Rusty 10-070

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    -Anonymous

 

Rusty is 8.5 years old, male, fostered in Champlin, MN.

Rusty has been in his foster home for two weeks now and everyone is in love with him. He is great with our kids ages seven and eleven. He meets every new person with a smile and wagging tail. His previous owner said he loves other dogs, and it appears to be true. He met several at PetSmart and on walks and was all smiles. He previously lived with three cats.

His previous home had an invisible fence for him. Here we have a fenced back yard that he likes to explore. He has never tried to jump our four foot high chain-link fence. Rusty does not look or act his age. He loves going for walks and having play time, but when his people are being lazy in the house, he is more than happy to lounge near them. He doesn't get on the furniture unless he is invited. He knows several commands including sit, down, shake, roll over, and crawl. He is very food motivated so would probably happily learn more. Car rides are something he enjoys very much. His previous family said he loved going to the dog park too.

Like everyone, the vet thought Rusty was such a handsome boy. He thought his white markings could be from being mixed with a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever! Whatever he is mixed with, it sure makes his fur soft and silky. He weighs in at a good weight of 49 pounds. All of the girls at the vet office were oohing and aahing over him because he's so handsome and happy. He is healthy except for being a little anemic. He will be on some medication for a week, then we'll recheck it.

Rusty would probably do best in a home where someone isn't gone long hours, or where there was another dog to keep him company. He started having anxiety issues at his previous home when their other dog died and his people weren't home as much. I have crated him for up to three hours and he seems to be tolerating it fine.

If you are looking for an amazingly happy, handsome gentleman to keep you company, check out Rusty. He is a one of a kind!

At a Glance #10-070

Mixed Breed Born: August 2002
Male 58 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

    -Anonymous

 

Rusty is 8.5 years old, male, fostered in Champlin, MN.

Rusty has been in his foster home for two weeks now and everyone is in love with him. He is great with our kids ages seven and eleven. He meets every new person with a smile and wagging tail. His previous owner said he loves other dogs, and it appears to be true. He met several at PetSmart and on walks and was all smiles. He previously lived with three cats.

His previous home had an invisible fence for him. Here we have a fenced back yard that he likes to explore. He has never tried to jump our four foot high chain-link fence. Rusty does not look or act his age. He loves going for walks and having play time, but when his people are being lazy in the house, he is more than happy to lounge near them. He doesn't get on the furniture unless he is invited. He knows several commands including sit, down, shake, roll over, and crawl. He is very food motivated so would probably happily learn more. Car rides are something he enjoys very much. His previous family said he loved going to the dog park too.

Like everyone, the vet thought Rusty was such a handsome boy. He thought his white markings could be from being mixed with a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever! Whatever he is mixed with, it sure makes his fur soft and silky. He weighs in at a good weight of 49 pounds. All of the girls at the vet office were oohing and aahing over him because he's so handsome and happy. He is healthy except for being a little anemic. He will be on some medication for a week, then we'll recheck it.

Rusty would probably do best in a home where someone isn't gone long hours, or where there was another dog to keep him company. He started having anxiety issues at his previous home when their other dog died and his people weren't home as much. I have crated him for up to three hours and he seems to be tolerating it fine.

If you are looking for an amazingly happy, handsome gentleman to keep you company, check out Rusty. He is a one of a kind!

Updates

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Time for an overdue update on Rusty. He continues to be the most lovable guy ever! Sometimes I let him sneak onto our bed at night, and he just gives me a look that says, "This is the life", while I pet him. He is very interested in our guinea pig, but ever since he got a little too close to her for comfort and we told him that was unacceptable, he has never tried to get near her again. He listens SO well.

He seems to be making some progress with his separation anxiety. Last night we left him home for six hours and he didn't get into any trouble, which is HUGE for him! He absolutely loves big raw hides and filled Kongs, and he only gets those when we leave, so he seems very happy when we give them to him.

Rusty enjoys the backyard very much. He investigates it thoroughly, in case there might be some critter back there that he needs to take care of, then lounges in the grass sniffing the breezes. It's so fun to watch him enjoy the easy life. Some of his other favorite activities include car rides (oh how he loves them), which he is very well behaved on; walks (he pulls somewhat hard at first, but not at all once we've gone a couple blocks); fetching his frisbee (for about five minutes tops); and being a Grade A couch potato every night. Check out his new pictures that show his handsome white markings!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

What's new with Rusty?

Well, not a whole lot, but I am happy to report that things are going better with leaving him home alone. We've been leaving him loose in the house, and have left him for up to four hours at a time. We have to leave him with plenty of goodies to occupy his time. He usually gets a big rawhide stick, and that is enough for a couple of hours. If we're going to be gone longer, we leave a frozen peanut butter-stuffed Kong also. He is hugely food-motivated, so this seems to be working well.

We've discovered that he will get into our kitchen garbage while we're gone, so we have to remove it. We also have to remember to remove ALL food from the counters or he will give himself an extra snack.

As soon as winter decides to stop dumping snow on us, we will kick the training into high gear so Rusty will hopefully be reliably comfortable staying home alone.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Happy Spring to the Golden Seniors from Anonymous Happy Spring to the Golden Seniors from Anonymous

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Hi everybody,

Rustyman is still with us. He was a wonderful guy to spend the holidays with and he doesn't seem to mind the crazy winter we're having. Unless the temps are way below zero, he happily hangs out in the yard, investigating things. A couple of times he was ecstatic to find and catch a rabbit. He was so proud of his "prize" that it was very hard to get him to drop it and come in the house. Pretty impressive for a senior to catch those fast bunnies!

