Buddy Update
It's almost 8 months since I brought Sir Buddy home and he has made great strides in every way. Most importantly he rarely seems anxious and has gotten along great with folks coming into the house (with a few exceptions - the exterminator and the cable guy). He is a really sweet dog.
Up until this last week, whenever I needed to board him I would take him to the vet. I have a great vet and the folks who work there are really good with Buddy, but when I board him there he mostly stays in a small kennel - only getting 2-3 short walks a day. Whenever I pick him up from the vet's he is really wound up with a lot of nervous energy and he sometimes has a really upset stomach.
While I don't know all of the details (which is frustrating), I do know that Buddy has a few incidents in his past where he was seriously aggressive towards other dogs. Hard for me to believe because he is so good now, but because I know of his past, I've been concerned about him playing with other dogs. We did have a few "play dates" with other dogs and while he was a bit dominant, he absolutely loved playing with them. He also has been great "meeting" other neighborhood dogs when we go for our walks (he is really friendly with the human neighbors too).
I decided he was ready to be boarded somewhere where he could have supervised play time with other dogs. Our Bark Buster trainer gave a suggestion of a place she was impressed with; I went over to check it out and then left Buddy there Thursday - Friday while I had to be in Fort Worth for work.
His report:
Buddy did great - no upset stomach. He continued to play with Charlie and then Jake another lab mix that came in today - he had a blast runnin' around with them. I have some great pictures of Buddy, Charlie and Jake on the run! Lol!
I did try him with another pup yesterday Bonnie (she's a blue heeler) - they were touch and go. He pinned her right off the bat but I know her and she's a tough girl so I sat down with them both and then they did fine. She kept trying to kiss him but he didn't seem to want anything more to do with her so I didn't push it.
I will send you a photo gallary of his playtimes tomorrow. He's a sweetheart and I think with more work he'll calm down a little more around the other dogs so his friend base will continue to grow. Right now he's kinda the playground bully but like with Charlie and Jake they were happy to be his wingmen! Ha!
All in all, not too bad for a dog who has not had any stability in his life until 8 months ago. I know he must of had a good time because he was pretty calm driving home last night and he was (and still is) EXHAUSTED.
I'll continue to take him to this boarding place - it is really small and they pay lots of attention to each dog, carefully taking time to introduce dogs to each other and finding ones who like to play with each other. Each dog has free running time with up to 4 other dogs (assuming they have passed the compatibility test) a minimum of 6 times a day. It is more expensive than boarding Buddy at the vet's - but it makes the stay less stressful for him and I think he really had a lot of fun.
Yay Buddy!
Up until this last week, whenever I needed to board him I would take him to the vet. I have a great vet and the folks who work there are really good with Buddy, but when I board him there he mostly stays in a small kennel - only getting 2-3 short walks a day. Whenever I pick him up from the vet's he is really wound up with a lot of nervous energy and he sometimes has a really upset stomach.
While I don't know all of the details (which is frustrating), I do know that Buddy has a few incidents in his past where he was seriously aggressive towards other dogs. Hard for me to believe because he is so good now, but because I know of his past, I've been concerned about him playing with other dogs. We did have a few "play dates" with other dogs and while he was a bit dominant, he absolutely loved playing with them. He also has been great "meeting" other neighborhood dogs when we go for our walks (he is really friendly with the human neighbors too).
I decided he was ready to be boarded somewhere where he could have supervised play time with other dogs. Our Bark Buster trainer gave a suggestion of a place she was impressed with; I went over to check it out and then left Buddy there Thursday - Friday while I had to be in Fort Worth for work.
His report:
Buddy did great - no upset stomach. He continued to play with Charlie and then Jake another lab mix that came in today - he had a blast runnin' around with them. I have some great pictures of Buddy, Charlie and Jake on the run! Lol!
I did try him with another pup yesterday Bonnie (she's a blue heeler) - they were touch and go. He pinned her right off the bat but I know her and she's a tough girl so I sat down with them both and then they did fine. She kept trying to kiss him but he didn't seem to want anything more to do with her so I didn't push it.
I will send you a photo gallary of his playtimes tomorrow. He's a sweetheart and I think with more work he'll calm down a little more around the other dogs so his friend base will continue to grow. Right now he's kinda the playground bully but like with Charlie and Jake they were happy to be his wingmen! Ha!
All in all, not too bad for a dog who has not had any stability in his life until 8 months ago. I know he must of had a good time because he was pretty calm driving home last night and he was (and still is) EXHAUSTED.
I'll continue to take him to this boarding place - it is really small and they pay lots of attention to each dog, carefully taking time to introduce dogs to each other and finding ones who like to play with each other. Each dog has free running time with up to 4 other dogs (assuming they have passed the compatibility test) a minimum of 6 times a day. It is more expensive than boarding Buddy at the vet's - but it makes the stay less stressful for him and I think he really had a lot of fun.
Yay Buddy!