5/11/08 - We adopted Larry on January 19th.  He and Toby, our other boxer, took about one day to settle in together and have had no issues at all.

We had Larry see our vet on January 21st and she suspected he had a torn ACL and would probably need surgery. She referred us to a doctor who confirmed that Larry would need TPLO surgery and he had the procedure in February. He had a complete tear of the ACL and a partial tear of the Meniscus. While this has been a long and expensive procedure the good news is he is doing well. This week X-rays have confirmed bone healing.  He still will have nine weeks more of rehabilitation.  We are now able to take him for progressively longer walks which he really enjoys.  He is great on a leash and loves to meet people.  Our concerns about having another very active boxer boy around Larry during his recovery were totally unfounded.  Toby seemed to sense at once that Larry needed to be left alone and has been content to be around him without any roughhousing. 
Although this was not something we were financially prepared for, the future looks good for Larry.
Note: BAR will be reimbursing the adopting family the amount that our vet would have charged to perform the surgery.

1/19/08 - We took Larry to his new home (this is the same family who adopted Luke from BAR in November 2005, who went to the bridge last June).  There were lots of nub wags for everyone, the dad got a bunch of kisses, Larry got to explore the large yard, then he got to meet his new 8-year old white Boxer brother, Toby.  They hit it off
well and Larry seemed really happy to finally have a playmate.  After about 45 minutes of continual motion
outside and in the house, they were ready for a good nap!  (They are both 8, after all.)  Larry went into another room to lay down on the rug after I put on my coat, and I guess that was his way of letting me know he wanted to stay.
I'm so glad BAR was able to give Larry a chance at a new life.  I wish he and his family many happy years
together.

1/10/08 - Larry is pending adoption

1/7/08 - I think Larry is very comfy and feeling secure.  He still will give a yap (like talking more than barking) when I’m in the kitchen getting his dinner (rarely when I’m doing morning meal), and during our “conversations” (where he’ll “creak” at me and punctuate with a yap here and there), but that’s about it.  He doesn’t join in with the girls when they bark at someone at the door (or a perceived someone at the door).  He may or may not go to his gate to stand and wait to see if anyone does come in, but that’s all.  He doesn’t bark at anything he sees out the window in his room, either.  He’s settling in for the night even earlier the past few days.  Once he’s done his second “duty” of the day, he’s ready to curl up and sleep the night through.  Since this has been by 7:00 p.m. the past few nights, I do coax him to go out between 9 and 10 “pee”m. (to pee, of course  :-)  and he’s fine until I take him out around 6 a.m. next morning (I think 11 hours between pees is a bit too long; it may be possible for him to do, though, since he hasn’t been drinking much water in the evenings). 
He’s wiggled around on his back a few times in the crate – that was a surprise.  And he finally unstuffed his little Christmas stocking toy.  Like the girls, he still plays with the “body,” chewing it and tossing it around a bit, but he isn’t trying to rip it to shreds like they do.  Stuffed toys don’t usually stay stuffed for 10 minutes with our girls, so 10 days is an amazing record!  He just seems to be a happy boy all around, with lots of nub waggles; a lot different demeanor than his first week or so. 
Larry had his wellness check on Saturday.  He was very excited to go for a ride, and he walked around on the back seat for about the first 10 minutes - not over excited or barking at any people or dogs outside the car – and then he sat down and relaxed; same on the way back.  He doesn’t try to get into the front seat, which is good.  The vet said he’s in good shape for 8 years old.  She said he has some reduced motion in both back legs, but I don’t see it much at all.  He can bounce and hop with the best of them when he gets excited to go out when we get home from work (he doesn’t do it much any other times, except maybe one front-legs lift-up when I go in with his food bowl).  He does have narrow hips and needs some help getting into higher vehicles (we have a Blazer and a truck), but those things seem to be the case with all my seniors.  Turns out, Larry is 71.5 lbs!!  I did not think so, comparing him to our Harley at 62 lbs.  He looks pretty good at this weight, and he’s not having any major difficulty with his hips – he does stairs just fine and he likes to walk, so even tho he might be fine with putting another 5 lbs or so without starting to look fat, it’s probably best to try and keep him about where he is.  It looks like he has all his teeth; only two small “senior” bumps (I call them) on his gums that I can see, and they don’t cover over the tooth they are next to.  He apparently has conjunctivitis (which I also don’t see; I would have said nothing was wrong with his eyes, they look just like in his pix), but she’s the vet and should know, so I have some eye cream to put in for 3 weeks (which is not anything that would delay his being adopted).  Larry is not totally happy about having cream put in eyes – he wiggles around a lot, so my son (much stronger than me) holds his head and I put in the cream, and no problem – it’s just not a one-person task (not really surprising). 
He’s not yet actually sitting to wait for his food, but he is going behind me when I take his food into his room.  I still tell him to stay there (behind me) when I get up to his bowl, because this is something new for him, and it needs to be reinforced for a while until he knows to do it with just a hand movement or a look.  He doesn’t wait much after I walk from the bowl to run up and start eating (he DOES love to eat), but compared to a couple weeks ago when he was trying to put his head in the bowl before I even put it down, I think he’s doing great learning something (apparently) new to him.

