#13-086 Timothy,  age 7

AVAILABLE SOON

HW POSITIVE

Updated: 08/13/13

Well hello there short, dark red, and handsome! Peppy Timothy is a real looker (and will be even more so once his “summer clip” grows out), he’s that petite size that so many families prefer, and he’s got smarts and energy to spare. He came to us from a loving owner whose life became very stressful and busy over the past year or so, and she realized that she couldn’t care for Timothy as she wanted to. It was a tough decision—when the family went to pick a puppy seven years ago, Tim “chose” her son by detaching himself from the rest of the litter and waddling determinedly after his master-to-be!—but she knew it was the right thing to do, especially since Tim had missed a few doses of Heartgard and, as bad luck would have it, wound up HW positive—and treatment just wasn’t in the budget. “He’s been my baby all these years and I want the very best for him,” she said. 

Here’s an early report from Timothy’s foster family:

When Tim arrived in our home, he was immediately put on notice by the feline contingent that he was the lowest four-footer on the totem pole. Which, as it turned out, was quite all right with him! Tim has lived with cats before, he understands them very well, and he’s given them wide berth. So much so that he's had no incidents at all, and this evening he was stepping over Archie (the orange tom) without causing so much as a batted eyelash. The girl cats have decided that he can be simply ignored, and they've not had any reason to believe their philosophy is in error.

Tim's settling in nicely. He doesn't mind the crate, though he doesn't yet go in on command. A few weeks more of being fed there and he'll run to get in. He loves his groceries. He's playful, quite energetic, and gives a very excited greeting to Paula Jo when she gets home. Lots of bowing and tail-wagging, with some bouncing up and down. (I suspect he's more in favor of the ladies at present.) So far, no jumping on us, though he gets close when he's excited. He checks everything out, and I think he'd take food from the counter if he had a chance. He likes to grab things, drag them off, then taste them. He's not destroyed anything valuable yet, and we're trying to keep the house puppy-proofed. (Wish us luck.) He did manage to get his teeth into one of the cat's plastic food bowls, and now that bowl has a couple of notches. Normal wear-and-tear.

Since Timothy lived largely outdoors at his first home, housetraining is still a work in progress; and, too, he hadn’t yet been neutered when he first arrived (he’s all healed up from the surgery now, though). He has a habit of marking but, with time (and decreasing hormone levels), this should improve. It's a learning process for all of us, and I hope to report success on this front soon.

He is a quick learner, and I expect that by the time he's clear of the Worms of Doom he'll have lots of nice training completed. He pulls on a lead, of course, as he's not had any instruction there. He rides very quietly in the car, but at home we have found out that he is a talker! He tends to bark when he can’t see us or when crated. Again, this should calm down as he starts to feel more settled in.

On balance, he's a sound dog, alert and inquisitive. He's gonna make a great family Golden once he's had some attention and learns his manners. All in good time...