't too happy about the harness but he was able to lay down with the belt really pulling tight on him. I don't think he will get willing in the jeep again.

Dragging the bowl around

I don't remember if I mentioned this, but Baxter has started putting his foot in his water bowl if it is empty and dragging it around the floor. Since it is a metal bowl, it is a good way for him to let me know that he is out of water. Since it is so hot outside, I am not apparently doing well enough keeping up with his drinking water, but he lets me know.

The Chihuahua pack

Baxter and I walked over to AJ's today to get something and Baxter went in the house and met her pack of 5 ankle biters. He was patient and didn't get on any of them. 2 of the females tried to give him a hard time but AJ put them out. They were hassling him and he ran at the front door and knocked open the storm door. Apparently the little Chi's don' t do that but a 65lb Baxter needs a wooden door between him and getting away from the yapping little dogs. I got him to come back in and things were fine.

New "Adopt Me" vests

I got 2 adopt me vests in the mail this past week. I put one on Baxter to walk him. They aren't too big and are of good quality. http://www.houndgear.net/images/VestDetailSnap.jpg I got a medium and a large figuring that he should just fit the medium. He does. We put the large fully adjusted out on Baloo this weekend at Petco. Baloo is a Great Pyrennes mix, a big boy.

Chow hound

Baxter has always been extremely food motivated. He is really into treats. Unfortunately, he is getting a bit overly interested and I need to get some advice on how to curb his behavior. I caught him counter surfing last week when I left a sandwhich there and he is always right on top of Ben when Ben has pizza. He also comes right up to the table when we are eating and tries to check out the food. I have gotten up and backed him up and gone back to sit down and eat, but he comes back. If I put something in his Kong, it will distract him while it lasts, but that isn't the ultimate solution.

Crate

Well, I have stopped crating Baxter during the day. He has settled into a pattern whether I am working from home or not of laying around during the day and not being overly active and then expecting me to be active with him in the evening. I haven't been crating him at night either, though I am having some second thoughts on that. Ben had a couple of friends and their computers over last night and Baxter wanted to come sleep on the floor in the bedroom so that was fine except that he wanted to get up and wander around the house and I had the bedroom door shut. I put him back out of the room and he came pounding/scratching on the door to get in. Overall, not very successful. I should have just put him in his crate and said good night.

Went running/walking with Baxter this morning. For the first 1/2 mile or so he was a little ahead of me and wanted to stop here and there and sniff and pee. Then we walked a bit and then ran the last mile home and he stayed right next to me or a foot behind me the whole way home. I prefer him to stay beside or just behind me.

Long hot shelter weekend

I took Baxter to the shelter Friday evening so I could have some quiet time and so he would be there on Sat/Sun. I came to find out that we were indeed going to be closed on Sat (4th July), but decided that I was going to be there doing work anyway and so to leave him. Also, I was headed to Houston early on Sun so better to have him at the shelter. Just picked him up and he is happy to be home. He is laying on the cool floor chilling. Ignoring the month plus that I had Cassie, Baxter has basically been here about 6 months. Not sure what to do to "market" him better, but it is time to do something. He is a lovely dog. He has settled in to my routine of hanging during the day and then gets "energetic" in the evening when I am available. He will make someone a good companion, but we have to find that someone.

Welcome to stray dog week

I came home this afternoon to pickup the dog and drop him by the shelter for while I am away this weekend and I had a call from my friend Nick who is missing one of his dogs. She got out on Sunday and they heard yesterday that she was at CTSPCA but of course the shelter isn't open during the week so no one answers the phone. I mentioned that I was headed up to the shelter and Nick asked me to look for her. Sure enough, she was at the shelter and had been microchipped and given bordatella. I dropped off Baxter and took kickapoo with me to return her home. I told Jolie to make sure to call and make an appointment to bring the rest of the dogs up to the shelter to have them microchipped.

