What an exciting few days it
has been. Living History is our first foster although we have had our grey Aspen for 4 years. I was expecting a rather shy insecure creature when we brought him home. History, however is a very confident, curious, inquisitive fun-loving fella’. He is afraid of nothing, although I have not yet tried the vacuum cleaner. On top of his beautiful red coloring, he has black tips on the longer hairs in his coat. This gives him a rather unique look as if he has been sprinkled with soot. And his tail, that adorable tail! It is rather thick for a greyhound, and has raccoon-like pattern of dark patches. That combined with his adventurous nature leads me to think that Davey Crocket might be a more appropriate name!
The first day was spent exploring and learning the house, the yard and finding the oh so comfy dog beds. But the best thing in life, second only to dinnertime, is squeaky toys! He will squeak and toss and run and shake them and skid across the kitchen floor until he is out of breath. He will chase anything you toss, a ball, or toy, or pine cone, although he doesn’t really bring it back to you, at least not yet. The joy he has for life is much like a puppy, and it brings a smile to you face no matter what.
He is curious about everything, and wants to “help” you do whatever you are doing. Open a cupboard door and he is there, in up to his shoulders checking out what is inside. Open a closet door, and there he his checking out what good things you have sucked up into the vacuum cleaner, or where your shoes have walked the last time you were out. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not obsessive, just a quick look around and he’s off to the next thing to explore.
He’s been staying in his crate while we are at work, and loose in the house while we are home. He has been wonderful in the house, no accidents. He showed a little extra interest in some potted houseplants at first, but has been ignoring them since that first day or so. He and our grey Aspen sleep on dog beds in our room at night with us and other than sorting out who is sleeping on what bed, they are perfectly quiet all night long.
History needs a little
work with leash walking as he is easily distracted by sights and smells and sounds of the neighborhood. But with practice, each walk he is getting much better! His strong food motivation is also perfect for focusing on basic obedience. He has mastered ‘down’ and 'sit' is a work in progress. Little bits every day and soon he will be far ahead of our own grey.
Stairs at first were, well, comical to say the least. He managed to go up on the second try, but down was a little scarier. (See the picture of Aspen (on the left) and History (on the right) looking down the scary basement steps). Scary that is until my husband squeaked a toy at the bottom, then the fear just strangely disappeared! Over the next couple days stairs become less of a comedy show of scrambling and leaping up them, and basically surfing down them, to a more relaxed one (or two) steps at a time. In fact, the last day or so, he has relaxed in general. Dinnertime still produces “pogo-ing” (front legs bouncing up and down with joy!), but no longer does he actually pounce on ME.
History gets such joy out of everything in this new life. He gives no indication that anything bad ever happened to him in the past, and embraces every new experience with enthusiasm!
has been. Living History is our first foster although we have had our grey Aspen for 4 years. I was expecting a rather shy insecure creature when we brought him home. History, however is a very confident, curious, inquisitive fun-loving fella’. He is afraid of nothing, although I have not yet tried the vacuum cleaner. On top of his beautiful red coloring, he has black tips on the longer hairs in his coat. This gives him a rather unique look as if he has been sprinkled with soot. And his tail, that adorable tail! It is rather thick for a greyhound, and has raccoon-like pattern of dark patches. That combined with his adventurous nature leads me to think that Davey Crocket might be a more appropriate name!
The first day was spent exploring and learning the house, the yard and finding the oh so comfy dog beds. But the best thing in life, second only to dinnertime, is squeaky toys! He will squeak and toss and run and shake them and skid across the kitchen floor until he is out of breath. He will chase anything you toss, a ball, or toy, or pine cone, although he doesn’t really bring it back to you, at least not yet. The joy he has for life is much like a puppy, and it brings a smile to you face no matter what.
He is curious about everything, and wants to “help” you do whatever you are doing. Open a cupboard door and he is there, in up to his shoulders checking out what is inside. Open a closet door, and there he his checking out what good things you have sucked up into the vacuum cleaner, or where your shoes have walked the last time you were out. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not obsessive, just a quick look around and he’s off to the next thing to explore.
He’s been staying in his crate while we are at work, and loose in the house while we are home. He has been wonderful in the house, no accidents. He showed a little extra interest in some potted houseplants at first, but has been ignoring them since that first day or so. He and our grey Aspen sleep on dog beds in our room at night with us and other than sorting out who is sleeping on what bed, they are perfectly quiet all night long.
History needs a little
work with leash walking as he is easily distracted by sights and smells and sounds of the neighborhood. But with practice, each walk he is getting much better! His strong food motivation is also perfect for focusing on basic obedience. He has mastered ‘down’ and 'sit' is a work in progress. Little bits every day and soon he will be far ahead of our own grey.Stairs at first were, well, comical to say the least. He managed to go up on the second try, but down was a little scarier. (See the picture of Aspen (on the left) and History (on the right) looking down the scary basement steps). Scary that is until my husband squeaked a toy at the bottom, then the fear just strangely disappeared! Over the next couple days stairs become less of a comedy show of scrambling and leaping up them, and basically surfing down them, to a more relaxed one (or two) steps at a time. In fact, the last day or so, he has relaxed in general. Dinnertime still produces “pogo-ing” (front legs bouncing up and down with joy!), but no longer does he actually pounce on ME.
History gets such joy out of everything in this new life. He gives no indication that anything bad ever happened to him in the past, and embraces every new experience with enthusiasm!
1 comment:
Davy Crockett. Daniel Boone. They both fit with his racing name History! That pic of them both at the top of the stairs is PRICELESS.
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