Gus and I just walked all over the neighborhood, had coffee and hiked up Mt. Tabor. We also spent 45 minutes at the dog park where he did an excellent job of playing nicely and coming when I called him.
Gus and I are definitely figuring some things out about one another. I know that he hasn't had the opportunity to meet a lot of dogs, and because of this, he tends to freak out when he sees dogs across the street. It's been embarrassing to have to restrain my dog on the side of the road while he barks and jumps and whelps, but I can't just let him go. If I were to let him go when he's like that he would probably be injured by the passing cars. The funny thing is, he isn't aggressive towards other dogs. It's like he just can't believe that he's seeing these dogs and absolutely MUST say hello.
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We got him from a friend of Leisa's. The previous owner didn't have the time to take him for walks or to socialize him. I'm not even sure how long he was with them. On easter, we were sitting at the table having brunch with some friends and Leisa was talking about how they wished he would run away, and about how they kicked him and threw his food on the floor. They had even locked him out of the house hoping he would leave. I couldn't believe it. I called the guy up immediately and said I'd like to meet this poor dog. I picked him up and brought him to the house. He explored the back yard and I introduced him to our home. Next I walked him to Mt. Tabor dog park and met up with Kelly A. and his dog Harlan. Harlan showed Gus the ropes and they ran around the dog park together, saying hello and sniffing a lot of ass. Surprisingly, Gus wasn't timid. I was concerned that his lack of socialization would have made him fearful of other dogs. Not the case, he wasn't aggressive either. He did really well. I was so surprised and concerned when later, he freaked out when a dog across the street walked past.
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He is a bit of a leash puller. I have been pretty serious about making sure he walks beside me and not in front. I bought a gentle leader head harness. It wraps around the base of his skull and has a loop that goes over his nose. When he pulls, it takes all of the pressure off of his chest and places it on his head, which means he stops pulling. I can't believe the difference it makes. Rather than just pulling on the lead, he actually looks around now and seems to enjoy the walks.
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He can sit, lay down and shake now. He's so smart, and a bit naughty. Now if I can just keep him off of the couch at night. . .
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Gus there reminds me of one of the dogs a guy used to train out at work. Look about the same too.
Anyway, it was probably the most well-behaved dog I had ever seen, never barked, never crapped on the floor. Socialized well with people and other dogs. I think part of the way it was trained was with the leash cause I would notice the dogs acting differently if they were leashed.
One time, the owner leashed the dog and then let go of the leash. The dog didn't seem to notice the difference so much, so he stayed put until an officer I was working with called for the dog. The dog looked around sheepishly and then picked up it's own leash and led itself to the officer for a good petting.
Congratulations you guys! Gus is totally adorable and I'm sure he's totally grateful you rescued him from those people.
Faye and I spend a lot of time at the Mt. Tabor dog park, we should meet there sometime. You know the Valiant Arms song "Dizzy" was written there, don't you?
xo diane
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