Picked up a stray

We went to pick up the mail down at the box yesterday and a little brindle pit pup wandered up to us. She looked to be about 3-4 months old and she was wearing a invisible fence collar, but no tags. She is very friendly and I called down to the house and had Ben bring a leash over. I walked her down the block to see if anyone was looking for her, but no one came out and she went to lay down in some grass. I picked her up and took her home to get some water and she and Baxter played for a few minutes and then I took her around the corner to the local vet to have her scanned for a chip. Sure enough she was chipped and I gave my contact number and took her home. She and Baxter got along great and ran around and then laid on different dog beds and chewed on bones. The owners called me about 10 minutes later and came and picked her up an hour or so later. She lives a block and 1/2 from the mailboxes.

Smack talk with no back talk

Baxter barks at stuff in the yard or at visitors until he gets comfortable with them or at other dogs barking over our fence, but ". ". ". when we go walking, he is very friendly to other dogs. He doesn't bark at them at all. Most of the other dogs we see on walks ". will "talk smack"! to him or the dogs on the other side of fences "., but Baxter just wags his tail and keeps his mouth shut.

Now", I am not saying he is without faults. Ben showed me yesterday a wireless controller for his PS2 that Baxter had chewed on a couple months ago and how he couldn't plug it in or use that guitar controller for Guitar Hero ". I trimmed back the plastic and got it plugged back in. The little destructions can be annoying.

Got treats in the mail yesterday. A dozen small boxes of Blue Dog treats. Amazon has them on sale and I got like 12 boxes (7.5 lbs total I believe) for 16 something including shipping. Baxter seems to like them ".

Walk, bark, walk, nap

Picked up the dog yesterday afternoon at the shelter. He was so hot. He came home and plopped on the concrete floors and was basically a lump for a few hours before he perked back up. We went for a walk for 30 minutes and he was perky again. About 10pm, I was working at the computer and he decided to call it a night and went and got in his crate. When I decided to head to bed around 11:30, I didn't bother to close the crate door. That was fine. He did get up around 3:30 to bark a bit and pace to the back window, but I heard him head back to the crate. Around 6:30 he got up and came to the bedroom to check on me and I took him for a walk/jog. I haven't been running in months it seems and I ate crap all day yesterday, so it was mostly walking with a few short run segments thrown in. Now he is settled back into his crate napping. The windows are open since it is still in the mid 70's and he is just "chillin."

Little kids

I meant to post last week but never got around to it. I have seen mixed results from Baxter with kids. I have a number of times in the past stopped to let kids of different ages pet Baxter and he used to take it well, but we have him listed as no kids at the shelter. We were walking along late last week and 2 little kids (say 2 and 3) came running noisily out of their house and he started looking at them nervously. We walked right on by and he looked back to "cover his flank". I am not a big fan of little kids that age myself, so I was in agreement with him. We did have another time a few weeks back where we were walking by some kids, one of whom has met Baxter and petted him before (I would guess she is about a 3rd grader) and we stopped so she could pet him and she had a friend there sitting on his bike and Baxter was shying away from both of them and so I said maybe another time and we walked on. I guess the safest thing is to stick with "no kids".

Rabies shot time

Took Baxter to the vet this morning. He is 61 lbs. They were amazed how he has grown since they treated him for his puppy strangles when he was a little bitty thing. He was great and the shot didn't phase him one bit. We came on home, he went out in the yard and now he just wandered into his crate and is hanging looking out the window.

Sitting

Baxter has been doing fairly well at sitting and waiting for the OK to exit the front door. He was sitting in the backyard this morning starring up at the fence waiting for a squirrel to come into the yard. He just scratched at the back door and when I went to let him out he stepped out and then stood there stalking a squirrel, waiting to run.

We met several dogs over the past 2 days while out walking. Baxter has been good with all of them, trying to induce them to play, large and small, no matter the size. It has been good. He has of course gone nuts over cats we have seen, but the harness keeps me in control and I just give him a tug and say let's go and we are off and moving and leave the cats alone.

