12/2/06 - Ali has been adopted

11/29/06 - Ali continues to do very well. He had his first vet visit (in our care) this week and was a complete gentleman in the waiting room. He sat patiently and would ultimately lie down in a room full of dogs, cats, and a bird. All tests were normal and our vet felt he was in great shape. He weighed in at 66 pounds during the visit and looks terrific.

11/25/06 - Ali is adjusting well to life at our house. He has gotten very accepting of his crate. He's now at the point where I can tell him it's time to get in his crate and as I walk towards it, he runs right in. He's put on a couple of much needed pounds and looks terrific. He and our Black Lab mix continue to get along very well. We have a big dog bed that they enjoy laying on together, playing. He tugs on her ears and she nips at his jowls. I think they'd do this for hours if we let them, but we get nervous that one or the other will get tired of it, so break it up after 20 minutes or so. He found a volleyball today and someone is able to get a grip on it with his little mouth. He looks pretty funny running around with this big ball in his mouth. I've included a couple of new pictures today.

11-21-2006 – Ali continues to learn the routine of our home and is getting more comfortable.  He and ‘Jersey’ are getting along better every day.  Today they were sleeping on a dog bed together.  As he has started to settle in, his interest in the cats has grown, so we need to address that.  He also needs some continued work on his housetraining, but at this point we feel his accidents are due to the change in environment.  Outside the house, he’s a bundle of energy who loves to go for walks and run around the yard, but once he’s inside, he understands that it’s a place to calm down and relax.

11-19-2006 – Ali came to into our home 3 days ago.  He was a little nervous at the shelter, but was obviously a well-manner gentleman.  Right away, he started to fit right in with our 2 and 4 legged family members.  He’s curious about our cats, but his meetings with them have been uneventful.  He has loved to meet the neighbors on our walks.  He needs a little training on the leash, but that’s just to keep him walking properly beside us.  He’s obviously been through some training with his previous owner, because he knows ‘sit’, ‘paw’, and ‘off’.  He’s very intelligent and has taken well to learning his boundaries.  He’s not terribly fond of the crate, but once settled, he sleeps very well in it at night.  During the day, if we need to go out and crate him while we’re gone, he protests a little, but quickly quiets down.  So far, getting him acquainted with our other dog (a female Black Lab mix named ‘Jersey’) has gone very smoothly.