Spring Has Sprung!

Mister has arrived! Today we spent the day at PetSmart in Plymouth Meeting and Mister was excellent! I have been spending SO much time with him I didn't realize how good he has become. We have made more progress than I gave Mister or me credit for! And he looked great today! 

The hair loss has lessen quite a bit, and he has put on some much needed weight. After a couple of Malseb baths Mister was shiny and new looking! Which reminds me - I need to get MY hair done! 


But really, Mister has made a lot of progress. Matt was great today about handling Mister at the event. I was worried Mister might be too attached to me, but he wasn't at all. He was attentive when I was around, but was calm and relaxed about the crazy-Pet-Store environment and in meeting all the people! He was great in meeting the other dogs - not an ounce of aggression or any reaction to aggressive/dominant dogs. He was eager to meet the other dogs, but not pulling or anything inappropriate. 


Mister was also great with all the kids he met today as I expected. He was gentle and sweet, as always, looking for love and affection. He thrives off being petted and talked sweetly to! That is his THING - sweet talk and hands on loving! Treats/food? He could pass. Playing with other dogs? nah, he'd rather be at your feet or by your side! I think that is the makings of a World's Greatest Pet! All he needs now is a loving home, daily exercise, and a little more work on his basics like down, shake and stay. The good thing is that he doesn't want to run away or wander off! 

These adoption events are a great place to figure out what type of people are attracted to Mister and what they would expect from him.  We meet a great family that was interested in him and talked about concern for his behavior in the car and with a cat in the home. 


I'll be honest, our car ride experience hasn't been perfect. He just doesn't have much experience in the car at all, like most dogs from the inner-city shelter. He does get anxious in the car. We had been tying him to the back seat in his harness, which he eventually settles down. We did find he liked having his head out the window!  On the way home, we tried something different, I rode in the back seat next to him, and he laid down like we were on the couch watching tv - so cute! It wasn't perfect, but he can totally learn to ride in the car with manners, he just needs more practice!  We'll work on that this week too.

The other concern has been with cats. Mister hasn't hurt a cat, or even attempted to put his mouth on the cats, but he is interested in them. But it dawned on us today, maybe it's more OUR cat that is the problem! Our housecat Kitty Kitty goes in and out the dog door at his will, and pretty much does what he wants when he wants. Our cat also likes to pick on the dogs and get them in trouble. Kitty Kitty sits right in front of the new dog in the house like - "I dare ya to do sum-thin!" And if they don't do sum-thin, he teases them by walking in front of them and running away so they chase him. Also Matt has been gone a lot in the last two weeks since Mister has been here, so I have had my hands full with trying to exercise three dogs, and maybe I haven't done so well. I have just been doing boring ol' walks. Anyways, after we came home, Matt introduced Mister to the super-fun-new-to-Mister-game of fetch. Talk about tiring some dogs out! <Mister is laying down napping away now!>


Point being, that since our 30 minute super-fun-game Mister is being  better with the cats. Not so fixated on them. He hasn't been aggressive at all, just too curious and the cats don't really like the intrusiveness of his face in their personal space even if they ask for it! Cats. We are going to work on that more, but again I think he has the makings of a great pet that can live with a cat. 


I think the appropriate exercise routine for Mister is a disciplined 20-30 minute daily walk and a game of backyard fetch. And maybe a little more credit from me, because I think Mister has made more progress than I realized! 


And just for fun... Blue learned to fly during the fetch game! Notice... Mister is not a jumper! ;-)

Good dogs. Mister is well on his way to becoming a World's Greatest Pet! Willingness to learn, affection motivated, great walker, gentle sweetheart and ridiculous cuteness is already in him!