1/3/08 - I swear, Larry doesn’t have one aggressive/angry/feisty bone in his body. Nothing gets him to react in anything other than a good way . . . such a sweet disposition. We came in a couple mornings ago and my male Ragdoll was on a small stand just inside the front door, and I didn’t see him right away, but Larry did (one of the few times I’ve let Larry walk out of the very small entry hall into the parlor a step in front of me – it will be larger some day). I saw the kitty arch a bit, but he didn’t “hit” or run, even with Larry’s big head hovering right over him, and Larry’s little nub just went nuts wagging. I don’t think he wanted to leave the kitty, but I did easily move him away into his room, which was fine with Larry (and the kitty ;-)
Now that he seems to be over his kennel cough, we don’t always gate the girls in the kitchen/dining area when we take him out. The first night we let them stay free, the girls were on the couch a foot away and the Boston was in the big chair with my son, and none of them moved when Larry and I walked by, a foot or two away on either side. Very unusual, especially for the Boston, seeing as it’s the first time there hasn’t been a gate between them in the house. Next day, he and my SoBe just about rubbed noses as he went by, and no reaction from either of them (she is not “friendly” to fosters when meeting them the first time, as a rule). It seems Larry doesn’t give off any macho, male Boxer vibes, and our three girls and all the kitties lack of negative reaction to him seems to confirm that.
Just when I write that he doesn’t go to bed much before 10:00 pm, he starts going to sleep by 8:00. I wanted to get him to go out around 10-ish a few nights ago, as usual, since it had been a few hours since he was out, but he really wasn’t interested in moving. He looked at me with those big, sad eyes, like, “awe, do I have to?”, so I figured I’d just give it another try around 11:00 before going to bed myself, but while rattling the bar on the crate gate to try and lock it because I was going upstairs, he did stand up, and I was able to coax him to go out to tinkle one last time for the day (as good as he is about holding it, I don’t know about him going 10-11 hours; and although he may have gone the distance until 6:00 am, I wasn’t too curious to find out). 
Larry can get really excited where he bounces around and hops happily, and that’s when we first get home from work (and when my son goes home at lunchtime to let take them out).  That’s probably the only time he might knock over a little one, but they wouldn’t be the one putting a leash on his collar.  Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if he knows about little people, and not be so jumpy if they were nearby at that time.  Otherwise, he’s pretty laid back.  He still has the same stuffed toy from Christmas.  Even our 7-year-old girls will still de-stuff a toy in under 5 minutes, just to play with the “body.”  Larry just likes to contentedly chew on his and find the squeak. 

