Trampoline Sam has been our only fostered Lab so far who has ventured onto the trampoline and he seemed to really enjoy it!! I picked him up from the Canberra pound one lunch time at the same time as another volunteer picked up Roxxi the 'tank' (read her adoption story here). He seemed aggressive with Roxxi in the foyer of the pound and the ranger told me to watch out for him! I popped him in a crate at home with a note for the kids not to let him out when they got home from school.
I was very careful introducing him to my dogs at home, and was quite worried when they initially attacked each other through the screen door. This can be a bit of bravado when the dogs know they don't have access to each other so I spent time alternating them from the crate to having freedom and they calmed down to the point where I felt it was safe to have them out together. Well I was surprised at his friendliness and easy going nature. He and my dogs hit it off almost straightaway, phew!
Sam was amazingly athletic, he would jump up and down at hip level when excited, thankfully without throwing himself at anyone. I remember having grandparents and a toddler niece come to celebrate Melbourne Cup lunch with us, and warning them that we had a really bouncy Lab staying with us. Boy oh boy did Sam show us what he was made of, he was as gentle as a lamb around them. He sat down quietly next to my niece looking at me with the biggest grin on his face as if to say 'see I'm really a very good boy'.
While cleaning up after the lunch I turned around to find him standing on the table 'helping' clean up the left overs, he sure was an athletic boy, and a cheeky one!
We loved to give him a butt rub. It was hilarious to watch his eyes glaze over and his tongue hang out in ecstasy, LOL!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI found that introducing my dog to a new adopted dog was successful by introducing them in neutral territory.When we adopted Bart, we took Jordey our Beagle down to the airport with us.One of us took Bart from his crate and walked him in the grounds- allowed him to have a drink and go to the toilet. Then the other took Jordey out of the car and walked him up behind Bart.They had a bit of a sniff and became quite excited initially, but we just continued to walk them together, making small corrections as you would at obedience training.They finally started to walk beautifully together.At this stage we stopped to allow them to play together- on lead.There was alot of excitement but very little fuss. We calmly walked them back to the car together,gave them both a drink and got Bart to get into the car first.No hassle. When we got home,Jordey got a little snappy about his bed and a couple of buried bones, but they really got on well right from the start and spend endless hours playing chasey and enjoying each others company.
Bart also loves the trampoline- I think he was fostered by Linda...
ReplyDeleteWhen the boys hop on the trampoline so does Bart. If Bart is playing chasey or fetch he will gallop over the trampoline and launch himself through the air to gain an advantage- clever boy! Jordey is to small to get onto the trampoline, so Bart feels quite safe taking his toys onto the trampoline- and quite superior too I suspect!
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