Life took over for a while, so I did not get to come on here for a while. Thankfully, I am very excited to say that my return was not spurred on by losing my boy again! 
He's been sticking close to home.
Monet has made so many delightful changes. He now dares to actually get down on the floor, and even plays instead of sitting up terrified on the couch. He will let you know when he needs to go outside by standing by the front door. He gets down to drink his own water instead of waiting all day unless you offered it to him by hand.
He's up to 14 lbs, from the 9 he was when I got him (and highly underweight at that point). I think he's at his ideal - you can just barely feel ribs and it no longer feels like his pelvis is a giant triangle.
In addition to his bravery on the floor, he is just a little imp. You can really feel his personality shining through. He has the zoomies out on his 50 ft lead outside, and he loves to play with the tennis ball. It's definitely not fetch, instead it is "let me grab the ball, run around, and then take it as far away as possible and then drop it", but it's adorable regardless. Sometimes he just wants to go outside to play.
He's getting more comfortable with my friends, and some strangers in the store. He even let a store clerk pet him without flinching and when she asked him to sit, he did. He's still not comfortable with everyone off the street, especially children - but he's started taking food out of their hands. He remembers some of my friends and immediately takes to them, instead of being wary all the time. It used to be that if I met him outside when my mom had him, he acted like he didn't know me, and vice versa. That is no longer the case. He now meets us with a bounce in his step. His wag is still absent (guess I just didn't get the wag option?), but that's okay. He lets you know he's happy like a bunny rabbit, jumping up and down.
He also can recognize my car and gets really super excited, running around the house until I get in, then making a mad dash to the couch when I open the door.
The biggest thing to me is that his voice is starting to come into it's own. I know that a vocal dog can not be the best thing in the world, but his bark is adorable and it's like trying to find the elusive bigfoot, it just didn't seem to be there! Then, he's gradually started showing that he does indeed have vocal cords. I take it as a sign that he's getting comfortable enough to talk. It's so easy to correct him that I don't think it will become a major issue. But apparently when I came in last night, he barked softly three times before I opened that door. How adorable!!
We are also working on obedience, he now sits, downs, begs, shakes hands, and gives a high five (and 10, that is his personal favorite) without a treat. We were working on heel patterns and wait today. It is still easy to distract or scare him sometimes during the wait, but I was successfully able to get him to sit and wait in the corner of the room while I changed today. That was a big step!
I've been a little lax about taking him out and about as well as working him every day. But all that is going to change soon. I'm moving to a new house (which means new surroundings and acclimating), which has a fenced in yard and a few new canine companions. He's in love with the lab/pit mix that is my room-mate to be's service dog. They absolutely adore each other. He also has a few other friends that we go have play-dates with. He gets along with just about every dog that I've met, and I plan on keeping his interactions as positive as possible.
I really want to take him to some low-level obedience trials this summer, I think if we start working we will be able to get to that point. What we really need to work on is our stand for inspection though, but that is on my list of things to do.
I cannot believe it will be a year that I've had him on February 9th, and that he will be 2 on April 21st (the same day I turn 25!). And what a roller-coaster ride it has been! Lots of ups, downs, and twists along the way, but I now have a companion that I am so deeply in love with, who also thinks the world of me. I think it's been worth all of the heartache.
I am hoping that next fall, that I will be financially stable enough to find a permanent companion for him. I really want to rescue a Sheltie, if I can find one that fits the bill. I don't really want a puppy, I want a great personality and confident, happy dog though. It's a tall order, but I'm willing to wait for the right dog to come along!
And since this thread would be useless without pics, here are a few photos of Monet.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/darkdragonsoul/014ce559.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/darkdragonsoul/d1a8b705.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/darkdragonsoul/e69966b5.jpg
He's been sticking close to home.Monet has made so many delightful changes. He now dares to actually get down on the floor, and even plays instead of sitting up terrified on the couch. He will let you know when he needs to go outside by standing by the front door. He gets down to drink his own water instead of waiting all day unless you offered it to him by hand.
He's up to 14 lbs, from the 9 he was when I got him (and highly underweight at that point). I think he's at his ideal - you can just barely feel ribs and it no longer feels like his pelvis is a giant triangle.
In addition to his bravery on the floor, he is just a little imp. You can really feel his personality shining through. He has the zoomies out on his 50 ft lead outside, and he loves to play with the tennis ball. It's definitely not fetch, instead it is "let me grab the ball, run around, and then take it as far away as possible and then drop it", but it's adorable regardless. Sometimes he just wants to go outside to play.
He's getting more comfortable with my friends, and some strangers in the store. He even let a store clerk pet him without flinching and when she asked him to sit, he did. He's still not comfortable with everyone off the street, especially children - but he's started taking food out of their hands. He remembers some of my friends and immediately takes to them, instead of being wary all the time. It used to be that if I met him outside when my mom had him, he acted like he didn't know me, and vice versa. That is no longer the case. He now meets us with a bounce in his step. His wag is still absent (guess I just didn't get the wag option?), but that's okay. He lets you know he's happy like a bunny rabbit, jumping up and down.
He also can recognize my car and gets really super excited, running around the house until I get in, then making a mad dash to the couch when I open the door.
The biggest thing to me is that his voice is starting to come into it's own. I know that a vocal dog can not be the best thing in the world, but his bark is adorable and it's like trying to find the elusive bigfoot, it just didn't seem to be there! Then, he's gradually started showing that he does indeed have vocal cords. I take it as a sign that he's getting comfortable enough to talk. It's so easy to correct him that I don't think it will become a major issue. But apparently when I came in last night, he barked softly three times before I opened that door. How adorable!!
We are also working on obedience, he now sits, downs, begs, shakes hands, and gives a high five (and 10, that is his personal favorite) without a treat. We were working on heel patterns and wait today. It is still easy to distract or scare him sometimes during the wait, but I was successfully able to get him to sit and wait in the corner of the room while I changed today. That was a big step!
I've been a little lax about taking him out and about as well as working him every day. But all that is going to change soon. I'm moving to a new house (which means new surroundings and acclimating), which has a fenced in yard and a few new canine companions. He's in love with the lab/pit mix that is my room-mate to be's service dog. They absolutely adore each other. He also has a few other friends that we go have play-dates with. He gets along with just about every dog that I've met, and I plan on keeping his interactions as positive as possible.
I really want to take him to some low-level obedience trials this summer, I think if we start working we will be able to get to that point. What we really need to work on is our stand for inspection though, but that is on my list of things to do.
I cannot believe it will be a year that I've had him on February 9th, and that he will be 2 on April 21st (the same day I turn 25!). And what a roller-coaster ride it has been! Lots of ups, downs, and twists along the way, but I now have a companion that I am so deeply in love with, who also thinks the world of me. I think it's been worth all of the heartache.
I am hoping that next fall, that I will be financially stable enough to find a permanent companion for him. I really want to rescue a Sheltie, if I can find one that fits the bill. I don't really want a puppy, I want a great personality and confident, happy dog though. It's a tall order, but I'm willing to wait for the right dog to come along!
And since this thread would be useless without pics, here are a few photos of Monet.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/darkdragonsoul/014ce559.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/darkdragonsoul/d1a8b705.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/darkdragonsoul/e69966b5.jpg