Pretty good week

It has been a re-adjustment going back to Baxter from Cassie, but he is doing fine. I got him some new stuffed toys and they are good. They haven't been torn apart yet. He has nibbled the little ears off, but that hasn't caused an issue. He is outside right now sitting watching for squirrels to come back so he can chase them. He has been good in the house and last night he got back in the swing of taking himself to his crate when he was ready for bed. He has been eating fine though he seems to prefer to get food from his treatstik than from his bowl. Treatstik as seen in

Baxter's home

He is ready for a walk but I am waiting for Ben to get home from school to say hi and then we will hit the neighborhood.

New foster for Cassie

Cassie has a new foster home. A new foster person for the shelter wants to foster Cassie and my deal with Monica was to take her until she found a new foster situation for her. I am cleaning up all the dog stuff in the house and will be bringing Baxter back home.

Chew, chew, chew

Cassie redirects her energy to chewing. On the plus side, she only chews things that you give her to chew, doesn't take stuff on her own or go for the furniture. She loves a rawhide or a bone. She was coughing and spit up a bit of bone fragments earlier this week, so I took away all the bones and that has passed. She does still have a big hip joint bone that she can gnaw on, but I cut out the rib bones. I have a twisted rope toy that is knotted on the ends that is about 1 inch thick rope and Cassie chewed it in 2 pieces (chewed through the middle) this week. I also have a chewing bone that is hard plastic that is advertised as good for cleaning the dogs teeth and she has been working hard on that one, but it is holding up just fine. She continues to eat well and continues to hang out well during the day but at days end, she is playful and wants to go run. Alas, we have to keep that to a minimum, but she can be redirected with a stuffed bone. I had a Kong "ball" that had the slits along it you could put cheese spray in and you could put treats in the middle, but she chewed it into pieces (the red kind, not the black super chew proof). Overall, still a great dog to have around and loves to sit or lay down and be petted. Haven't seen much negative behaviour with her other than greeting people too energetically and her aggression toward other dogs.

Back to the shelter

I had roofers here replacing my roof this past Friday and I had a group coming in to do a project at the shelter so I took Cassie with me. She did fine. She is aggressive toward other dogs and needed to be crated to limit her running around, so we kept her in the office. I asked if she should start coming back on weekend days and the answer was yes. She went Saturday and Sunday. I just posted some more pictures on Picassaweb of Cassie. http://picasaweb.google.com/dklinecp/Cassie# She is looking good. She is always raring to go and I have to keep her slowed down.

No more bonyness (sp?)

I was looking at Cassie last night and I don't see any of the bonyness that she came to us with. She is going stir crazy and will try to engage Ben and I in play, but will settle down when stroked or ignored enough. I need to get a new picture of her and post it.

Sweet and bored

Casie is very glad to see me when I get home every day and goes nutsy wagging and leaning. She tries to run around and play. I hate to force her into the crate, but I think I may need to do more of that. Her weight is looking better, but she isn't being reserved enough with her movement but I need to enforce that.

Really wants to run

Cassie is staring out the window wanting to go out and bark at other dogs, run along the fence, chase squirrels, etc. She has gone out with me in the backyard a couple of times and gone zooming away chasing something and I have to get her to come over to me and go inside because she isn't supposed to be running around on her leg and shouldn't be expending the extra calories. She is a bit bored inside, but she doesn't express her frustration by breaking/chewing anything, so that is good. She is looking better and she eats everything I put in front of her and that is plenty. She is a generally happy dog.

Maybe a little less skinny

Hard to say if it is just wishful thinking and too soon, but I think Cassie is a little less bony. She is eating great. I have been giving her as much food as she wants and she has been tolerating it fine. She is eating wet food and then goes for the dry when she is still hungry. She just went to the kitchen for a snack of dry food though I think it is pretty much gone. She seems a little bored and she tries to run around a little, but I stop her. She is a very active dog normally, but between the bum knee and the low weight, she can't afford the pain or the calories. She is so sweet and very deferential.