Larry was so confused and insecure when he first got here. There were so few nub wags that first week – he was keeping it tucked in tight almost all the time. I can’t imagine what he was feeling, going from a home of 8 years, to a shelter for a couple weeks, and then the long transport from NYC to Boston, with kennel cough to top it off. Although he’s always been nice, and never defensive about anything, after 8 days, he also seems comfy and happy. All my fosters have been sweeties in their way after being here for different amounts of time, but none like Larry has been from the first day. He’s such a softy, I can see maybe he may need a few days to adjust to the change (yet again!) when he’s adopted, but I think whomever does bring him into their lives will be very happy they did.

1/1/08 - Larry is definitely feeling better.  He gets excited about things, especially if he sees you pick up his leash or put on your coat.  He loves go to out walking.  I only take him to the end of my short street, and he will make a small attempt to keep going straight.  I think he wants to see more of what’s around.  He doesn’t pull on the leash, and you can change directions on him and he follows easily.  He may try to change your mind by standing still, but it’s not a stubborn type of standing.  One little tug and he’ll turn back with you, no problem.  I don’t think he’s one for walking miles, at all, but short distances would probably be okay with him.  He doesn’t appear to have any problems walking or doing stairs, and he can do little leaps when he’s really excited, so his bones may be older, but they don’t seem to have stiffened up much, if at all.  I do notice he’s not quick to sit most times, but maybe because he doesn’t want to, because he will sit on his own. 
Larry goes in his crate to lie down, and yesterday our white, long-haired male kitty jumped the baby gate and into the room (hello, kitty – the gate to the crate is open!!).  The kitty walked around for a minute (it’s not a large area at all, about 6 feet from the gate to the front of the crate) then made a running leap to get back over the baby gate and Larry didn’t do anything but watch – no attempt to chase the kitty or even get up.  This is the same kitty that usually is stressed out more than our other three when there’s fosters in the house, so I was very surprised.  This kitty likes to curl up on the arm of the sofa a few inches from where Larry has to walk by going out,  He just looks at Larry without moving a whisker, and Larry looks back at him but keeps walking, not even trying to stop and investigate. He doesn’t seem fazed by the kitties, nor they, him.  He’s even wagging his nub when he sees them going up and down the stairs or hanging around the gates.
He’s not trying to get around me to get to his food bowl like he was the first week.  I stand by the bowl rack with my back to him holding his bowl, and he stays behind me to wait until I put it down, and even then, he hasn’t tried to get his head into the bowl until I walk away.  He still doesn’t sit to wait, but he’s doing well learning what’s expected.  This is also the third morning he hasn’t let me know he’s awake before I go downstairs.  I think he’s getting more comfortable and secure about what’s going on and what the routine is.  He doesn’t even dash to the gate when I leave the room any more, just watches.  He still does a single bark now and then, usually when he knows I’m in the kitchen getting one of their meals ready.  He can’t see me, but knows what I’m doing, since I took his bowl before “disappearing” (he does like his food).  I was eating a couple pancakes at the computer while checking email earlier today, and he just sat next to me, waiting patiently; he didn’t try to get at it at all, or make any noises, almost pretending like he wasn’t there.  I decided to put a couple small pieces in his food bowl (which are right behind the computer chair) to show I was done, and he was very good about waiting until I moved away from it before eating.  I also noticed he’s not a drooler, even when there’s food involved.  When he was first diving right in, I was able to put my hand on his muzzle to move him back, and he didn’t mind that at all – no aggression to get at his food, as much as he wanted it.  I seem to be able to do anything to him, hands-on wise, and he’s just fine with it.
I haven’t had an occasion for Larry to meet any little people of any age – everyone has been of adult size, but I don’t see any signs that he would be aggressive or too jumpy for young ones.  He is happy just lying around, and he likes easy-going walks.  He would be a great companion for just about anyone who doesn’t need a rambunctious playmate (which isn’t to say he couldn’t be more playful outside, but with this weather we’re having, there’s not been a chance to find out).   

