Greetings Houston fans!  I promised an update after Houston's last wellness exam, so here it is. 

At five months, Houston is in perfect health.  Despite his weakness for all things food, he only weighs 25 pounds.  The vet thinks he'll be a small guy, but who really knows for sure?  The vet warned us that his booster shot would make him sleepy, so we were looking forward to a quiet evening.  Ha!  Nothing affects this boy - he was his usual silly self, making us all giggle at his antics.
He was a dream at the vet as usual, charming everyone he came in contact with (and those he didn't but would have liked to), so of course, I bought him a couple of new toys for being such a good boy.  
Houston continues to make us laugh.  Last week I was getting ready to leave the house, and I heard a muffled bark. The big dogs were lounging near us, so we immediately knew Houston had gotten himself into yet another predicament.  Sure enough, after a quick search, we found him stuck under our king size bed.  This proved to be a challenge, as we ended up having to heave the entire bed on its side to free him, but he was unharmed and quite thrilled to be found.   Needless to say, he hasn't attempted to explore under the bed again since.  
His new favorite thing to do is nose open the cupboards and play with our plastic containers and lids.  He'll throw them in the air, chase them around, and finally settle in for a good chewing session until we replace them with a Houston-appropriate toy.  When I say Houston-appropriate, I mean indestructible. 
As so many hounds do, Houston loves to play fetch.  What surprises us though, is that we didn't have to teach him to 'drop'.  When we throw a toy for him to retrieve, he runs after it, brings it back, and drops it immediately for us to toss again.  He'll do this until he's either a) tired, or, b) one of the other dogs takes it.
Houston is very much the class clown, only snuggly!  To know him is to love him.  Without a doubt.
Stay tuned!
Houston 15-266 here - please excuse the quality of the photos that Foster Mom took.  One was after my bath, and the other one she snapped when she caught me trying to drink her soda.  Why won't she let me have Diet Dr. Pepper?  It looks so tasty!
                   

Greetings, RAGOM Land!  It's Houston 15-266 here with an update.

Foster Mom and Foster Dad tell me how happy they are that I'm doing so well with my house training.  I think that's a funny name to call it, because don't they want me be trained to do my business outside?  It should be called outside training.  But whatever they want to call it, I now know that when I have to relieve myself, I have to sit by the door.  If they don't pay attention, I give them a little bark and then they open the door for me and I run out.   I'm feeling rather proud of myself.  
I had another big accomplishment this week.  In order to get outside at my foster family's house you have to go down these 4 scary things.  I think they're called stairs.  Anyway, Foster Mom doesn't have to carry me down them anymore, because I figured out how to do it all by myself!  Foster Mom said that it's about time, because I am getting awfully heavy to be carried around.  I'm glad she's so patient with me.  
Outside looks different to me.  It feels different too.  I haven't decided if I like it so much. They tell me the white stuff on the ground is snow, but all that means to me is that it's cold and wet.  My foster fur-sister and brother love to play in it, but I'm just not sure yet.  I'll keep ya posted regarding my thoughts on this stuff.
My foster family is really confusing me about what is supposed to happen inside and what is supposed to happen outside. Last weekend, they brought a TREE INSIDE!  Inside the house! Then, they put it in water, but told me I couldn't drink that water.  After that, they put shiny balls all over it, but told me that I couldn't play with them.  My fur fosters seem to have it all together, so I'm trying to follow their lead.  I just don't understand how they can resist all those shiny things on a tree that's inside the house!
So as you can guess, it's awfully exhausting learning all these new things, but that's okay, because my warm, soft bed is calling.  My human foster brother is writing a letter to Santa, asking him for things he would like to get for Christmas, and since I'm such a good writer, I think I'll do the same.  All I want is a forever family to love me to pieces, (and maybe some more shiny balls to play with) so it shouldn't take long.  Yawn.  I'll get started after my nap.
Love, 
Houston 15-266
         

Houston might be part Labrador (that's what we're guessing, anyway), but he's a very good listener and just wants to please his humans, much like a Golden Retriever.  He responds well to "no" and "down".  We don't use his name and the word "no" in the same command, because that can be confusing when teaching other behaviors. 

He sits on command like a pro, especially if a treat is involved.  He generally will come when called, but on occasion does get distracted when sniffing around in the back yard.  We're working on that as well as leash training.  
We teach Houston basic manners using positive reinforcement only.  He loves to play, but when he's tired, he just wants to be cuddled.  The best news for Foster Mom is that he is now sleeping through the night. 
Houston is so darn wonderful and it will be hard to see him go. We love having him while we wait for the perfect forever home.