Teddy Update

[Volunteer]

Just thought I'd let you all know that Teddy is doing extremely well. He goes in for his blood test later this morning to see if the heartworms are all gone.

In the past week he has really settled down. He has stopped testing us (for the most part) and seems to have accepted his place in our house. Thanks to all of you for your suggestions on how to deal with a dominant dog. He now has to sit or down for EVERYTHING. The only things we are still struggling with is making him stay at the open door and waiting for us to go in/out first and getting him to drop on command. He has improved but is not perfect!

He no longer begs at the table and takes commands from everyone in the house (including the kids). Teddy has not snapped at anyone lately and has even started to roll over on his back for belly rubs. He doesn't sleep on his back yet, and when I see him do it for the first time I'll probably burst into tears knowing that this is the ultimate sign of trust and security!

The other night my husband and kids were doing a horsey-ride (husband on all fours, Jayson [8] on husband, Matt [5] on Jayson). Teddy just had to get into it to! He would crawl under my husband, little stub wagging a mile a minute, effectively stopping the "horsey" from moving. If the horsey fell over he would circle the group, barking, wagging his tail, and nudging everyone as if to say "Come on! Let's do it again!" What a sight! It was a happy but noisy game.

Needless to say he has worked his way deep into our hearts. We know he still needs work on some issues but we are also confident that with time, patience, and lots of love he will learn and improve. We are looking into the cost of fencing a part of our yard in and hope that we can find something affordable so that we can keep him. We have also toyed with the idea of attaching a 35 foot steel cable to the side of the house so that he can have some freedom in the yard.

The thought of having to take him back to the shelter again is just about killing me....

[This message has been edited by Volunteer (edited August 11, 1999).]

[tbmckee]

Then don't! Everyone will be heartbroken...including him if you do. Please try to figure something out. Fences aren't that bad if you build them yourself. We are doing that now for Missy.

Listen to your heart...not your head.

[Carol Burke]

You just can't give Teddy up. You have worked so hard and come so far with this dog. Where there is a will there is a way. Good Luck.

[CarolineS]

We couldn't afford to fence our property, so we bought a run, six feet high, approx 12 ft long and 6 wide. I bought it at the pet store and it cost me $400. This is in Canada, it was probably made in the US and is cheaper there.

Another thing we did, after we'd had Maggie for a while, was install invisible fencing, ourselves. That saves a lot of money and it was easy to install. Innotek makes a decent one.

Your dog probably won't want to spend a whole lot of time outside by himself anyways. If we're going to be out a long time and can't get anyone to come and let her out, we lock her in the run. The electric fence is good when you just want to let her out to go potty.

Where there's a will, there's a way. Hope you find one, sounds like your family and Teddy are a match made in heaven.

[Volunteer]

Just got back from the vet. Teddy was given an oral suspension to get rid of any possible remaining microfillia (sp?). He goes back in 2 weeks to get his blood drawn. All exercise restrictions are lifted.

YEAH!!!! I get two more weeks with this overgrown puppy!

I am soooooo not ready to give him up....

[This message has been edited by Volunteer (edited August 11, 1999).]

[katheyt]

I also had to use invisible fencing for awhile and it worked great. I didn't leave my dogs out alone because any dog can come into your yard (people too) but it was great to let my guys run and play. I hope you can find a way to keep your guy. You don't often get the chance for unconditional love !

[Volunteer]

We have no intentions of leaving the dogs out during the day when we are not home. I work 6 miles from home so once my husband goes back to teaching in the fall I can drive home at lunch and let them potty. Although it would be nice to just let them out the back door to do their business, especially in the driving rain/snow, our main reason for wanting a fence is to allow Teddy to run around like a madman (you know how they like to do that ). We don't let the dogs into the yard unless we are out there too. We live on a fairly busy road (well, the speed limit is 25 but no one pays attention to that) so we would like to be able to play with him in the backyard without having to worry about cars. We would also like the fence to protect him from people and other animals (we have lots of wild rabbits and feral cats on this island). We are looking into 6 foot stockade fencing. Chain link is very expensive (compared to stockade) and would allow the neighbor kids to antagonize/tease Teddy. (We live in a duplex and the next door neighbors have tons of relatives on this island - they all seem to congegate at our house. Probably because the yard is so big!) The fence is a means of protecting the dog and at the same time letting him BE a dog!

I take him out in the yard now on a 30 ft lead and although it allows him some breathing room he really can't romp the way he wants to.....

[AngelBunny]

Volunteer:

Kudos to you & everyone in your family for the phenomenal progress you've made with Teddy! It's obvious that all of you have worked hard & consistently. Congrats to all!! I have to say, however, that I'm not at all surprised that he's settled in so nicely--from all your previous posts, it struck me that he was a good dog who was at sea.

Hubby & I spent quite alot of time fencing in our back yard for our two girls. Chain link was too expensive (the area we fenced is about an acre in size), so we used something that's 5' high from Home Depot that came in rolls (100', I think). We bought 6' metal posts and where the fence turns a corner, we used pressure treated wood posts that we cemented into place for added strength & security.

We also bought a dog door that hubby is going to install in the metal screen door (which now we leave propped open when we're home & at night) so Riga & Tula can come & go as they please.

We now have a beautiful fenced yard.

That our girls hardly ever use.

Because they don't like to be outside without us.

While the yard has given us peace of mind because we know that if Riga & Tula do go outside, they're safe, in terms of all the use they make of the yard, it was a huge waste of our time. Even now, 2 months after we finished fencing the yard, if our older dog wants to go outside when we're all downstairs watching TV, she'll stand in the middle of the room, looking at us & whining if she wants to go outside. She knows perfectly well that all she has to do is climb the stairs & go out thru the pantry door into the yard, but she won't do this. She likes to be escorted upstairs and have one of us take her outside. If we do this, she's perfectly happy to go into the fenced yard.

Forget about putting up the cable--way too risky to have a dog tied out.

[LucyJ]

Volunteer,

Don't let all your hard work go to chance. You never know who Teddy could end up with. You have such a good heart to have gone through all of this with him. God always looks out for the little ones and I know he'll help you find a way. Good luck to you and your growing family

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Lucy :)