Teddy

My Forever Family.

Hi Cathie— things are good here. He’s great with Roxie, Luke and the rest of us and although he still doesn’t love it when people leave a room, we haven’t really had any big trouble with that. He is quite settled in to the routine and seems happy. He’s a good boy and barks to go out most of the time, and he is listening to me and not stealing Roxie’s food the second I put it down. At night he goes right up to my room and walks into his crate… no barking, just settles in for the night.Still having big problems with other dogs when I take him outside for walks. Haven’t tried again with big Teddy yet, but yesterday another neighborhood dog came over to him and he went crazy charging, growling and biting. When the other dog moved away, Teddy was so wrapped up in his fit that he actually turned on Roxie for no reason at all. I picked him up because I couldn’t get him to calm down, and he was still growling. After a few No’s he settled down and we moved on, but I’m not loving the behavior! Im so surprised because he has been with a pack of dogs at your house…. but we haven’t encountered any small dogs yet so I’m wondering if it is a size issue. Unfortunately, the couple friends that I have who have smaller dogs are very overprotective and don’t want to experiment. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Stacey

5/26/16: Great— will try squirt bottle on walks before anything else. Haven’t been out with him on walks this week— absolutely buried at work so not much play time. He will get desensitized eventually (if anybody will trust him around their dogs!) I’m determined to correct that one for sure. For other stuff he seems to respond really well. He had been going for Roxie’s food as soon as I put it down, and I was telling him to ‘leave it’ and now he’s good and waits for his instead. It’s super hard to make Roxie the alpha when it’s just not in her at all. She could care less. We just keep giving her the status anyway and hope that he gets it. Meanwhile, Teddy and Luke just keep duking it out for first place while Roxie sits on the sidelines. My money’s on Luke. The whole thing is pretty interesting to watch. We are careful not to bring Teddy up on the sofa (where they’re allowed) or our bed at night just to reinforce his position in the pecking order for now. So hard though… he has that irresistible face! He definitely knows I’m in control and other than the walk/other dog issue he’s been great.

Thanks! Stacey

7/13/16:Hi Cathie— he’s doing awesome. I absolutely adore him. He really is the perfect fit for this household. I wish I hadn’t missed out on his first 8 years! Still not great with the big dogs but gets on fine with small ones that are able to put him in his place after he tries to dominate. Hope all is well and you are enjoying your summer!

xo,Stacey