Champ 14-041 [1]

Let me introduce you to Champ, who arrived at our house on President’s Day. He is a 2 year old pure-bred who was surrendered by a family with young children who found that they just didn’t have enough time for a dog. He was kept outside in a dog run and slept in the garage. The family said he loves kids but can get over-excited (so maybe best with bigger kids), likes to swim and chase tennis balls. He has not been around cats and has never seen a crate or baby-gate.

We took him to the vet to get him microchipped and UTD on vaccinations. He weighed in at 91 pounds. He is a big boy! His coat is super-thick due to living outdoors.  The vet said it was a little hard to tell with his thick coat, but that he seemed to have good body shape. So he is 91 pounds of pure dog! and is a very handsome fellow.

It took him a while to warm up to his new environment. (Well, seeing as he has moved indoors and he has that thick coat, he probably warmed  immediately J  )  So let’s say it took him a while to become confident in his new environment. He was SO scared when we first brought him inside. He belly-crawled into the entryway, and no way was he going to go up the steps. We have a split-entry house, where you come into a small entryway (grandly called a foyer), and then there are steps going up or down. He has a dog bed sent by his surrendering family, and as soon as I laid it out in the foyer he settled down and looked more at ease.

He was very friendly with us right away – seemed to appreciate the time we would spend in the foyer with him just talking to him and petting him. After a couple of days he ventured upstairs for a minute or two at a time, and pretty soon the minutes gave into hours. Now he is fine being upstairs.  He has that sometimes endearing, sometimes annoying trait of knowing how to use his nose to nudge insistently for petting – and, boy, he sure does loves that petting.

We have two resident dogs – a little Shih Tzu boy (Benny) and a 2 year-old Golden Retriever girl (Lucy). The latter is very playful and very, very exuberant. Champ started out being very nervous around her and wanted nothing more than to keep his distance, while she was begging him to play. Our Lucy left one afternoon for a playdate with our daughter’s dogs and ended up staying overnight. With Lucy gone, Champ really came around. He was confident enough to explore the upstairs and just loved being close to us. I hoped that his confidence would carry over after Lucy came home, and I am happy to report that it did. The two of them are now playing – wrestling some indoors and wrestling and chasing outdoors. He is fine with little Benny also.

So far he is not food motivated, but he loves attention and I think that is what will motivate him for training. Also, he has shown quite a bit of interest in the various dog toys we have scattered around. He does ‘sit’ and ‘down’ pretty well and has been coming when called. He would enjoy another dog for playing, but I think he would be just fine on his own so long as he has lots of interaction with his family.

He is learning to walk on leash. His former family said he never was walked on leash and rode in the car very few times. So far he has been surprisingly good on a leash – he has hardly pulled at all.  And he has been very good in the car. We have only had him in the car twice. Once while we transported him to our home, when he was definitely scared and wondering what was going on, and once to the vet. On the way to the vet he did not seem scared, and did lie down most of the way.

Whoever adopts this fine fellow will have to have a commitment to exercise him. He is a young dog with lots of energy. We are thinking now that a fence is optional. We have a fence and can’t imagine keeping a dog without one, but we have seen nothing to make us think he would be a flight risk. If he goes to a family without a fence, we will be looking for assurance that there is a plan for keeping him safely at home.