Jordan is doing very well in his foster home and holding steady at 27 lbs. The vet said that Jordan is in good health, except for his hind legs. Both Jordan’s knees are calcified, which means that he walks a little stiff-legged. But since Jordan doesn’t complain, the vet didn’t think there was any pain associated with it. His advice was to give him regular exercise, but nothing too strenuous like running.
Jordan’s foster parents describe Jordan:
The way my wife and both describe his disposition is like an old man. He’s generally sweet, cute, and lets you know when it’s play time. Jordan loves to have his belly scratched — it’s his go-to position when we pet him. But, he’s also kind of protective over his home and still huffs or barks when there are people outside (which is often because we live in a ground floor apt). He generally doesn’t like other dogs — which isn’t to say he’s mean, he just kind of stares at them until they respond. And he’s getting over being skittish on the street. It seems like there were just noises in the city that he’s never encountered, and used to try and bolt when he heard things like a truck’s brakes or metal shutters going down.
There’s been some progress on Jordan’s barking at the door, but it has kind of plateaued. We don’t get a ton of visitors who ring the bell, but when the super comes he gets excited. Usually one of us will answer the door while the other disciplines by standing over him and responding every time he barks.
Within the first month of being here he definitely became more relaxed around the home. The first few nights he paced around the bed; jumping up and trying to get our attention. Now he loves to just lay around, or on the couch, and hang out while I work. He never shows signs of needing to go outside, and when I take him out there’s no urgency to relieve himself.
There are a few really cute moves he loves to do. One is what we call the “T-Rex”, where he shimmies on his back with this paws in front of his chest. And the other one — the one where he got the old man rap — is he’ll get off the couch, putting his front paws on the floor but leaving his back paws stretched on the couch, and slowly dragging himself off.
Like I said, he’s sweet in general. But, Becky and I worry about him with dogs and kids. There have been a few rare occasions when he’s shown annoyance (not really aggression, because there wasn’t much physical contact), but he’ll growl if you get up in his face when he’s on the couch, rear up and make a biting motion. Now, I’ve put my fingers in his mouth when he’s really excited while we’re playing, and he doesn’t have a bite response. I think it’s more posturing than anything else, but he can’t be “cuddly” with a kid who wants to hang off of him.
He’s better about going in the crate and not whining now. Still doesn’t love it, but at least he now knows that it’s not a punishment.
We bought a gentle leader that he’s really gotten used to. Jordan used to pull forward, but now he almost heels with us, if not right at our side. He’ll track a bit around the neighborhood, sniffing at trees and hydrants, but you don’t need much correction to get him to stop. Mostly he’ll respond to positive reinforcement and treats. After walks we give him a treat, but make him sit and lie down for it. Never a problem. Sometimes it takes a few “come” commands to get him to wander over, and he’s still fairly aloof, but he knows what it means.
Jordan only barks/jumps/etc. with strangers if they’re coming into our home. That usually subsides if I show him that the person is with me.
He’s shy in new places, and will generally not want to go into stores or homes he doesn’t recognize.
Here is a cute short video of Jordan:
{ 1 comment }
I had the pleasure of dog-sitting Jordan this weekend and what a pleasure he is to have around. He is quiet and docile, he only got a little vocal if someone was walking in the street outside my house. He also seems to get along with cats, he encountered 2 on a walk and sniffed at them a little, but otherwise showed no interest in them. He previously lived with a cat, so this is probably why. He did not need to be crated at all the entire weekend, even when left alone. He is very well behaved. I kept my 4 dogs upstairs and Jordan downstairs. The one encounter he had was with my female Shiba (Ginger) when she came downstairs and saw Jordan through the pen I had up blocking the stairs. He growled at her, so she barked at him in return and he barked back. I told Ginger to go upstairs, and she did. I didn’t try having Jordan play with any of my dogs since he was only at my house for the weekend and I didn’t want to stress him out too much. He will be coming to stay with us again in 2 weeks for almost a week, so then we may try him out with one or 2 of our dogs and see if they will play well together.