Since my last update, we've had ups and downs with Rusty's separation anxiety. For a while I was able to crate him for three or four hours, and he did fine. Out of nowhere, his anxiety skyrocketed and he started breaking out again. I videotaped him to see in detail what went on when we were gone. It was disheartening to see that he started trying to escape the minute he realized we were really gone. The good thing we learned from watching the video, was that after he paced and checked the house for us, he actually laid down for a while! We couldn't believe it. After that, we started leaving him out loose in the house for very short periods to see if he could handle it without trying to escape and hurt himself. We've been doing this for a few weeks now, and so far it is going well. We will continue with this and hopefully be able to slowly increase the amount of time he can handle being alone.

An interesting thing we learned about Rusty recently is that he does not like puppies. We dogsat Puma (#10-364) for a few days and it didn't go well. Rusty and our dog both made it clear that they wanted that energetic little guy out ASAP. It surprised me that Rusty didn't tolerate the puppy because he is so tolerant of everything else. We thought he might get used to him after a while, but his intolerance just seemed to get worse every day. Just another interesting fact that will be good for future reference in Rusty's life!

We've been lucky to foster Rusty for close to a year now. I never expected this to be the case when he first came to our house, because he is such a well-mannered dog. However, his separation anxiety has proven to be a bear. It will take just the right family to adopt Rusty. In the meantime, we will keep plugging along, trying to show him it really isn't so bad to be away from his humans at times.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas to the Golden Seniors and their fosters! Merry Christmas to the Senior Goldens and their fosters from Anonymous

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Not a whole lot has changed with Rusty since my last update. The medication we tried in late summer didn't help with his separation anxiety, so we are now working with a veterinarian behaviorist. He is on a new diet, a new medication, and some behavioral training. Maybe this will be the ticket to getting him over his anxiety! We hope so, because he sure is worth it. He doesn't seem to care about the snow outside. He hasn't made any snow angels, but also isn't afraid to romp around in it a bit. Since he's such a lover, I'm sure we will spend many hours cuddling with him in front of the fireplace.


Rusty as Superdog
on Halloween
Rusty lounging with foster brother

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Mr. Rusty is back at his foster home. He spent a few weeks with a trainer who got him adjusted to being in a crate. He is not as happy about it now that he is back with us however. We can crate him in a wire crate for a couple of hours but beyond that he gets very stressed again. We tried using a plastic crate but he doesn't tolerate that at all (he breaks out of it within a very short time). The vet has started him on a different medication that we hope will help with his separation anxiety. The downside of it is that it may take eight weeks to take effect. Until then, we will continue enjoying this sweet, happy boy. Rusty is loving summer. There are so many good smells to investigate when outside! Bunnies and chipmunks seem to be his favorites. Every night we play fetch with his frisbee. He is a great catcher and makes the cutest grumbling noises at the frisbee. After that he lies down in the shade to cool down and watch the world go by.

We recently had Rusty at the river with us so we decided to see if he is a fan of swimming. He mostly just stood in the shallow water but with some coaxing he did give it a try. It didn't last more than a minute so I don't think he's done much if any swimming in the past. He wasn't a fan of being rinsed off with the garden hose afterward but as usual, he good-naturedly tolerated it.

The newest picture of Rusty-Roo shows him in one of his favorite relaxing positions. He lies on the floor up against the couch, on his back, with his legs kind of propped up against the couch. It doesn't look very comfortable but he falls asleep like this a lot. Our son thought he needed the pillow to be really comfy. Rusty must have agreed because he just left it there.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Rusty continues to make everyone in his foster family smile every day! He is SUCH a happy dog (mostly; see below), that we've nicknamed him Happy. Numerous people that have met him have said he is such a great boy. He sleeps on a blanket next to our bed at night, and doesn't make a sound. When we get up, so does he, and he's very eager to have his breakfast and then go outside to do his business. Every school day morning, he accompanies Foster Mom, Furry Foster Brother, and Foster Brother and Sister to the bus stop. All the other kids there love him, and he enjoys the attention from them.

In the past couple of weeks, we have discovered how much Rusty dislikes being left home alone. We had hoped that having the company of our dog would comfort him enough while the humans are gone, but apparently that isn't enough. One day he broke out of a metal kennel. Another day, when left loose in the house, he broke through a window screen and jumped out the window. We were so fortunate that he didn't hurt himself during either of those incidents, but to make sure it doesn't happen in the future, he is going to the vet in a couple of days to start him on some medication to help with his separation anxiety. We're very hopeful that this, and possibly some additional training, will help him overcome his fear of being alone. In the meantime he will go to doggie daycare when needed.

We had Rusty rechecked at the vet a week ago, and she believes his anemia may have been from a tick-borne illness that hadn't shown any symptoms yet. His blood levels are improving already, so he will finish his course of antibiotics and steroids, and most likely have a full recovery. He takes his meds with no problems; he gulps them right down with a little wet dog food.

If your family is looking for a smiley, fun, happy dog, and you are able to work with us to make him the best dog he can be, let your placement coordinator know.