It’s been several months since I’ve logged in here; now that I remember my password I can visit again.
And it’s been a year since I brought home an unruly bully-type puppy from the shelter “just for the weekend” to see if he’d do better out of that environment. I was not in the market for another dog at that time; especially this wild child. I was planning on waiting until I could get a conformation dog; Staffordshire bull terrier being one of the breeds I was considering, though.
Now, a year later, I just couldn’t imagine not having Fenway in my home. He’s come a long way since his first days here. He goes into his crate willingly (usually), He’s been through twelve weeks of family dog training and foundations of agility. I’m planning on doing agility skills and rally with him in the spring. I no longer have to walk dogs in shifts, he and the other two walk relatively well together. Granted we’ve been through flat collar, no-pull harness, prong collar and Halti to get him to walk in public, but it’s not his fault - the squirrels, they taunt him. He shares the water bowl with the others without issue anymore. He gets hand fed every evening with the other dogs and patiently waits his turn.
We still have some issues that we’re working on. Namely not jumping all over people when he meets them, not barking and carrying on (dear God the screaming this dog is capable of) when people walk/drive/bike/jog past us - both out in public and when he’s in the car. And some general self control issues and paying attention to me. But all in all, I’m incredibly happy with his progress. At home I couldn’t ask for a better dog. We just need to do more socializing to get him better in public.
Given some of his mannerisms, such as his worrying and constant vigilance, we think there may be some border collie in his bloodline. We also think there may be a bull terrier somewhere on his family tree:
Oh those ears! Luckily, he hasn’t shown any sign of dog aggression. On the contrary, it’s the damned spaniel that’s usually the problem:
Fenway actually falls over and lets Brogan chew on him. He really is a very good sport. Not only with Brogan, but also (more or less) with the evil mom who dressed him up as the Tin Man for the training club Halloween party to go along with her whole Wizard of Oz theme:
He did have a funnel covered in aluminum foil for his Tin Man hat, but it fell off and got eaten (by the damned spaniel/Cowardly Lion). Pretty sure after all that, he might have asked Santa for a new family for Christmas:
Happy one year anniversary Fens! You (and your sibs) may not necessarily be what I wanted (at the time), but you’re definitely what I needed and I wouldn’t trade you for the world.