Today Mike and I signed the adoption contract for Pete, he is now a Fischer. We're quite thrilled to have another dog in the house. Pete has such a cute face, I'll have to be very aware of Pete's good looks so that he doesn't "cute" me into giving him things (ie food). Sue put a Pooh "It's a boy" blue balloon on our mailbox for us to see when we came home this afternoon. She's so silly, and we loved it.
I've had mixed feelings about adopting Pete for the last couple of weeks. I wasn't sure I was ready to adopt so soon after Sheba's passing but I also knew I really liked this dog and felt like this was the perfect home for him. The longer he stayed with us, the more I bonded and a few days ago I was ready to admit that I didn't want him to leave. Pete's been returned twice to the rescue for his incessant barking and apparent separation anxiety but at our house he's completely comfortable, he doesn't bark, and he couldn't care less if we leave the house (other than to make sure he gets his treat). It's also great to have a dog that plays with the foster dogs and keeps them occupied. So hopefully the third time really is the charm.
Since Pete still has some puppy tendencies and he can be a bit of a bully (more on that later), I've been working with him daily on obedience training. I'm happy to say that Pete is a smart cookie. He's quickly learning the basic commands and variations on those commands. Next set of sessions will be done outside where there is more stimulus to keep him challenged. He's definitely enjoying the sessions and I keep them only 10 minutes long to prevent boredom.
So we've learned that Pete is not a submissive dog, unlike the past three dogs we've had. Strangely though, Pete is also not a dominant dog based on his behavior with strange dogs outside and at the dog park. Pete is just a plain bully! He'll boss dogs around at home that he knows will give in. Petey doesn't bully Max (unsure why), but he's bullied Austin and Simba. He doesn't do it often, just once in a while to show he's the boss of them. At first I thought it was a pack thing, but when my sister-in-law's dog was here, Pete did not bully her at all. Faith is a dominant dog and I think Pete knew that so he didn't give her any trouble. I don't really think it's an issue as long as Pete knows we're the boss of him. That means I can't spoil him as much as I spoiled Max, Quinn, and Sheba but I think (hope) I can manage to keep some limits and boundaries with Pete.
We're currently taking a month break from fostering so we can continue to work with Pete and get him acclimated to his house without constant changes of new dogs. I'm very interested to see if he's going to be better or worse with the foster dogs once he knows this is his permanent home.
I've had mixed feelings about adopting Pete for the last couple of weeks. I wasn't sure I was ready to adopt so soon after Sheba's passing but I also knew I really liked this dog and felt like this was the perfect home for him. The longer he stayed with us, the more I bonded and a few days ago I was ready to admit that I didn't want him to leave. Pete's been returned twice to the rescue for his incessant barking and apparent separation anxiety but at our house he's completely comfortable, he doesn't bark, and he couldn't care less if we leave the house (other than to make sure he gets his treat). It's also great to have a dog that plays with the foster dogs and keeps them occupied. So hopefully the third time really is the charm.
Since Pete still has some puppy tendencies and he can be a bit of a bully (more on that later), I've been working with him daily on obedience training. I'm happy to say that Pete is a smart cookie. He's quickly learning the basic commands and variations on those commands. Next set of sessions will be done outside where there is more stimulus to keep him challenged. He's definitely enjoying the sessions and I keep them only 10 minutes long to prevent boredom.
So we've learned that Pete is not a submissive dog, unlike the past three dogs we've had. Strangely though, Pete is also not a dominant dog based on his behavior with strange dogs outside and at the dog park. Pete is just a plain bully! He'll boss dogs around at home that he knows will give in. Petey doesn't bully Max (unsure why), but he's bullied Austin and Simba. He doesn't do it often, just once in a while to show he's the boss of them. At first I thought it was a pack thing, but when my sister-in-law's dog was here, Pete did not bully her at all. Faith is a dominant dog and I think Pete knew that so he didn't give her any trouble. I don't really think it's an issue as long as Pete knows we're the boss of him. That means I can't spoil him as much as I spoiled Max, Quinn, and Sheba but I think (hope) I can manage to keep some limits and boundaries with Pete.
We're currently taking a month break from fostering so we can continue to work with Pete and get him acclimated to his house without constant changes of new dogs. I'm very interested to see if he's going to be better or worse with the foster dogs once he knows this is his permanent home.
Comments
Welcome home, handsome!!