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SARGE (Truth) 2/15/04

  

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Truth's Foster Journey - Adopted 3/4/04

 


 

 

Pertinent Information
2 1/2 year old Fawn Male, DOB 7/14/01
90 pound Owner Surrender
Natural Ears and Docked Tail
Neutered and UTD
Being Fostered near Bridgeport, CT 
Adoption Donation $250

1/24/05 - Sarge has reached a new high point. He no longer needs clomipromine AT ALL to keep him from submissive peeing. The ratio 
of love and attention has finally outweighed his anxiety. He is doing very well without meds. Will sleep on anyone's bed who will have 
him and welcomes all visitors into his circle of admirers! He is great.
7/6/04 - Sarge has made amazing progress in settling in.  He now let's anyone and everyone pet him on top of his head as opposed 
to only under his chin. His submissive peeing is reserved only for complete strangers who are male.  He has become the chief protector 
of the house and barks energetically to announce all arrivals but is pleased to see all visitors.  His favorite activity continues to be 
trailing my son around, wants to be outside whenever anyone is out there but if we are all inside he wants to be where the most hands to 
pet him are located.  Sleeps on any child's bed who will welcome him and is not shy about taking all the space he needs.  Sarge has 
convinced us that he has come to our house specifically for the cuddling.  He continues to be attentive to the elderly grandparents who 
live with us and is an all around gentle fellow to all.  His whipworm has been cleared up and he functions best on the clomipromine dose 
that he came on.  All is well.

3/22/04 - I just wanted to let you know that we have one happy dog at our house.  No peeing in over a week by the way.  He has a new habit the kids call his "tickle attack" when they are on the floor with him and he is so determined to lick them death that he tickles them to death. 
My son can't leave a room without Sarge at his heels and he is just being an all around great guy. Sleeps on my son's bed now and on any other bed he is invited on to.   Big success!  Evelyn
 

3/8/04 - Truth's new family called me on Saturday to say how wonderfully things are going for them and Truth.  It really sounds like BAR has made a wonderful match!!! In only a matter of a day and a half he has made his way into their hearts.  They are all so happy to have him
become a part of their family and I'm certain Truth feels the same way.  Way to go BAR!!!!

3/4/04 - Truth just departed with his new family and they are all very happy.  He will have some 'skin' siblings as well as some 'fur' siblings (a cat and a dog).  Truth was very excited at meeting his new clan and after a few minutes started settling down to let them see his very sweet side.  We sent him along with his doggy bed and toys that he came to us with as well as some new toys that became his favorites during his stay with us.  Truth was with us for such a very short
stay but he made his way quickly into our hearts.  We enjoyed having him with us as he was a wonderful guest here at the "spa".  We know he is going to become a loving part of his new, wonderful forever family. 

3/3/04 - Truth is pending adoption

3/1/04 - Truth has been with us a full two weeks and he feels much more at home. He is a very energetic dog and will do best in a home that can give him time each day to expend his energies. This can be from either having a fenced in yard that Truth can romp around in or taking him for good long walks. He would also do well with a playmate who is willing to do some serious in-house playtime. He and our Max have been having a blast playing with each other all the time. Max is only a year older, but Truth tires him out. Max will escape to the couch when he’s had enough and as Truth will not get on the furniture, it signals Truth that playtime with Max is over. He has gone another full week without any submissive peeing with myself, my son or our dog-but has had a few with foster Dad. With more bonding time and confidence exercises we’re certain we’ll see more improvement. Foster Dad has learned not to initiate contact with Truth as well as avoiding direct eye contact-this has proved to eliminate a lot of the sp’s. An example of one of his sp’s was when Foster Dad told him to “drop it” when Truth had an illegal object in his mouth. After a giving him the drop-it command a few times, Truth finally dropped it and then sat, but when Dad reached in to grab the object Truth squirted. Next time Dad will have Truth leave the area and then pick up the object or have someone else reach in to get the object. On the good side Foster Dad is now able to let Truth outside for potty runs without any sp’s occurring. By the way Truth is fully housebroken. He is not crate trained. I got him in the crate last weekend with lots of coaxing and bribery with peanut butter. But after I let him out for a potty break, he would NOT get back in. However, he does just fine baby gated into his room - no destruction, no potty accidents! Truth is a beautiful Boxer - and not only in the physical sense. He does have a wonderful, funny persona. We are really enjoying having him as a guest in our home. We’ll be back with some more stories on Truth.

2/22/04 - Did I say last time that it might take Truth a while before he started feeling at home? Boy was I wrong! In only a week he really has come around and his true self is really starting to shine through. His submissive peeing with us has come a long way in only one week. He no longer submissive pees with me - and only once in the past several days has he submissive peed with my husband. In case you aren't familiar with this, it is a way that a dog shows you that you are the dominant one to him. This happens involuntarily, it is not necessarily a conscience act on the dog's part. In our house with us, when it has happened, Truth will crouch down and let out a little squirt. But we've learned what actions on our part trigger this and have retrained ourselves how to act with and around him. He has come very far in a short amount of time. Our next step will be to work with his submissive peeing problem when meeting new people. We are slowly letting him and our Boxer get to know each other - and we don't see any reason why Truth wouldn't do well in a home with another dog. We've been told he is good with cats and in about another week, we'll do some intro's with our cats to see how he does. He is a very sweet boy, with lots of energy. You'll definitely want to set play-time aside for him each day. A good long walk each day or time to run in a fenced in yard will be quite beneficial for this boy. Stay tuned for more wonderful stories about "the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth"!!
 

2/18/04 -Truth came to our rescue due to a change in his family's circumstances and they were unable to keep him. It was not an easy decision for them to make, but rest assured he came from a very loving home. He is becoming more comfortable here, however being that he is a less-confident boxer, it may take him a little time to really begin feeling at home. Most dogs have some idiosyncrasy in their personality. It's just a matter of finding the dog whose idiosyncrancy doesn't bother you. In Truth's case, he has a problem with submissive peeing. This isn't an impossible problem to deal with, however, it does take time, love, understanding and above all else - lots of patience. We've started doing our research on this and will see what progress we can make with him while he is here. He does not submissive pee with our son or our Boxer; but does some submissive peeing with me, and mostly reacts this way with my husband. On the plus side he is a very fun guy to have around and LOVES playing with stuffed animals. He has so much fun just tossing them around in the air.
 

2/15/04 - Truth has arrived at the Boxer Resort & Spa. He rode very well in the car. He is a Beautiful Boxer Boy and quite an exuberant 2 1/2 year old. He is very friendly, a little timid, but also very excited. It has taken him a few hours before he finally decided it was okay to settle down, but that's to be expected being he is in a strange, new place. So far he will only accept a treat if our 2 1/2 year old son gives it to him. He came to us with a few of his things including a stuffed animal (black kitty) which he really seems to like. He has met our resident boxer through a babygate and both of their nubbies were wagging like crazy! We're trying to get some good pictures of him to post to the site, but it's kind of difficult to get him to stand still - you know how 2 1/2 year olds can be (skin kids or fur kids) they never want to sit still to have their picture taken. Presently he is relaxing within eyesight of the TV and doesn't seem to mind watching the Daytona 500. Maybe the steady roar of the engines is soothing to him. As soon as Truth has had some time to settle in and feel more comfortable, we'll give you another update. I'm sure we'll have some wonderful stories to tell about this guy. We can see in his eyes that he has a wonderful personality just waiting to blossom out. We're looking forward to getting to know him better and can't wait to tell you all about him!