Well, it's been a month since I last posted news about our dog Loki. He's doing well. When we first got him, rescue groups and veterinarians told us about the "3-3-3 Rule." It commonly takes an adopted dog about three days to get over the shock of getting placed in a new home. It commonly takes about three weeks for a dog to start showing their true personality, and it take three months for their true personality to become complete revealed. Well, we've had Loki for just shy of two months and he is definitely showing us new behaviors. Before describing those behavior, let me catch you up on his medical conditions.
All of the health conditions he came with seem to be resolved, except for his gingivitis. His hotspot is competely healed. Vigorously brushing that spot doesn't bother him in the least. His elbows are also completely healed. His ear infection no longer seems like a problem, but he does scratch his face, ears, and other parts of his body now and again. Were he only scratching his ears, I'd worry that the infection was not completely resolved. His general scratching is, I suspect, the result of whatever allergy he has. (We are bushing him daily and vacuuming our condominium unit every few days to keep dust mites at bay. He produces a prodigious amout of hair!) On one day when he was especially itchy, we gave him medication that puports to relieve the itch. It seemed to work.
But on to the behavior changes. When we first got Loki, he had no alpha dog qualities whatsoever. He was, in fact, quite afraid of both people and dogs. Over time, he has become pretty unconcerned about people, but his fear of dogs has lingered. Over the past couple weeks, he has become a little more assertive in the face of other dogs, especially small dogs. He occasionally will lunge to the end of his (short) leash and let out a sharp bark. This happens especially in circumstances where we can't give the dog a wide berth. It appears to me to be a defensive warning. He still wants to run from clearly aggressive dogs that are his size or larger. (Loki weighs 71 pounds -- a tad bit more than we would like.)
More concerning, though, was his reaction to our 11-year old nephew, Mateo. Loki had no problem with Mateo the first two times they met. This might have had something to do with the fact that Loki was under a degree of sedation both times because of his health issues. At their third meeting, Loki, unsedated, growled at Mateo and later snapped at him, while Mateo was calmly petting him. (Loki behaved similarly to an overly enthusiastic child in a park some weeks earlier.) Mateo was not doing anything that would justify defensive behavior on Loki's part, so I suspect that sometime in his past, Loki was treated badly by a child or children. A few days later, we took Loki for his last visit to the vet, where he again growled. This time, guarding a "puzzle treat" when the vet took it from him.
We take this new behavior quite seriously, of course. Most of all, we would like for Loki to be comfortable around Mateo so that they might become good friends. To that end, we brainstormed ways we might slowly and safely acclimate Loki to Mateo. To start, we bought Loki a muzzle. We were pleased to find that he has little to no problem wearing it. Mateo and his parents spent about three hours with us on Sunday (Mateo's fourth visit), while Loki was wearing his muzzle and slightly sedated. It seems we do have a simple way to safely bring Loki and Mateo together. The muzzle will also be useful, if (when) we need to have a vet provide health care that provokes too much anxiety for Loki. Having a way for Mateo to be with Loki while everyone feels safe is a blessing.
Loki has developed a dislike of getting into our car. Except for the first few times that we took him for a ride, I have had to physically lift him into the car. I load him in via the hatchback. This solved the immediate problem for a while, but recently, he's been trying to jump out as soon as I get him in. We hope he will become comfortable getting into the car on his own, using a portable ramp (which is on order). Unfortunately, that's looking less and less likely. Without Loki's willing participation, it's unlikely that Becky will be able to take him anywhere in the car without me.
Loki's separation anxiety appears to be diminishing, though he whimpers for the first five or so minutes after Becky leaves the house. He'll wait by the door until she returns. We're not sure how he is when we're both gone, but my presence (or absence) doesn't seem to be such a big deal for him. It's likely that when we're both gone, he behaves pretty much as he does when just Becky leaves.
He has learned the signs for when we're about to take him for a walk. He's usually very excited to be out the door. He's good on a walk, staying close by my side and not straining at the leash. If he gets out ahead of me, it only takes a light tug on the leash to bring him back to a heel position. Sometimes he'll return to my side with just a verbal command. The longest walk he's been on was just over 2 miles. Not bad. He'll obey a "sit" command pretty regularly and a "come" command without exception inside our condominum unit. Outside, "come" is a bit more hit and miss. It all depends on what's there to sniff. "Stay" is still a challenge, particularly a "sit, stay." He's inclined to either come to us or just lie down.
He has become more and more playful. He loves to play fetch inside the unit with a couple of his toys, and he's increasingly comfortable sitting with us outside on our little deck. He's taken to sleeping in his bed in the office. This is a blessing for me, as I'm less likely to trip over him in the dark as I go to bed or get up in the night.
All in all, if we're seeing his "true personality" come to the fore, things look pretty good -- that is, if we can get him to be better with dogs and children. Getting along with Mateo is a necessity, if he's to stay with us.