12/29/07 - Larry is doing well. He’s still sneezing some with a few coughs, and as careful as we were, both our Boxer girls caught his kennel cough. What’s odd is, one has it worse than he did when he got here :-\
He’s getting better about making noise when he can’t see us (still single barks, not constant). And I think he’s learning that “stop” means don’t bark. I tried that this morning at about 4:30 a.m. (yawn). When I went downstairs in response to a single bark, he was lying down and I told him to stop and went back upstairs. He did stay quiet until about 7:00. (yayy) Don’t know if it was just telling him to stop, or if he was just content to see that I was here. He’s good at night, but he’s not an early to bed guy. Usually not ready to sleep before 10, but I’m up later than that, anyway. I think if he was able to sleep in my room, he’d be happier, but that’s my girl, SoBe’s and the kitties’ time with me, and it’s just not something I’ve done with fosters.
I was checking the alarm was off before taking him out the other night, and walked him over with me, since I had him out of the room on his leash, already, and when I turned around, he was literally nose to nose with my male Ragdoll, who was on the chair by the table! The cat was standing very still, and Larry didn’t do anything, just walked away with me heading for the door. I don’t know if he’d do anything if they ran from him, but they’re used to dogs. I was told he was okay with cats, and it seems to be so.
He likes to put his head on my arm when I’m at the computer (like now) making his little “creaking” noise to see if I’ll start patting him. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t, to see what he’ll do. He just sighs and creaks a lot to coax me, and if it doesn’t work, he walks away, usually into his crate. It’s hard not to start patting him when I see that face, and just hearing his noises makes me chuckle aloud, but I don’t want him to think he’ll get his way every time. It is just so funny, tho. If I do look at him, sometimes he starts his “talking,” too. Not words of any sort of course, just the open/shut stuff with his mouth making sounds like he saying something. If I “reply,” he does it even more, and sometimes with end with a single “yap” if I don’t seem to “get” what’s he saying. He likes to rest his head in my lap, too.
He’s not into sitting to wait for his food, but I can keep him away from it without his getting upset  about it, he just tries harder to get around me to the bowl. He knows he’ll get it in the end, he’s just not patient about it, yet. He’s good in his room. Hasn’t tried to chew anything, and loose in there when we’re home, and I’ve even had the door shut at times. He does like to rest his head on the gate and watch everything that’s going on (there’s a second gate to keep the girls away, just not far enough, I guess – those sneezes can travel).
He’s on his meds for a few more days, and then I want to give him a bath, so maybe in a week or so he’ll go for his wellness vet visit, and it is expected everything will be fine. I think Larry would be good in a home with another dog(s), or he’d be happy without, as long as he had his person/people. He is so sweet and too funny, and does seem to really like everyone.

