First off, I’m a hugger.  If you don’t like hugs, I’m probably not the dog for you.  And don’t let my size fool you, I am still a 1.5 year old puppy, and I have all the energy and excitement you would expect from a little puppy.  So, when you come home or I meet new people/puppies I want to become friends with, the zoomies come out for few minutes.  And sometimes I still try to play with people like puppies.  I spent most of my life running free with a pack of dogs, so my human manners are still a work in progress.  My foster momma and poppa are working with me on it. I really do want to be my best puppy for you.

I find that a calm human helps me keep/regain my composure.  Then I will sit or lay by you and enjoy all the pets and snuggles I can get.  Heck, I even enjoy getting brushed.  I love our walks.  I use to be a handful on walks, but we got this really cool gentle leader harness that is amazing.  I mean I still want to go, but when I get to the end of my leash I don’t keep pulling.  Poppa has been working with me on slowing down my walking speed.  Oh, the agony, there is so much to see and smell, especially after it rains. Wow!

I’m not a big fan of my kennel.  Sometimes when poppa wants me to go back in so he can work I just lay on the bed and pout.  He says I need to go in so I don’t chew on something that can hurt me, but I don’t wanna.  However, I am realizing my kennel is an ok place to chill out, and even stopped trying to guilt trip him after he shuts the door. 

Foster poppa here.  As Red said, he is still only a puppy, please don’t let his size fool you.  He is a smart pup and has come a long way since he arrived.  He still gets really excited when let out of his kennel.  However, he is stuck in there most of the day while I am working.  So, when I do get him out there are a couple minutes of “Oh My Gosh, Oh My Gosh”.  (We are working with a trainer to learn how we can help him control his excitement.) Then we get the gentle lead on and have a nice walk.  The lead works so well on him, we just bought them for our resident dogs also.  We have a few neighbors who always come pet him whenever they see him on his walks  He gets very excited to go see them and we are working on getting him to calm down before they pet him.  We are also working on getting him to realize he can’t play with humans the way he did with his pack.  He is only 1.5 years old, and making good progress, so we are confident he will figure it out.  However, when he is doing zoomies, he could accidently bump into someone, so young kids may not appreciate his enthusiasm.

Red has made great progress with his kennel.  A week ago I had be basically carry him into it, like dragging a kid to the dentist.  Now, most of the time I point to it and say kennel, or a gentle pull on the collar and he realizes it’s that time again.  He has been in his kennel upto 8 hours without an accident.  AND, he doesn’t excited pee on the floor when I get him out, even while zooming around, which surprised me after 8 hours.  Part of our struggle is our dog does not care for dogs bigger than him, and when Red first arrived he tried to hug Bear…and Bear did not appreciate it.  So Red ends up spending most of the day in his kennel. (he and I go for 1-3 walks during the day) I think he would do amazing in a home where he can be out with his humans all day.  My wife spends evenings and nights in the bedroom with Red’s kennel.  He gets to be out of the kennel all evening and overnight with her.  She said he is calm most of the time, sleeps beside her on the bed or on the floor.  We don’t have a large fenced area for him to be off leash, but I have had him on a long lead and it is beautiful to see him run.

I have not seen him around cats, however I was told he is great with cats, kids and big dogs.  But not a great match for little dogs, as he play style is too active to play with littler dogs. 

I feel the most important thing (and the part I need to keep reminding myself):  Ignore his size, he is a 1.5 yr old puppy.  Think energetic small-breed pup and how they behave, pawing, play biting, etc.  We think it’s all cute when they do it, but we feel like it is bad behavior when a dog Red’s size does it, only he is the same age as those cute little pups doing it.  He has never done anything meanly, it has all been playful.  He will need a calm, patient human who wants to help him become awesome-er.