Dealing With Change

Bear had a true test of his coping skills this past weekend.  We had to go out of town unexpectedly for a family funeral, so our friend Aaron came to stay with the pets.  I was pretty worried about how this might affect Bear, thinking the stress of the new situation might cause him to backslide and lose some of the progress he's made.  Aaron is a very nice guy though, and Bear has met him several times, so we decided to give it a try.  We thought it would be good to see how he reacted to the changes.

Well, it turned out that we worried for nothing, Bear did great!  He barked at Aaron at first, but settled down quickly.  He ate well, interacted with Aaron, and was really just his normal self.  He did have one accident (at least I think it was only one, but Aaron might have been covering for him!) and he chewed one of my crocs.  All in all, I think that's pretty good considering that he's an anxious dog who was left in a new situation unexpectedly!  Yay Bear!

We've been using a pheromone spray called Adaptil that helps with dogs' stress, and it really seems to be helping.  I spray it on the dog beds and couches a few times a day, and I've noticed a difference in Bear already - I started using it a week ago.  He's a lot less jumpy and doesn't seem to be 'on alert' so much.  I know that it could also be due to the work we've been doing with him, but I think it's a combination of the two.  Ellis' annual birthday BBQ and board games extravaganza is this weekend, and there will be a house full of unfamiliar people, so I'm glad the spray is helping him, I don't want him to be too stressed out.  A nice big knuckle bone out in the yard with his best buddy Brody will help a lot too, I'm sure :)

We're trying to come up with a new name to call him - Bear was cute when he was a fuzzy little puppy, but it just doesn't really suit him any more.  We've narrowed it down to a few ideas: Murray, Trevor or Nigel.  What do you think?

They're inseparable :)

Alone Time

I've been testing Bear to see how he does when I take the other dogs out and leave him behind.  He's not totally alone, the cats and Ellis are here, but he's so dog-oriented, I want to be sure he'll be ok.  I took Ollie and Brody to the park today, and left Bear home with Ellis.  I didn't load him up with kongs or puzzle toys, this was kind of a test.  I wanted to see how he would do, because until I can take him places, there will be times he will be left home alone - no way around it! 

Ellis said he did really well, no theatrics, no sadness, no chewing or anxiety.  He stayed near the door, but was quite calm, just waiting for them to come back.  We were gone for about 2.5 hours, so it was a good test!  In reality, normally I would leave him something to keep him busy, I don't really want him pining at the door, but I had to know what he would do.  He sure was happy to see them when we got home, he was dancing all over and wiggling like a lab puppy!  I'm kind of hoping that when he sees Ollie and Brody come home all wet and tired and smelling of the park, maybe he'll get motivated to let me touch him so he can come too :)

Bear's first month with us

So, it's been a little over a month since Bear came to live with us (I know, I know, I've been very bad about posting lately!), and he's really doing well!  He has become best friends with Brody - they play together, sleep side by side, run and wrestle and really just love each other!  I've never seen Brody this attached to a foster dog before, it's really nice to see :)

Buddies :)

Bear has relaxed a lot in the past month - he no longer guards his food or toys, he can play tug with Brody without it getting out of hand, and he is nice with the cats.  He does still have a bit of a tendency to herd or chase the cats, but it's all done in play, and they are usually only mildly annoyed by it!  We're still struggling a little with house training, but it's not his fault.  He knows he should go outside, and he does go to the door when he needs to go out, but if we don't see him, he'll have an accident.  I haven't figured out how to teach him to ask to go out yet - I would like to teach him to ring the bell, but it's a challenge to do it with a dog that I can't touch!

First time having bones together in the yard - Bear kept his distance from the other dogs!

Now they are happy to hang out and chew side by side :)

Speaking of touch, that is also getting better.  I've been working with the clicker, and doing a lot of hand feeding with him, which has helped a lot.  He will lick canned food off my finger now, and when I reach my hand out toward him he will usually come up and sniff, rather than backing off and looking afraid or barking at me.  If he is standing near me, I can reach down and lightly touch his back or tail, and he doesn't run away, although he does still jump.  He will also play with me now, I can play chase games with him in the house or yard, and he enjoys it and has fun, rather than running away and being afraid.  We still have a long way to go, but it feels like he has come so far in such a short time, and he keeps making progress every day. 

Relaxing on the deck - life is good!

And sometimes, when he's really lucky, Bear ends up with all the antlers!