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.