Rothko is doing well. Within about 15 minutes after your departure we played fetch for a while with his new toy, and he settled in. Absolutely nothing going on amongst the boys, even tho he's taken to trying to hump Tivo this evening! I set up a crate for him to eat and sleep in (not 'china'), and covered him with a blanket at bedtime, where, as far as I know, he spent the night - at least none of the others told me otherwise. He's let me kind of tussle with him, with both of us in a standing position, and, so far, has not been possessive over anything. He started to disembowel a stuffed toy last night, and when I told him 'no, bad dog', he relinquished it w/o incident. I put away all the stuffed toys, but he still has access to ropes, horse hoofs, and bones. He's eating fine . . . and it seems the last of the horse apples have finally passed through - ugh ;D
He went to work with me today, I do the books at a vineyard part-time. He barked at everyone that came in the office trailer, but with tail wagging, and eager to be petted. He also slept under my desk part of the time. I'm thinking he'll get quieter once he gets used to it.
I took him for a leash walk today, in the same park where we met. He seems to have some idea about heeling, and he was totally fine with people/kids, strollers, bikes. I avoided the other dogs that were there, since a couple were off-leash, and one ditzy owner I thought it would be best to avoid - we'll try that another day. He had seemed awkward about jumping in the back of either car, but allowed my to help him get his front feet in, and then hoist the hind end up. But, when we were leaving the park, he apparently didn't want any help, and he snapped and mouthed my hand (not a scratch). He had given me a false sense of security with he previous behavior, I'll be sure to 'ask' if something is OK to do in the future, regardless! Yesterday, when I tried to get him in the van, so he could join the rest of the herd for a walk, he did not want to go in, so I left him at home in his crate, and he did fine. Today, he joined us, albeit on-leash, and did great jostling about in the back of the van with everyone! He does follow me around a lot, but he's figured things out, and will spend time in the backyard as he desires, or sleep in his crate. He also seems to be figuring out that all the dogs will get their share of attention, and is getting a bit less vocal about demanding his share, when it's someone else's s turn. At the moment, he has gotten brave enough to curl up on the dog bed in the living room; he hasn't done that til now!
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