Skinny girl

Baxter is at the shelter and I brought Cassie home last night. She is skin and bones. The general thinking is that she has been in some pain and hasn't eaten. She got too much exercise at the shelter or she was cooped up in her crate there too much, not sure which. They have been feeding her wet food at the shelter for a day or 2 and she has been eating. They also put her on some joint supplements and on Rimadyl (anti-inflammatory that is std for dogs with knee surgery). She seems to be eating fine this morning with the wet food here (which I mixed with some white rice to help with the backyard scooping). Pictures at

http://picasaweb.google.com/dklinecp/Cassie

Dog switch

Cassie isn't doing well at the shelter, so Baxter is going to go back to the shelter for a week or 2 while we try to get Cassie straightened out and hopefully put in full time foster with Boxer rescue. I will post Cassie photos today when I get her here and have time to cleanup.

Snorie, McSnores-a-lot

Baxter just came home this evening from a "shifted" weekend stay at the shelter. I brought him home Fri night, but left him Sat./Sun. nights at the shelter. I didn't go to the shelter on Sunday and so figured it was better for him to stay over and then I had the insurance adjuster here for my hail damage claim today, so left him there until this evening. He is already sacked out in his crate snoring. I had laundered his comforter for in there this evening, so it is all dry and warm and he seems content.

March is coming to an end

It has been 3.5 months with Baxter and no nibbles of interest. He is the sweetest thing and has been a great foster other than the chewing on the wood outside when left to his own devices and bored. I think he would do fine in an active family that will take him out to play or will send him to doggy day care a day or 2 a week to really tire him out. He uses his crate as his personal space and just lays in there with the door open when I am working from home and he is chilling. He likes squeaky toys, puzzle food games, etc. He is an all around great dog. He has been sitting at the door 100% of the time before walks and is getting better at stay at the door (I use "wait"). I can open the door and he will just sit there until I tell him let's go. I need to step up the training some. I think "leave it" should be next as he is a chow hound and stole my half eaten bagel off the counter last week when I left my plate up there for a while and was in another room. I need to figure out how to get him more exposure. I think perhaps some additional adoption days other than just my own.

caricature

We had an artist at the shelter this past weekend doing pet sittings and volunteers with shelter pets. It was a fundraiser. I got mine done with Baxter. He got the better end of it. Oh well.

I didn't fall off the face of the earth

Just haven't blogged in a few weeks. Things around here are status quo. Ben had a Lan party this week so the house was full of teen boys and Baxter took it all in stride. I moved his crate into the dining room so he would have some privacy and he spent a moderate amount of time hanging out in there. He was always trolling for any food items that might come his way, but otherwise pretty much hung our waiting for me to walk him.

He has been nibbling on the decaying wood on the doggie digging box again. I pour some white vinegar on and he leaves it alone. I need to get some timbers and replace the rotten wood. I have been taking dog treats out with him and burying them in the gravel and he sniffs around and finds them. He really likes it and he is not bad. I didn't think he was much of a scenter, but he does fine.

My friend Lori has been bugging me about my lax habits with him at the door so I started making him sit before putting on the leash and he picked it right up and now sits for the leash. I am working slowly on stay when the door is opening, but haven't put enough effort into it. He is smart enough that he gets it right away, I really need to work on his impulse control.

We just got back from a walk and there was a cat next to a drain and he saw it and moved toward it but the cat didn't back down. I had to restrain him and he was growling and spine was erect and he was jumping up in the air trying to get over to it. He really wanted to get into it with that cat.

