Well, day six is here with my little guy (Jack Russell), “Samson”. We are making progress. He is on the tail end of a bout of swollen privates from last week’s neuter. He was very sore, but the swelling is subsiding and his raucous soul is starting to flourish! Rumor has it he was returned one time each from three adoptions. He is an independent little cuss…There-in lies the challenge. I figure my former Urban Search and Rescue dog, Kinsey, taught me a thing or two about dealing with a stinker like this. She went through four foster homes in five months. The longest she lasted with any of them was 48 hours. Almost a year from the date I adopted her we were sent to our first deployment, The World Trade Center, after 9/11. She was my partner at all the way through Katrina and Rita, and, along the way, she turned into the best house dog we ever had. Samson has a ton of potential and there are sparkles of attitude that remind me of Kinsey...A comparison I don’t toss around.
I’m using the clicker, right now, to lay some obedience foundation. I’ve got several props that I’ve used to train search and rescue dogs and I am using them to work on his agility. He goes up on many of the props without coaxing. I’m also teaching him to use a target stick. All these things I hope will give us some good foundation skills to build on. His attention threshold is not very long, but gets longer every day. He has never learned to learn. I’ve just got to keep my eye on the ball…Got to find this little guy a forever home. Anything else is gravy!