Buddy is doing very well. His coat has come in beautifully. All things are pretty much the same with Buddy except that he was recently groomed and the groomer said he was a perfect gentleman. Although we wouldn’t recommend it, the groomer said she was able to completely groom him without a muzzle. In the past she has been able to wash him without the muzzle, but did use it for his nails.
His foster mom, Jenn, has begun to introduce Buddy to her 5 other dogs.
“We are taking it slow mostly because my dogs can be protective of their house, but Buddy is doing very well. Right now we are still in the “meeting” though a gate, but Buddy has not shown any aggression even with Sawyer barking at him through the gate. This is really good because he has not shown any barrier defense through the gate and has not shown any fear or defensiveness even with 5 dogs on the other side of the gate staring at him. We are going to continue introductions and move on to limited interaction with individuals dogs next week. Although originally I thought Buddy would be best as an only dog, but his behavior meeting my dogs through the gate has been so good that I’m starting to think that he can reside with another dog. I’ll let you know how we progress.”
Buddy does have some resource guarding issues for things that he comes across on walks (bottle caps, sometimes sticks, etc.) and something that is easily snatched from a table when the owner is not paying attentions (cell phones, etc.) He doesn’t eat or really chew these items, it’s more like “Ah ha! I got it and its mine”. Jenn is working on trading with Buddy. He is slowly getting it, but he’s not 100% yet. They have more success if he gets distracted and drops the item.
Buddy is very comfortable with people and enjoys being around “just hanging out”. He still is sensitive to touch and extensive petting so you have to be conscious of when enough is enough. He is much better with petting in larger open areas where he can walk away when he has had enough. In smaller confined areas he can get fearful and defensive. He actually seems to be happiest just being near you – laying at your feet or by your side.
Buddy loves his crate and Jenn finds him sleeping in it throughout the day. His barrier defense while in his crate eating is subsiding and he is learning to relax and digest his food after done eating. Then when he comes out of his crate he is calm and ready to go outside.