Busy, busy

Have just been too busy to blog. Work has kept me hopping, even some on weekends. I left Baxter at the shelter on Friday last weekend and didn't even go on Sat. but went for a few hours on Sunday. No one has shown any real interest in Baxter. Karma had an application and if it is approved, she will likely be going home this weekend so it will be time to find Baxter another dog to share a run with when he is at the shelter. Baxter has been being fairly good though he has done some chewing on some decaying wood on the deck and in the dog digging box. There is one pole on the deck that Baxter seems to have a real interest in. There were insects flying into an empty knot hole on the side of it and he was really chasing the bugs and I wonder if they were termites or some type of wood eating bug as he keeps going back to that spot. I took at stick and smashed inside the hole in case there were any bugs or eggs, but it makes me wonder if he isn't sensitive to/smelling wood eating bugs. I went out and poured some white vinegar over the spots he was chewing to discourage him and have to keep a better eye on him out there. With all my long hours, he hasn't been getting a good night walk. I have been getting in one in the early morning and one after work, but not a "calm down and go lay down one". He has been chewing on bones and playing with stuffed toys and then going and laying down in his crate which has been nice for me.

Backyard

I don't know what it is but I won't complain. Baxter never poops on a walk. He does pee, but he only poops when he is in the backyard. We went for an hour and 20 minute walk this morning to tire him out for the Petco adoption day and we got home and he went right out back and did his business. I like it because I have a scooper out there and don't have to bag on the walk. It is the little things in life.

Wow, a week

Since my last post. Baxter spent the weekend at the shelter from Fri-Sun since I was doing marathon course stuff all weekend. He was really happy to see me on Sunday. He spent most of Sun. evening and Mon. morning just laying around. My friend Lori came over Monday night and I was out getting groceries for dinner. When I got back and started prepping, I heard Baxter on the treadmill. She had gotten him on there with no incline, but moving along at 3.0 mph. She didn't even have real treats, just pieces of his regular dog food.

I went to the office on Tues. and he was really glad to see me at the end of the day. He was bounding with energy after hanging out in his crate all day. I took him to Petco to buy some bones and took him for a walk. He was off the wall with energy later in the evening and then calmed down. Today he was enjoying the warm weather and hanging in the yard mostly. We went for a couple of walks and he crashed in his crate while I did conferences calls. A few status charts and I will call it a night. He goes into his crate to hang out and lay around and if I don't go close the door when I go to bed, he is still in there in the morning. I have left the door open a couple of times in the last week with no problem.

I can learn

I have been full of meetings lately. But, after the deck chewing the other day, I have been trying to be mindful of what the dog is doing and not just let him go out. I have been trying to play with him off and on and also get him out for his walks when I get a chance in between calls. He really likes to play with tossable things in the backyard. I have the MegaTuffy ring, I have a flying disk that is a 1/2 thick ring on the outside with a mesh of fabric inside that he likes to rip, a plastic frisbee and some rope pulls. He chases after them and then stops to chew them. He will bring it to me to play tug or I can walk over and he lets me grab a hold and pull. He will let me take it from him and throw it again.

I was thinking last night that I used to want a doggie door so that the dog could go in and out at will, but now that I consider it, it would be a mess. The backyard doesn't have good grass right now and is muddy and if the dog was bored and went out and started chewing, I wouldn't know.

The dog does go and get on the treadmill and wait for me because he knows he gets treats. I was on a call yesterday and couldn't handle the noise from the treadmill, so I couldn't let him do the treadmill, but he went off and played by himself and it was fine.

Worn out

Baxter and I went for a short run this morning (our normal walking loop) and he hung out while I worked from home until midmorning and then he went in the crate while I was at work. When I got home in the late afternoon, he and I went for a walk for 40 minutes or so and then he lay around a little but seemed a bit antsy. I took him out back and threw the flying disc toy (well, a couple) and he chased them and chewed them and played tug with me for good while until he was huffing and so I brought him in for some water. Now he is wandering about, laying on the tile and deciding whether to go hang in his crate or to find a bone to chew. It sounds like bone is going to win out. Now dinner wins. At least he is getting some energy expended.

