Rising of the Phoenix...

I say Phoenix because Colbert may be ready to move on from our home. He has come so far, and yet still needs more work, we took him and the others to the James Island Dog Park and then on to see the staff at Pet Helpers for an update. Everything was sublime at the park, but once he saw K and got a whiff of the shelter itself he reverted to him oldself from October.

K thinks that she has a home for Colbert with the father of the woman who adopted one of his siblings. Also his 3 other siblings are still at the shelter without human socialization beyond potty breaks, food, and visitors. Which we know is the best they can provide with all the other animals at the shelter. But they do need more interaction in a normal household with stable dogs and loving humans. There also is a Golden that has issued with being touched due to prior abuses.

On a more happy note, enjoy the pictures from today at the Dog Park.

I wish these could be back dated.

Standing up on the console tween us on the way to the dog park.















"put your head on my shoulder..."















Watching the world go by...

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So we have had Colbert for just over 3 months now. He immensely enjoys herding Buela around the house and even gives Corona a reason to run and play. He is still wary of me while he will sleep curled up next to Donovan on the love seat.

I remember waking up one morning to someone licking my foot - no weird thing in this house, both Buela and Corona love feet. However this was more than just a few passes on my toes, this was my entire foot right up to my ankle. Then I wiggled my toes and off he ran. He's becoming quite the goober.

Here is the email and D sent out recently with updates and anecdotes:

Anyway, Colbert has made leaps and bounds in progress since bringing him home in October. He's kind of hit a plateau this month. He's become a apart of the daily walks with the rest of the dogs. When I first tried walking him it was via the body harness, which provided no means of training him how to behave on a leash. When I put a choke chain on him, he fought vigorously before we even got out the door. I let that get the better of me, so I gave up for a while on trying to get him out on walks. The shelter worker with whom I dealt said that he busted an eye vessel when she tried to put him on a leash.

After a little while I got the idea in my head to use a harness and a choke chain simultaneously. That way I could get him used to the feeling of the choke chain but use the harness to control his tantrums without worrying about him hurting himself. It worked great. After one session of using both devices he was ready for the choke chain solely. He did the usual struggling in the beginning of the first walk, and even less on the second. He realized very quickly, as the choke chain is designed to do, that it's in his best interests to figure out what to do in order to not get choked. Now he's almost as good as the rest of them on walks.

He's grown more comfortable with me than with Wendy. He still avoids her as he did the both us in earlier months. He does many things now that show he's on the right track to becoming normal. He's at my feet right now, sleeping. He'll choose to sleep next to me rather than in the corner of the room as he used to do. Earlier today and on other occasions all of the dogs will take a nap on the love seat that I'm sitting on while watching TV. So he's choosing to be next to me and/or around the pack rather than separated and isolated. Good sign.

Everyone who sees him always remarks as to how cute he is. Wendy and I went to Magnolia Gardens last weekend for a dog walk for cancer research. He got so many compliments with his big Corgi ears, big Corgi smile, and little Corgi legs. It'll be hard to let him go, to return him to the adoption center. I'd love to keep him, but the purpose of fostering him was to rehabilitate him for someone else. If I did keep him, then we'd be testing our limits of how many animals we could handle if we desired to foster again. And that's what I originally wanted to do was to foster dogs that needed special attention, fix them, and return them for adoption. If I keep every dog that I foster, then I'll reach the limit of how many dogs I can handle and then I won't be able to help any more dogs. So it's necessary to return the fostered dog so that I can foster another one. That's how I'll maximize the number of dogs I can help.

Taken to anchoring his snout on my arm while riding in the truck, as the one picture shows. He'll maintain that for however long the truck ride is. It's cute.