Ernie 06-464

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Profile

10/8/06: Ernie is a very petite, young male (estimated to be about 8 months old) that has lived outside with his dog pack and very little human interaction. He came to our home last night after a very long transport with a very dedicated group of volunteers and many different car rides. Right now he is scared to death. Honestly, if his tail could curl up any further under his tummy, it would be touching his nose. It will be a happy day for us all, when that tail is up in the air and wagging. He has no idea why he has this foreign thing around his neck and bucks up if you pull on the leash. Happily for me, he does let us pick him up and carry him and he can’t weigh more than about 30 pounds, which makes carrying him much easier as we go in and out of the house. He’s not too sure about my dogs and so far has requested that they stay away from him but this morning did follow me and Piper around the backyard, so he’s getting braver already and it hasn’t even been 24 hours yet. He eats well and will take treats from you. Right now, we are trying to let him know that people only provide good things, food, water, treats and scratching/petting, and over time, we hope he will learn to trust us and relax. More to come as he settles in and we get to know him better.

At a Glance #06-464

Breed not specified Born: September 2004
Male Weight not specified

Status: Adopted

Profile

10/8/06: Ernie is a very petite, young male (estimated to be about 8 months old) that has lived outside with his dog pack and very little human interaction. He came to our home last night after a very long transport with a very dedicated group of volunteers and many different car rides. Right now he is scared to death. Honestly, if his tail could curl up any further under his tummy, it would be touching his nose. It will be a happy day for us all, when that tail is up in the air and wagging. He has no idea why he has this foreign thing around his neck and bucks up if you pull on the leash. Happily for me, he does let us pick him up and carry him and he can’t weigh more than about 30 pounds, which makes carrying him much easier as we go in and out of the house. He’s not too sure about my dogs and so far has requested that they stay away from him but this morning did follow me and Piper around the backyard, so he’s getting braver already and it hasn’t even been 24 hours yet. He eats well and will take treats from you. Right now, we are trying to let him know that people only provide good things, food, water, treats and scratching/petting, and over time, we hope he will learn to trust us and relax. More to come as he settles in and we get to know him better.

Updates

Monday, November 6, 2006

Ernie will be at PetCo on Sunday. Another vet saw Ernie this week and is guessing his age closer to 2 or 3. He has a full set of teeth with a little tartar on the back molars, so it's believed he is older than we originally thought. He wants to play like a puppy, so hard to tell. She also mentioned that while his feet seem large for his body which adds to the fact that he looks like a puppy, he probably was malnourished as a puppy and didn't grow to his full potential. Regardless, of whether he's 8 months or 2 years, he's very sweet and adorable and a perfect size at a petite 40 pounds. We now have Joy 06-445 and Trixie 06-444 at our house, and Ernie just loves them. They play with him, chase him, crawl on him. It's too bad for him that they aren't just a little older and bigger as they don't really know how to play quite like he wants to, but he's enjoying having them here.

Foster mom had a bit of a wake up call this week. I took Ernie to a RAGOM meeting and he did ok with some dogs, got a little growly with a few others, but we know that is going to happen and are working on socializing him with friendly dogs. However, dumb foster mom is sitting at the meeting, scratching Ernie's neck and thought, gee, your collar seems sort of tight, so loosened it just a little. Completely forgetting that it was tight on purpose so that he didn't slip out of it backwards and get loose. You guessed it. We walk out to the car after the meeting and Ernie walks pretty good on the leash, until you get to the car, then he stands up and wiggles and tries to get away and in this case, did. Slipped right out of that loosened collar. Scared the bejeeminies (sp?) out of me. We got out hot dogs, french fries and tried to get him to come over, but he's smart enough to realize just how far away he has to stand that your arm can't reach him. Luckily, another volunteer came out of the building with their foster dog. He ran over to the other dog and another volunteer was able to grab him. Needless to say, Ernie will now be sporting a Gentle Leader when he goes on visits in the future. I only have a large GL at the moment, so if you see this little dog with this big GL on his face at the PetCo event, you'll know it's Ernie.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Ernie is doing fantastic! His little tail has come out from between his legs and wags. He has learned that the chicken pieces that people give him are really good and pushes his way right through the pack of dogs to make sure he gets his share. And, so far, absolutely no accidents in the house. Sometimes these dogs that have always lived outside are used to going outside and you don’t even have to bother with housetraining. He doesn’t chew on inappropriate items, but does enjoy the occasional nylabone, bone, stuffed toy, or tennis ball, but only for a minute. He is very comfortable in his crate and we put him in it when we go to work, but when we are home and during the night, we leave the kennel door open and he can go in and out whenever he wants to. I know that some adoptive homes don’t like dogs on the furniture and usually if a foster dog doesn’t already get on the furniture, we don’t teach them how comfy the couch is, but with Ernie we want him to cuddle with us when we watch tv, so we’ve been picking him up and putting him on the couch. So far, that makes him nervous and he only lasts a few minutes before he jumps back down, but I’m quite sure he’ll figure out that it’s a pleasant experience in no time. He does enjoy having his tummy and chest scratched and while still skittish and will run to the safety of his crate if you move towards him too quickly, he does love it when you do get close to him and scratch his tummy. I don’t know if 5 months is too old for puppy kindergarten, but he’s a little guy, and I feel could really benefit from the socialization of puppy kindergarten, so maybe some nice trainer would let him into a class anyway. Otherwise, he could start obedience training, but the puppy socialization is what he really needs.

My husband is falling in love. Said just last night that maybe we should just keep this little cutey and we’d have two males and two females to even out our pack. If you want to meet Ernie, I think you better hurry. If I can get him to the vet for his rabies shot before Saturday’s PetCo event, I’ll bring him to the event. I’ll post later today on whether I am able to get an appointment or not. He will still need to be neutered before being adopted, but could be spoken for, if you hurry.