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Friday, March 27, 2009

Sparky Update


Hi, just to let you know things are going wonderfully. My "gem in the rough" has become my shining 20 carat diamond. Sparky still isn't sure this is "home" but with time I think he will become even more confident. I peeked at the pictures on the site that showed him when he first arrived into the system and it near breaks my heart, but he is safely at home with me.

I can't thank either of you enough for setting the basics up for me to work from. He's walking off leash at heel outside and comes on command AND pays attention to me, not other people or dogs. He knows all the hand signals without voice commands. He has some ear allergies, but am working with vet to keep them clean and not itchy.

He thinks he's pretty hot stuff at the dog park & is 2nd in line in the 6 dog hierarchy he participates in. (pit bull takes #1 spot) but #2 isn't so bad as he is the smallest dog by far. He loves having his own home, toys, bed, crate, and person, not necessarily in that order. Sparky still tests me from time to time, but I attribute that to his strong personality and I nip that sucker in the bud immediately. But I give him points for trying.

Take care, and ever so grateful to you all.

ps. picture is w/mylar balloon, which got him so excited that it was near impossible to calm him down. he spent a few hours in the crate and no more mylar balloons for us. however, he was hysterical playing with it untl it popped.

Corinne

Oldie but Goodie

An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.

He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head; he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.



An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks. Curious I pinned a note to his collar: 'I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.' The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar: 'He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 - he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?'

-- Contributed by Ruth Ann Bowen, 4bostonlovers2chat@yahoogroups.com