Sweet Cosmo has been in our home for a month now and we love this little dude to pieces. He is undoubtedly one of our favorite fosters. He has made so much growth in this past month and though we'll be sad the day he leaves, we will also be excited for his new beginning and for the lucky family that will get to have Cosmo added to their family. We wanted to share some experiences and things we've learned about Cosmo this past month: Meal Time: Cosmo has been eating three meals a day, one cup at every meal. He LOVES meal time and gets very excited when we pick up the dog bowls. When he first arrived, he would lunge for the bowl in anticipation to begin eating. We have been working hard with him and have finally taught him to "sit" before we place down his bowl. We haven't quite perfected "stay", but this has been such a huge improvement. Cosmo quickly gobbles up his food and then would start to go for his foster sister, Jackie's, food. We tried giving Cosmo a slow feed bowl and this proved successful in slowing down his eating and allowing Jackie to finish her meal uninterrupted. Treats: Cosmo takes treats so so so gentle. We always bring treats on walks to reward good behaviors. Potty training: Cosmo has made big gains and it has been about two weeks since our last accident. On his first few days while he learned our routine, we had some pee pee accidents but those quickly stopped. He lunges to pee, so if he had accidents in the house, no furniture was ruined. A few days into his time here, we had some odd peeing in the corner of the crate a few times when we were gone. He goes in the cage easily and we always give him a hard bone slathered in peanut butter before we leave. We didn't sense any anxiety when he went in the crate, so we were confused by this. We noticed one morning that he was drinking a LOT of water, and sure enough that day while we were gone, he had an accident in his crate. Since this, he has never been denied water, but when we know he will be locked up for an extended period of time, we just watch how much water he was drinking to make sure he isn't guzzling down a ton. Crate: Cosmo is a champ in the crate. We work Monday through Friday and he has been locked up for a max of 8 hours. To help set him up for success, we created a calm space for him. We play calm yoga music and every time he goes in the crate he gets a hard bone slathered with frozen peanut butter. We have not kept padding or blankets in the crate with him, so this is something that will need to be tested in the future. Walks: Cosmo knows when his harness goes on, it is time for a walk. Sometimes he is a bit wiggly, but he has improved in letting us put on his harness. Overall he is a great little walker. He will sometimes pull if he sees a squirrel, bird, or bunny. Vacuums & Parchment Paper?: These are two things that Cosmo is NOT fond of. With the vaccuum in the house, he will bark when the vaccuum is on. We have been working on distracting him with toys or rewarding him with treats for ignoring the vaccuum while it is on. He has gotten better, but this will still need some practice. He was ok however when we had the air compressor on in the garage. He was curious and approached it without barking. The parchment paper has me stumped. I am not sure if it is the sound of the paper being ripped or the shape of the box, but when I have parchment paper, he scurries away. I have left the box on the ground for him to explore and he won't go near it. Other Dogs: Cosmo loves other dogs! With our neighboring dogs, he has interacted nicely through the fence. He loves his foster sister and was excited when we recently dog sat. He wants to play and still has some puppy spunk! Like a toddler, he sometimes doesn't pick up on clues from the other dogs that they don't want to play as hard. He sometimes will do the classic puppy nip at Jackie to get her attention. We try to let Jackie correct this behavior, but if Cosmo still isn't stopping, we have had success redirecting him with a toy. We have seen ZERO aggression or anything mean in Cosmo's personality toward other dogs. Kids: Cosmo has met our older niece and nephew (ages 8 & 10). He did well with them and as experienced dog owners, they were confident in handling him and his puppy energy. Cosmo also met our two and a half year old niece. He was so gentle with her as she handed him toys or tried to pet him, but if he got too excited, without adults being right there to intervene, she could have been accidentally knocked down. Our belief is that Cosmo would do best with older children due to his energy level. Meeting New People: Cosmo can be a bit timid when meeting new people so we tried to let people say hi to him on walks and have visitors come to the house. When initially meeting new people, he doesn't come running and jumping, but he might approach a bit slowly, with his posture lower. I do however think that this past month with Jackie has helped his confidence. When he sees that she isn't afraid to meet new people, I feel like I've seen some changes in his posture when meeting new people. If he is timid initially, it last temporarily because he just wants love and pets. Bath Time: See previous post from April 5th. In a nutshell, he doesn't love the bath, but you can coax him in there with peanut butter. Speaking of peanut butter: Cosmo will do about anything for peanut butter. Use this to your advantage. :) Bed time: Cosmo has been a trooper since night one. He curled up in a dog bed next to our bed and slept all night. He has now learned that he can jump on the bed, so sometimes we wake up with his little nose pressed against us. Snuggles: A+++ Cosmo wants affection from his people and dogs. As I type this, he has wedged himself next to me on the couch and I feel his warm puppy breath on my neck. He is so sweet and snuggly and aside from his goofy personality, this is what I will miss most from this pup. He has nothing but love in his heart. |