Chewing

I got Baxter a new chew squeaky toy. He seems to really like it along with the head of one of the other old stuff toyed which I keep restuffing. It was very rainy yesterday morning and I took Baxter for a walk during a break in the rain. We got drenched on the last 3 blocks. I had a meeting downtown at lunch and crated Baxter for couple of hours and then was busy here and then had an appt. away and he was crated for a couple of hours. Then dinner and a long conf. call. I let him out back and played frisbee with him for a bit but then left him there. Well, this is why he was returned to the shelter. Destructive boredom behavior. He was chewing on some sticks and then decided to chew the baseboard of the deck. I went out and stopped him and brought him in. I dropped off my conf. call and took him for a 30 minute walk and he settled down for the evening. If I had been thinking instead of so busy, I would have put him on the treadmill while I was listening on the conf. call, but I got absorbed.

Foam cover

Nevermind that comment about foam faucet cover intact the other day. It was, but not anymore. Dogs do love to tear those things to pieces. Oh well, only costs like $2.

Baxter on treadmill

Finally took some video with digital camera tonight. Uploading one to YouTube right now and another piece on Facebook. Will post links later when uploads are completed. The YouTube video should be at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6uQ3mNL7A8 when it is finished processing the upload.

More muddy feet

Just went to close the backdoor because Baxter had come in a minute or so ago and I noticed that his paws were awful muddy. I took him out with a towel to clean his feet and I heard water. I looked over and there was water pouring down from the faucet cover out back. The cover was still on (freeze cover) but water was coming down and the dirt underneath it had big foot prints in it. I took the cover off and turned the valve to shut off the water. It must have been running for a little while because it is very muddy right there. Not sure how he managed to get the water on with the foam cover still intact.

Antsy

Baxter seems energetic this morning. I took him for the usual 1.5 mile loop earlier. He played out back a bit also, but it is windy and cool. I was on the phone with my boss and I had to stop him from nibbling on the corner of the molding. Twice. I took him out back and threw him a stick. He has plenty of sticks to chew on out there. He did that for a bit and then came in. I gave him a kong with some treats in it and he messed with that for a while and finally I decided it was time for some treadmill. He did 7.5 minutes at 5% incline and 2mph. I am experimenting with more incline and think I can go a few more degrees with no problems. The pace is a tough one, but incline also makes it tougher, so I think that is the least innocuous way to do it for now.

I meant to mention that Cassie was doing much better on Sat. when I saw her. Of course then she was running around more and starting favoring off her bad leg again, but it seems that some crating did her well, but she gets totally stir crazy.

Friday night at the shelter

Well, things didn't go as quickly tonight. I was covering the 5-9 again and I got here a bit before 5 and the food was out for the dogs but I needed to walk them all in and then I needed to clean the outdoor runs. No CSRs tonight and it seemed to take me forever between getting the first one in and the last. I quickly cleaned outside and started back through getting the dogs out. The intake dogs had to wait until I got all the little dog room dogs out and then I carried out the intake dogs (well, most of them). I was getting flustered at how long the after dinner walks were taking but you need to get them to do all their business or you clean it up at the end of the night. I didn't quite make it to getting all the dogs their after dinner walk when I decided I needed to scoop up Maggie/JD because it was too cold out for them to stay out. I got the last dogs out and walked Cassie and put her back in. I checked the crates and cleaned up a bit and then brought Jessie back in and then the little dogs and then the intake room and then the big dogs. By then, it was around 8 and I still needed to do some more cleaning. I just finished and am taking a break before checking the doors/windows and turning off the lights/radios and letting the dogs go to bed. I have a little more time before 9, so I will go do a bit more cleaning and then call it a night. I am going to an Eagle court of honor for 9 boys from the old troop tomorrow, so Baxter has to spend the night here again so that I don't have to bring him up in the morning.