12/26/07 - Larry seems to be settling in pretty well.  I don’t know about his name, tho.  He doesn’t respond at all to it.  We’re trying others, but I might leave as is, since the family that adopts him may want to name him something else, unless we hit on one that he likes.  He had a pretty bad cold when he got here, but he’s on meds and it seems to be clearing up.  He has such a great face.  Very square and masculine, with big, sad eyes.  Could be he’s still wondering what’s going on.  It was quite hectic around here, yesterday, what with our three girls getting more presents than anyone else, my parents over for dinner and y daughter up from Miami.  We gave Larry a few in his room (he can see what was going on, but with his cold, I need to keep him away from the girls for a few more days), and he was tossing a soft, squeaky one around in his room and chasing after it.  He’ll push a ball around, but not much else with it.  He met my parents, and as usual, another of my fosters loves my dad, although he seems to like everyone.  He’s stingy with tail wags, still, but he wasn’t with my dad.  Couple chin kisses for him, too. 
Larry is slow to sit (like the pose in his shelter picture), but he will do it with some coaxing (like a special treat).  He will more often sit to the side, as most of my seniors have done, and even then, he goes slow to do it.  He doesn’t seem to have any problems walking, so it’s probably just old(er) bones.  He can make a couple of funny sounds, when he wants.  He even seemed to try to talk a few times.  He opens/closes his mouth a little bit several times, and it’s funny when his upper lip gets caught in his lower canines when he stops (he seems to have all his teeth, too!).  He can make a long sound like a creaking door.  The first time he did it when we were talking to him, we looked around to see where it came from, and he did it again!  He also has a barely audible moan-ish ummm sound he does in his throat which seems to mean a couple things – he’s done it when he’s content that I’m patting him, or when he rests his head on my arm like “aww, come on” (to get me to pat him).  He also has a little snore going on.  He really can make you smile.  He’s very good about going out, which we do about four times a day.  Right now, it’s been almost 7 hours since he was last out, and he hasn’t asked to go.  He slept through a noon trip out for the girls, and he’s still sleeping, so I thought to “test” his holding power while I’m home. 
He’ll stare at the kitties, but not a “if I get out, watch out” kind of stare.  More of just looking, then he eventually walks away (the stairs going up are about 3 feet from his gate, and all four kitties like to sit on the stairs).  My brother-in-law’s senior lab visited for a few minutes last night, and Larry just stood at his gate and watched the lab go by a few times, a few feet away.  The girls bark at everything, but Larry doesn’t join in.  He will bark if he can’t see you after a while, but it’s not a constant barking, just one, then he waits, then another, then waits.  He hasn’t barked about being left in his crate since the first night, and even then he stopped after a few minutes.  If I can’t get to him right away, I’ll yell out “stop,” and he does, but he’ll do it again.  I did try spraying him with water (not in his face), but that doesn’t stop him totally.  Usually, he just stops on his own after a few times.  He more often does a funny yap sound; again, one, then wait, etc. He will do this bark/wait stuff if he’s awake before I go downstairs in the morning.  My son got up early for work today, and I had left Larry’s crate open last night (it was a loooong day, and he was asleep when I went up), and my son said he was just sitting at his gate quietly.  I’ve seen a couple, single sharp noises make him jump, but my son running a cement saw and vacuum didn’t seem to faze him at all his first day here.  He seems like he really wants to get out and play with the girls and I feel bad that he can’t, but I really don’t want them to get his cold.  He’s good on the leash when we take him out.  He doesn’t try to take you where you don’t want to go. 
He seems very calm and basically quiet, and he really is such a sweetie.  He may get more active once his cold has cleared up, but I don’t think he’ll be an over-active guy.  From what I’ve seen so far, he’d made a great companion for anyone with a laid-back lifestyle.

12/23/07 - The new boy is home, safe and sound. What a sweet face, and such big, sad eyes (tough to be told your people don't have time for you, any more). He slept the whole way (1-1/2 hours). He didn't eat much,
even tho he seemed anxious to eat, and has a bad cold, but he's doing okay, otherwise. He's very calm and quiet, although he barked a few times when I walked out of the room the first time, right after
getting home; he's not done that again.) He seems happy about my girls - his little nub went nuts! - but with his cold, they will need to be kept apart for a bit. He went into his crate on his own and is
sleeping. I'm told his name is Larry, but I've used it several times and he's not responding to it, at all. (Maybe he wants a new one for his new life? That's okay by me :-) I'll give him a couple days to settle in, then write a proper update (and see if he responds to another name).
Thanks Tina, Gary, Joe, Michelle, and Angela for all you did in such a short time to pull this together, and get him out of that shelter and transported.

12/23/07 - Transporter Michele - Met this beautiful sr. boy, Larry, on the transport today.  What a SWEET boy!  Gary, as always it was great seeing you again....Joe, it was very nice meeting you today...and Angela, it was nice talking with you on the phone yesterday.
What a wonderful way to start off the Christmas week, by helping to bring this wonderful boy into our rescue and on his way to a warm and loving home this weekend!
I took a pix of him with my cell phone, will email it off later on!
Sandy, you are in for a treat with this boy...he is so well mannered!  It was hard to drive by my own exit and NOT take him home with me!!!