A Loving Mom Says Farewell to Iggy

There is a beautiful story that goes with this picture, but I was not able to post it in the blog.  I've included the link to this wonderful tribute/memoir about Iggy and his forever family, written by  Linda Brain Beck, Iggy's forever mom.
http://backofthepackview.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-boy-two-parents-and-dog-not-story.html

Thank you, Linda, for sharing this with NEBTR, from whom you adopted Iggy.

Iggy Update

So Iggy has been on a search and rescue mission for all the extraneous toys and bones that Tink has meticulously hidden around the apartment over the past 3 years we've lived here. His most recent discovery was Tink's long lost kong which was buried underneath our bed way in the middle. So Iggy bravely crawled under the bed to retrieve it! To date he has found a bully stick in the front closet, a bone under my dresser, the kong under the bed, and countless treats around Tink's crate. And as a result of these findings he continues to search every nook and cranny in the house REPEATEDLY!

Yesterday Nick and I finally gave the beefcake a bath and while he didn't like it by any stretch he did ok and endured it just fine. He is soooo soft and shiny now! I love the neem oil products for these dogs' coats! Beautiful!

Iggy is doing better with his growling and being possessive over high value treats and chews. He's learning that we're not going to take them and that we will play with him when he is nice and not when he is mean. Because he is so completely food motivated a behavior modification plan works very nicely for him. We've been working on "drop it" with high value items giving another high value item for dropping it and then giving the first item back to help establish a positive experience with dropping a valued item. I have to sneak the treats out of the container because if he even thinks I have one, he drops the bully stick or bone or whatever else and waits for a treat before the command is given!

Definitely improvement overall although he did bark and almost snap at Tink who got too close to him this evening while he was chewing on a bully....I will say in his defense he moved away from her and she sought him out. But still....so any suggestions on how to work with the growling at another dog around a highly valued item I would be happy to hear!

We've figured out the roles that Tink and Iggy have in this house--Tinker is the princess and Iggy is the court jester. He has that goofy but self-absorbed attitude and is generally a laid back guy! He won't move out of the way for Tink though...he lets her bump into him repeatedly and then get confused and bump into the walls trying get through and well it's not such a nice scene for the Little One...

Iggy has a strong chew drive which has been working out for Tink quite nicely. He chews the bullys and gets them all soft and white and then drops them for something else to do. She comes along and because they've been started and are soft, she will sit down and chew on the bully for 5 or so minutes in heaven! It's so cute! And Iggs is pretty good at leaving her alone with minimal reminders, but some supervision.

There's been a nice flow and routine to the house over the past week or so. We've had Iggy for 3 weeks and he is getting into a groove with us. Tink gets into bed in the middle of the night and for the past few mornings around 6 or so, we left Iggy out of his crate and he sleeps under the covers for the last hour or so of sleeping. It's amazing how much more he trusts and is comfortable in the house too... he was always a fairly trusting dog, but even so, it has deepened and really shown in his attitude with bones and with sleeping and hanging out...

I want the best home possible for this beefy guy. Nick and I feel a home that doesn't have young kids that has a dog or maybe not would be best for this guy. Also a home that people don't work crazy long work hours. He's such a social people dog, it wouldn't be fair for him to be alone for 10 plus hours.

So, if you're interested, fill out an application with NEBtRescue....

--Vicki
And Tinker Makes Three

Tink's Foster Iggy

Tink and Iggy

Iggy

Iggy

I just wanted to let you all know that we picked Iggy up this morning in Lancaster. This is my first experience with owner surrender and fostering so I wasn't sure what to make of it all. Iggy's a pretty big boy probably right around 25 lbs--he makes Tink look very tiny at 15lbs! He's well mannered for the most part-- knows how to sit, comes when called (and when he doesn't I know he's found something good, like Tink's kong) and is very content to chew on a bone.
He did show some aggression when Tink literally bumped into him, he continued to growl and become quite possessive of the bone. He did this twice and lost the bone both times and earned a time out both times. He has since then let me touch him while chewing and brought a bone over to chew in my lap. He responds well to verbal praises and cherios (thanks Jodi!) and I think it's only a matter of time before he realizes I'm not going to take everything away from him. He came from a home where it seemed like the kids (5yrs and 1 younger) were all over him even dropping stuff into his crate. I'm sure he had things taken away from him quite frequently. He loves and needs a lot of one on one attention and rightfully so!

He's a smart boy who went right to the door after we came home and immediately pooped outside! He and Tink said brief hellos (she licked him!) but for the most part could care less that the other is around.
Aside from his age of 9 he shouldn't be too much of a challenge to place. He's active but not outrageous, inquisitive but fairly polite. I think a family with an older kid or no kids at all would be lovely! Of course this is all day one, I am well sure that things can and probably will change a bit as he becomes more comfortable!

As I type this, Nick is teaching him "down" and distinguishing between sit and down and back and forth and trying to trick him with not much luck. With Igg's food motivation the whole training thing should be relatively easy.

He's such a happy guy--he's going to make the right family a wonderful pet!

-- Vicki
Tink's Blog