Thurs. night at the shelter

Here I am at the shelter hanging out while the dogs finish supper and rest a bit. Sarah is on vacation and lots of people are covering shifts for her. I was out last week so signed up for this week Thurs/Fri. I forgot that it was Chinese New Year or I could have signed up for more nights since I don't have any night time calls this week. Baxter came to the shelter with me. He has been coughing a bit over the last 2 days but Mallory told me had his bordatella in Dec. so it shouldn't be that. I gave him some Benadryl and it seemed to help until he was pulling hard on his leash and then he was hacking again. I will keep to the Benadryl and see how that goes. I brought him with me to the shelter tonight so he could see Karma and also so that I don't need to crate him at home. Ben is doing his senior project presentation this afternoon and I left the house a little after he did so that I could get here in time to ask any questions to Mallory and make sure I could get in. The spare keys are supposed to be dropped off to me tonight so I can lock up.

There is a new boxer mix here named Casey. She is totally off of her right rear leg. She has a knee surgery scar. There is a note on the board about doing a followup at ATA, but she is pretty lame on that leg right now and the knee looks oddly shaped to me. She is mostly boxer and has a natural boxer tail. She seems very nice, but underweight and injured. Sad.

Winter Time

Well, I was gone last week and Baxter stayed at the shelter so no blog posts. I picked him back up last Friday and I worked at the shelter on Sat. and while I was there Genieve was sorting doggie clothes. I picked out 2 jackets for Baxter as the weather has been turning cold. I walked him in his Fido Fleece yesterday and today. He doesn't like his paws messed with and you have to put his legs through the jacket, so that is a challenge with him squirming, but he looks warmer in it and he doesn't seem to mind it when it is on. He loves to go for a walk and it facilitates it, so he is ok with that.

From Baxter

Baxter has done a few more treadmill sessions. Tonight I had him up to 2.4 mph while I was feeding him jerky treats. He was fine at that speed but as I looked down, I saw his paws were very dirty/muddy and he was tossing dirt off the back of the treadmill. I only kept him on there like 5 minutes and then I had to take him out to clean his feet outside and then come inside to sweep.

This and that

We did more treadmill on Thurs. evening. Baxter did about 7.5 minutes or so. He kept going as long as there were treats to nibble from my fingers. He was doing 2.0 mph, so pretty good stuff. Ben did a little bit with him on Friday also. Today we had an adoption day at Petco and Baxter was very energetic. He was whining wanting to play with the other dogs. We only did like a 30 minute walk this morning and that was about it and he needed more.

I am gone next week so Baxter is parked at the shelter until I pick him up Fri or Sat. next week.

More on treadmill

Baxter is really interested in the treadmill. He was back there yesterday and I turned it on and put it up to 1.2 and he hopped on and walked at the front of it looking for me to give him treats. I didn't have any and so he hopped off after about 10 seconds. I took him on there this morning after our walk because he was seeming very frisky. I had purchased some new training treats from Nutro that are like little squares of jerky and I broke them into smaller pieces. I turned it on and set it to 1.4 and he hopped right on and started walking. I went around the front of the treadmill and put a piece in my fingers and let him nibble it as I held it in my fingers. We went on that way for more than 4.5 minutes. I need to work on spreading out the amount of time for each treat. My fingers got nibbled quite a bit but that is okay. He really seems to go for the treadmill with no leash required, but the trick is to get the speed up more, to reduce the number of treats and to extend the length of time. Overall, it is very encouraging.

The dog next door

My neighbor has this little dach/min-pin mix puppy. She is at least 6 months or more younger than Baxter and she has been hanging around at the common fenceline. The dogs have been running back and forth up and down the fence and Baxter has been chewing at the lattice work that goes along the bottom of the fence in a drainage easement at the back of the property to try to get his head over to visit her. I put a block of cement in front of that spot, but he started digging a little bit in front of that. I brought him inside and then took him for a walk for 2 miles or so and that seemed to take the issue away (and I think the puppy went inside). He is laying down napping now (no treadmill tonight, we did a long walk instead).

