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e decompression time was almost nothing, he fit right in with no issues.
He came with a kennel, but when we picked him up and saw him in it for the first time, he was trembling and so scared. Once he got to our house he didn’t ever show that kind of trembling again. Our guess is prior to the transport, he likely had never been in a kennel before, or very few times, so the transport to Calgary then to Cranbrook really stressed him out. I was able to get him in and left him in it while I had a shower, but by the time I got out, he had broken out of the kennel, so figured there was no point. We now put him behind a baby gate for meals, and he can jump over that no issues. But he is learning that once he is done, and our other dog is done, then he is let out so he doesn’t try jumping over it much.
He loves to play, and gets along really well with our other pitty cross (Lady - female). Lady has made sure Humphrey knows she is the boss, but he doesn’t seem to care. There is mutual respect.
When Humphrey came to us, he had little to no manners such as sit, stay etc. He is working on stay, but with sit, shake a paw, come, up - he is really catching on. He is such a smart boy, he will be easy to train with someone dedicated. We are working with him on leash, and still use 2, one on the halter and the collar leash. He is very strong, so husband holds him steady while I work with the collar leash to get him to not pull forward but to stay right beside me on walks. After 3 times he is really getting the hang of it, and he hardly pulls at all, unless there is a smell that gets his attention. Again, as usual, he will need time to be worked with, but he will for sure get it. (Update from Monday afternoon: we took him to a local lake and he was good in the water up to his knees, but as we were walking down the road we met up with a man and his female dog. Humphrey started barking and growling and it took everything I had to hold on to him. When we saw them, we had veered off the road to allow the man to pass. Humphrey went crazy. We were told he wasn’t good with male dogs, but this was female. We walked quite a bit after before he would walk without stress. After we drove home we stopped to introduce our good friends. The first thing he did was growl at them. We aren’t sure if he was being protective but after we told him no then ignored him, we visited for a bit more and when we left he went to them and licked them with no more growling. As we left the lake area he saw a gopher. The window was open only about 6 inches but he was trying to get out. We think his prey drive from being a stray is extremely strong)
We don’t know how he is with cats as we don’t have any. We introduced him to mother in laws female kelpie and he was completely fine. We introduced him to my 95 year old mom who is quite disabled and while being excited, he was fine. I also introduced him to my best friends autistic 13 year old daughter and while at first he was good, while he was laying in between us, she tried to pet him and he low growled.
He is fearless in almost everything. With Lady, we can have the car windows down while driving or waiting for our curb side groceries, but we don’t dare with Humphrey cause he’d be out the window like a shot. I’m confident he would come back, his recall seems quite good, especially if you have food, but he for sure could be a flight risk.
The folks in Texas said he was mostly an outside dog with them, as the daughter had a cat which isn’t his favourite. When the cat would be put in the daughters room, Humphrey was allowed in the house. He was allowed on their furniture and in their bed, but this was mostly only when it was cold outside at night (in Texas). We don’t know what age the daughter is.
He doesn’t seem to take to toys too much, has yet to chew anything he shouldn’t. Loves raw bones, but will walk away before they are done, much to Lady’s delight, but then there is no aggression. Lady had her bone in my office with me, and Humphrey tried to come in to the office, but he saw her chewing and stayed outside about 6 feet away until she was done.
He hardly barks, until Lady barks at the letter carrier, then he helps. He is more whiny but not in an annoying way, and when you tell him to stop, he stops.
He loves to lay on his back to have his belly rubbed, but as he’s trying to get comfortable, he almost falls on the floor. He can be quite awkward but he is so comical.
I gave him a bath, and he didn’t fight it at all, he seemed to really enjoy getting cleaned up.
As far as food, he will wolf his food down in an instant, but after chatting with some other fosters, some suggested large stainless bowl with rocks inside, so I tried that and it slowed him down so well. I would suggest this be shared with an adopter.
If Humphrey has been running shortly after eating then gulps down a lot of water, he will probably throw it up within a few minutes. Our Lady does this so we monitor her water intake after running and try to fill her bowl with smaller amounts at a time until she is satisfied.
He was neutered April 23 so came to us with a bit of open sores but it has completely healed now. He was marking in the house the first day, but after that there were no more issues. He goes out regularly to do his business.
Humphrey is great in the car but thinks he should be in the drivers seat with you. A barrier between front and back would be helpful. But no car sickness so far and we’ve had him in a number of times. I took him into the local home hardware which is pet friendly and he was quite fine for the short period of time but then I had him on a very short leash.