Trucker Week 2

I can't believe Trucker has been with us for two weeks!  Everything is going very smoothly.  Of course we have endured the coldest part of the winter and so far so good.  He could definitely use more exercise, but sometimes it is just too cold!  He usually gets two walks a day, which is pretty good, they just are pretty short. 

We went to the vet on Tuesday and he is doing very well.  She took out his stiches, cleaned his ears, weighed him (60.8 lbs), gave us some flax oil for his itchiness, took a fecal sample and gave us outrageously expensive heartworm preventative and flea protection.  I do think he has gained a pound or two while he has been with us, but you can still feel his ribs.  She was actually perfectly happy with his weight, saying he could gain a pound or two but was trim and she liked that.  We will try and keep him around 63, it is so easy to put weight on a dog and not so easy to get it off.  (Just like us.)

Trucker still hasn't been off leash yet in the backyard.  We are a bit terrified to trust the invisible fence, but I think we are going to give it a whirl this weekend.  We will need to be on deck with running shoes, treats, a leash and the car in case he decides he doesn't mind the invisible fence.  Maybe we should say a prayer or two before we let him off leash, yikes. 

His naughty behaviors are still there.  He LOVES anything stuffed or plush and brings them to me constantly.  Jac keeps asking me, "why did you bring down all of these stuffed animals".  He really thinks that I am the one going up and getting them out of rooms and bringing them down.  His barking seems to be getting better, he does spook easily and tends to bark right before bed when he is half asleep and early in the morning when the rest of us are half asleep.  He paces, a lot, but I am still thinking that this will go away with time. 

He has only had two accidents in doors, once here and of course once at the in-laws house, I could have died.  He likes to go in the front yard for his business, not enough other doggy smells in the backyard I guess.  He still doesn't really "ask" to out, or maybe I am just not that observant.

Right now he is sneaking by me with one of Jac's friend's shoes in his mouth.   His tail is between his legs, better go get that shoe.

Trucker Finds a Home

Well, we are officially dog owner's again.  We brought home Trucker today from the rescue group and are thrilled.  I know you are now wondering what happened to Casey and Tia.  Casey was a big girl, she had lots of energy and never really mellowed out while we were there.  She was very sweet, but while we were petting her she picked up two or three things in the room and took off with them. She will make a great dog for people who either have older kids or no kids such that they have more time to focus only on Casey. 

Tia is a sweetheart.  After spending about 30 minutes with her I was sold this morning. Jeff, not so much.  He thought she was too laid back.  Tia and Trucker came in together as strays and they were friends of some sort.  We will never know if they met along the way or if they were in the same house or even if they were brother and sister.  I do wonder if Trucker will miss Tia and whether or not she is lonely tonight.

There were two families at the rescue looking at Tia and Casey, so that made me feel better about the situation.  We wish we could take care of them all.  There was also a sweet senior girl there whom we loved.  But we don't need two dogs at this point in our lives, but maybe someday.

After meeting Trucker, Jeff was in love.  Trucker is a bit goofy but mellowed pretty quickly.  He was very interested in checking out the room he was in but he wasn't constantly being naughty.  He definitely wanted to greet every person and dog that came into the room.  He was really good with the kids right off the bat and wasn't jumping up or in their faces.  He is a Golden, so by definition he is large but he isn't huge like Casey. 

After almost two hours at the rescue, we agreed on Trucker and were able to load him up and bring him home this morning.  So far he has paced around for several hours, barked one time at a mysterious noise in the back yard (I think he may be a bird chaser), cleaned the floor in the kitchen, tried to steal two shoes, tried to steal several kids toys, tried to counter surf once, tried to get on the couch twice, asked to play ball several times, gone on two REALLY cold walks, gotten freaked out about the stairs and tried to find the hidden passageway behind the stairs and finally he has taken a couple of well deserved naps.  He seemed thirsty, but often dogs drink when they are nervous.  He has been good about pottying outside with no accidents so far, but he hasn't asked to go out yet either.  His manners seem very good for a guy who lived on the streets for awhile.  He doesn't beg (what dog doesn't beg?).  He hasn't jumped up on the kids or us even one time.  He hasn't been very vocal at all, but that could be nerves also.  When he does get something in his mouth he allows you to take it out easily.  He walks very nicely on a leash.  He sits well, although doesn't know any other commands.  And so far he doesn't seem to be a licker.  (Sorry Bentley, he may give you a run for your money on the perfect dog award.)

He is super thin, probably 50ish pounds, Jeff said approximately 63, but I don't think he is that big.  He is tall, around the same size as Trooper but blonder.  He actually reminds us a lot of Trooper.  He has a few expressions that are the same and is the same body type. 

I know it will take a while to figure out his true personality.  But we already love him and he seems too good to be true.  I know that he will be naughty and more than likely it will be because I failed to do something for him.  I am kind of excited to get to say "Mother Trucker"! when he does something really naughty, because that makes me giggle.  But we have already joked that our "third child" may become the easy one really quick (there have been a few tantrums this evening as Jac and Mia seem to be worn out from the days activities). 

Hopefully we will all sleep well tonight.

Update on the Pet Situation

I'm back! It was a wonderful holiday and so much fun and love was given and received. It was nice to see most of our family and spend a lot of quality time talking and playing games. We can talk about all of that later. Right now, here is an update on where we stand with the dog situation that I wrote about before Christmas.

Jeff and I tend to procrastinate, or at least it may look like procrastination from an outsider looking in. However, once a decision has been made we both go forward full force. On our way to Christmas at Jeff's family we stopped at a Golden Retriever Rescue and met a few dogs. We were able to see one dog in particular that we were interested in, Casey. Here is a picture of her. Casey is a young female, probably less than two years old, they think she was probably someone's pet but they never claimed her. She came in heart worm positive and is still receiving treatment. Casey is a wiggly girl who has a wonderful thick blond coat and is just happy to see people. She was great with the kids, and it was nice to see they weren't scared of her at all. Although they did learn quickly to stay away from the tail, it can be pretty weapon like when Casey gets excited.

The first think we have to do for the rescue group is address our fence. We have an electric fence that is broken, so the company is coming out to fix it this afternoon (although now it is snowing, not sure how that works). Then the rescue has to do a home visit and make sure we aren't running a puppy mill here. We have been through all of this before, it may seem crazy to non dog people, or even non rescue people. But these dogs have been through so much and the rescue group's objective is to find them a forever home where they will be indoors and part of the family. The group wants to find homes for these dogs, but their goal is to improve the situation of the dog and ensure a good fit. For instance, they would never give us a 90 lb boy who has so much energy and muscle and needs a five mile run every day. With a four year old and a three year old, it just doesn't make sense, and they understand that the likelihood of the dog and the family being happy depends on how well suited we are for each other, versus does the dog look cute online or whether or not we always wanted a boy, etc etc. Our wishes are important but not nearly as important as the needs of the dog. If only all decisions we made in life were so well thought through with an advocate on the other end.

So after today we should have a working fence, cross your fingers. And luckily the previous owner's left all of the collars for the device so we don't even need to purchase those. Then over the weekend we will head to the rescue again to get a home visit scheduled. I hope to meet Tia also while we are there this weekend. Here is her picture. My only concern is that we will fall in love with both and end up with two Goldens. (We do have two electric fence collars!)