A short walk on the treadmill

Put Baxter back on the treadmill last night. We are still experimenting and this was only the second time. I put him on a leash and brought out the hot dog pieces and he was following me closely. I got him partially on the treadmill by holding some hotdog from in front of it through the opening above the motor and then passed his leash over the handlebar. Lori turned on the treadmill and Baxter was still just walking with his front feet though some repositioning of the treats finally got him on. I got Lori to move the speed up to 1.0 mph and that seemed okay. I didn't want to give Baxter too much hot dog so had him eating it from my fingers while I tried not to let him have all of the piece but that wasn't great because some little bit would fall on the belt and he would put his head down to eat it. The whole thing was just 3 minutes on the treadmill and I need to find smaller treats to give and something I don't mind him having a bunch of. Baxter returned to the treadmill a number of times during the evening to see if I was going to bring out more hotdog and he even went over and sat on the belt waiting, so I see that as a good sign. I need to figure out the correct treat and smaller bits and give him more sessions and longer sessions, but with a few weeks practice, he could get used to the treadmill.

Muddy feet

I am cleaning a lot of muddy paws these days. There are major patches in my backyard and Baxter likes to go out and chase squirrels and wander around. He is an active young dog. I have been walking him at least 1.5 miles twice a day and other short walks. We took a run the other morning and he did fine. His biggest issue is that he walks in front of me and can end up blocking, though when running he falls more beside. I have been using a Gentle Leader Easy Walker harness with him and it works great.

I weighed him this morning before giving him his monthly HW preventative and he is just under 60 lbs. I left him home in the crate yesterday while I went to work and he of course was fine. We played with the Chuckit flying squirrel in the yard yesterday and he really liked it. He ran and ran and ran. He has been taking advantage of the various comforters around and hanging whereever I am. I want to try to get him on the treadmill tonight. He was walking his front feet on treadmill the other day when I was holding a hot dog for him. Hope to get in front of treadmill today and hold the leash and hot dog so he is all 4's on. Haven't had any destructiveness, but he has been chewing various chew toys, stuffed toys, etc. Just have to keep up with his energy level and make sure he is worn out daily.

Curled up in his crate

Being a shelter dog, Baxter is quite comfy in his crate. I showed him the crate yesterday with the door open and he wandered in and laid down. After we went for our last walk last night and he wandered the house a little bit, he went into his crate and laid down while I watched the bowl game. I shut the door when I went to bed. I had to chase him off the living room sofa twice today but he hopefully he will catch on to that quickly. He is curled up in his crate with the door open right now.

Baxter

I couldn't find a solution to the allergy problem, so I am unable to bring Moolatte back into foster. I hate to give up on the challenge of socializing him especially as I see how well he takes to the dog caretakers at the shelter, but I don't have another way other then spending extra time with him at the shelter. In the interim, it has been too quiet here without a dog (other then Ben nagging me that we need a dog), so we went to the shelter last night to look at our short hair dog options. Alisand had suggested this weekend that I take home Stringer to give him a break from the shelter. I considered taking Alamo and Stringer home for the week for a break or taking Baxter as a foster (all 3 dogs were adopted and eventually returned). Ben was leaning toward Baxter so we went and met with Baxter and decided to bring him home.

Baxter's wrap from his adopters who returned him is that he was very destructive. Based on all I have read and watched, that is the hallmark of a dog who needs more exercise. Baxter is listed as a Pit/Boxer mix and both are high energy breeds. I have heard as much as 2 hours of exercise a day for a Boxer. My plan is to do multiple 30-45 minute walks a day with him and see how that works out. I also want to try to get him working on the treadmill.

Happy New Year

Well, I have gone dogless since before Christmas. I am at the shelter today and Moolatte was his old shy/running away self. I played with Baxter and Tracy for a while and then caught Moolatte ( he will run around but then will sit as you approach) and petted him and scratched his neck and took him for a couple of walks. He is doing about the same as he was before coming home. He barks at the men who walk by his pen as he hovers toward the back so as not to get too close to them. I am not taking any dog home tonight, but want to figure out what to do for tomorrow. The options are not a lot different than when I dropped him off before Christmas. There isn't a good alternate dog unless I want to take home a little tiny one. Perhaps I should just wait.