Rondo update

Rondo arrived last Wednesday afternoon filled with anxiety and was pretty upset. For the second time in his short life, he was taken from his family-pack. Fortunately he's a pretty resilient dog: within a day he'd settled down and started to relax. He found a spot in the yard he likes to do his business in and likes the dog-door. There were a couple of accidents the first day, but fortunately dealing with Frieda in her dotage got me used to such things. I still had the supplies-- soda water, a bristly brush and a wet/dry shop vac are all you need. The enzyme stuff too. He was a lot more nervous about strangers, but exposure to a lot of friendly people has caused him to relax a lot more.



Thursday Rondo got to walk with KC (John's dog) and while they pretty much ignored each other for the duration, they played at John's apartment. KC is a robust female and made Rondo a bit nervous, but he would chase and be chased, only hiding behind me when she got too big for him (at least in his eyes).

Yesterday Rondo got two exciting bits of enrichment: he discovered with a pool is and met a Great Dane/St. Bernard mix. If he thought KC was too much dog for him, Rondo got a new benchmark with Sophie: she's the size of a horse, the energy of a class-4 tornado and the manners of a very young puppy. She reduced Rondo to a quivering pile of scared puppy with her exuberance in a matter of minutes, so Kim held her while Rondo explored and played with her 8yr old (who loves to run). With familiarity, I'm sure they'll be all right, but that was enough for Rondo last night!

The pool was something I had planned to introduce him to at some point. Groomer/bath, too. Last night he solved both problems for me-- clever dog! While exploring another friend's backyard last night, he literally walked off the edge into the water! I know two things about him now: he can swim and he doesn't blind-panic in such situations. He made it to the edge with much splashing and came to me when I called (to guide him to the steps). Much dog-shaking ensued. Testimony to his personality is that he wasn't afraid of the pool afterwards-- he was *fascinated*! He spent the next half hour running around it, sniffing and testing to see that it was -all- water, then running around it more. Rondo was very excited at this discovery! And thanks to the Santa Anna winds (like, 0% humidity), he was completely dry in no time.

Some more pics of Rondo settling in:

Good Morning, Rondo!
http://www.akela.com/RONDO/Rbkyd1105/R-bedjumpsm.jpg

Discovering gophers! Go, dog, go!
http://www.akela.com/RONDO/Rbkyd1105/R-goph01sm.jpg


Agility pre-training!
http://www.akela.com/RONDO/Rbkyd1105/R-jumpwalldet2sm.jpg

Rondo update

Rondo arrived last Wednesday afternoon filled with anxiety and was pretty upset. For the second time in his short life, he was taken from his family-pack. Fortunately he's a pretty resilient dog: within a day he'd settled down and started to relax. He found a spot in the yard he likes to do his business in and likes the dog-door. There were a couple of accidents the first day, but fortunately dealing with Frieda in her dotage got me used to such things. I still had the supplies-- soda water, a bristly brush and a wet/dry shop vac are all you need. The enzyme stuff too. He was a lot more nervous about strangers, but exposure to a lot of friendly people has caused him to relax a lot more.



Thursday Rondo got to walk with KC (John's dog) and while they pretty much ignored each other for the duration, they played at John's apartment. KC is a robust female and made Rondo a bit nervous, but he would chase and be chased, only hiding behind me when she got too big for him (at least in his eyes).

Yesterday Rondo got two exciting bits of enrichment: he discovered with a pool is and met a Great Dane/St. Bernard mix. If he thought KC was too much dog for him, Rondo got a new benchmark with Sophie: she's the size of a horse, the energy of a class-4 tornado and the manners of a very young puppy. She reduced Rondo to a quivering pile of scared puppy with her exuberance in a matter of minutes, so Kim held her while Rondo explored and played with her 8yr old (who loves to run). With familiarity, I'm sure they'll be all right, but that was enough for Rondo last night!

The pool was something I had planned to introduce him to at some point. Groomer/bath, too. Last night he solved both problems for me-- clever dog! While exploring another friend's backyard last night, he literally walked off the edge into the water! I know two things about him now: he can swim and he doesn't blind-panic in such situations. He made it to the edge with much splashing and came to me when I called (to guide him to the steps). Much dog-shaking ensued. Testimony to his personality is that he wasn't afraid of the pool afterwards-- he was *fascinated*! He spent the next half hour running around it, sniffing and testing to see that it was -all- water, then running around it more. Rondo was very excited at this discovery! And thanks to the Santa Anna winds (like, 0% humidity), he was completely dry in no time.

Some more pics of Rondo settling in:

Good Morning, Rondo!
http://www.akela.com/RONDO/Rbkyd1105/R-bedjumpsm.jpg

Discovering gophers! Go, dog, go!
http://www.akela.com/RONDO/Rbkyd1105/R-goph01sm.jpg


Agility pre-training!
http://www.akela.com/RONDO/Rbkyd1105/R-jumpwalldet2sm.jpg

Rondo update

Rondo arrived last Wednesday afternoon filled with anxiety and was pretty upset. For the second time in his short life, he was taken from his family-pack. Fortunately he's a pretty resilient dog: within a day he'd settled down and started to relax. He found a spot in the yard he likes to do his business in and likes the dog-door. There were a couple of accidents the first day, but fortunately dealing with Frieda in her dotage got me used to such things. I still had the supplies-- soda water, a bristly brush and a wet/dry shop vac are all you need. The enzyme stuff too. He was a lot more nervous about strangers, but exposure to a lot of friendly people has caused him to relax a lot more.



Thursday Rondo got to walk with KC (John's dog) and while they pretty much ignored each other for the duration, they played at John's apartment. KC is a robust female and made Rondo a bit nervous, but he would chase and be chased, only hiding behind me when she got too big for him (at least in his eyes).

Yesterday Rondo got two exciting bits of enrichment: he discovered with a pool is and met a Great Dane/St. Bernard mix. If he thought KC was too much dog for him, Rondo got a new benchmark with Sophie: she's the size of a horse, the energy of a class-4 tornado and the manners of a very young puppy. She reduced Rondo to a quivering pile of scared puppy with her exuberance in a matter of minutes, so Kim held her while Rondo explored and played with her 8yr old (who loves to run). With familiarity, I'm sure they'll be all right, but that was enough for Rondo last night!

The pool was something I had planned to introduce him to at some point. Groomer/bath, too. Last night he solved both problems for me-- clever dog! While exploring another friend's backyard last night, he literally walked off the edge into the water! I know two things about him now: he can swim and he doesn't blind-panic in such situations. He made it to the edge with much splashing and came to me when I called (to guide him to the steps). Much dog-shaking ensued. Testimony to his personality is that he wasn't afraid of the pool afterwards-- he was *fascinated*! He spent the next half hour running around it, sniffing and testing to see that it was -all- water, then running around it more. Rondo was very excited at this discovery! And thanks to the Santa Anna winds (like, 0% humidity), he was completely dry in no time.

Some more pics of Rondo settling in:

Good Morning, Rondo!
http://www.akela.com/RONDO/Rbkyd1105/R-bedjumpsm.jpg

Discovering gophers! Go, dog, go!
http://www.akela.com/RONDO/Rbkyd1105/R-goph01sm.jpg


Agility pre-training!
http://www.akela.com/RONDO/Rbkyd1105/R-jumpwalldet2sm.jpg