Due to a pre-planned vacation and other circumstances, we knew when we brought Palmer into our home that he would be a short term foster. We are so sad to have him transition out of our home as he goes on to the next leg of his journey to find his forever home. We hope his new family comes along soon, because he is just the sweetest baby boy. We love you Palmer!
Most times Palmer chooses to nap, I find him in this exact position... occasionally with a soft little snore. :)
Palmer had a busy day of walks, training, and has been such a good boy. Since eliminating free for all games of chase, tug of war, and other rough play, we've noticed play is a lot more manageable between the boys.
Palmer continues to be a rock star with potty training, so he has the full reign of the house. He always chooses to sleep where his foster brother is. He is sleeping all through the night. Palmer continues to be a champ on walks. He loves when we put his harness on because he knows it is time to explore and get some great smells. Considering Palmer had no concept of sit or waiting for a treat when he arrived, we've made some very good progress. We still have a lot of work to do, but I'm super proud of what he has learned in such a short time. See how focused he is? How food motivated? What a huge perk for training! Both boys are super annoyed training ended.
We've really enjoyed getting to know Palmer more this first week and half. He has a sweet and goofy personality, looooves to snuggle any chance he can get, he is such a fast learner, and we know when the right person comes along, he will be a great companion for them. Palmer is potty trained (only one little accident day one), crate trained, and is very food motivated. He has already learned "sit", and is doing better waiting calmly for treats. We've been working on "down" and "stay". Before we leave the yard for a walk, the dogs need to be in a sit, we open the gate and make them stay until we release with an "ok" so they learn that an open gate is not an invitation to run away. We've made some progress in the yard when seeing neighbor dogs. We've been incorporating treats and rewarding when he looks at the other dogs without reacting. To help with his focus, we have been bringing him in the yard with a leash on to better redirect his focus. This is our home dogs first rodeo at having another dog in the house, so both boys are learning a lot, as are we in this new phase of fostering.
As the boys get more comfortable, we are noticing subtle shifts in their play, maybe as they figure out the dynamics of living together. Our dog Gino we notice is starting to initiate more play. Even when Palmer is minding his business and being calm, Gino will stir the pot and try to get him going. The rowdier the two boys get though, the more mouthy their play gets, which we don't want to see. Gino knows if he gets too rough and I yell that he needs to stop immediately, while Palmer is still trying to learn to stop play when directed. We don't want a fun game to turn into a situation where either dog would accidentally get hurt. We've decided recently to limit games like tug of war and chase, have been increasing the amount and duration of calm walks, and rewarding more for calm behavior around the house. Palmer really loves training and I think he would thrive taking a basic obedience class. We just completed a basic obedience class with our dog- he loved it and I felt it strengthened our bond. (Not an endorsement, but we went to K9 Turbo Training and had such a great experience). I'll try to post some videos soon of Palmer training. Since trying some of these strategies to promote a calmer environment, so far, we've seen a small decrease in rougher play. It is taking a lot of work as we need to be watchful, alert, and constantly reading their body cues, stopping play as soon as we see signs one of them wants to ramp things up. For this reason, I think Palmer would do best in a home with an experienced owner who is committed to training and can effectively redirect undesired behaviors. There are soooo many positives to this sweet boy that make him such a catch, but keeping play calmer is something we are currently working on. To note, we do not have children in the home, so I cannot report on how he does with children at this time. Due to his energy and puppy like behaviors, I do not think a home with small children would be ideal. Palmer is a little guy, but I wouldn't want a small child to accidentally get toppled over when Palmer gets a case of the zoomies. He has met a few neighbors, family, and friends, and really loves people. We also do not have cats to assess him around. On walks he sometimes perks up when he sees a bunny or squirrel, but he isn't barking or pulling to get to them. In only a week and a half, I can't believe how much he has learned. Such a smart boy and really wants to please his people. We love him so much and will keep reporting back on the progress we are making. I don't know what the first year of his life was like, but we want to help him on this next leg of his journey to his forever home. Little man is doing such a good job on his walks. He is learning to respond when we call his name and is being rewarded when he stays close to our side "heel". Lots of loose leash when walking. :) Palmer does great in the car, but not getting into the car.
When we opened the car door and encouraged him to jump in, he put on the brakes. We lifted him up, placed him in the car, and he did great for the entire ride to the pet store and back. We didn't get any pictures inside the pet store, but he did such a nice job. All in all, I'd say the boys did well for their first 4th of July.
For most of the evening, they just curled up on the couch as the tv was on and we could hear fireworks in the distance. Only when the fireworks were very loud and very close did they perk up and bark a bit. The back neighbors had some very loud fireworks, so we went in the basement for a bit to muffle the sound even more until they were done. Palmer wasn't cowering in fear, he just was very alert and on guard when he heard unfamiliar noises. I was able to further distract the boys with treats. The other day I posted videos of lots of silly, high energy play between the boys. Today I wanted to balance that out and show how the boys have been from about 6am to noon today. The more time that passes, the more chill, lazy moments we are getting like this.
Wanted to include some extra videos we've taken over Palmer's first few days to show the type of play we are observing between Palmer and our resident dog. Both boys have similar play styles... games of chase, tugs of war, nibbles, etc... We let them play, but if it seems to be getting a but more rowdy, we've been redirecting. If they are being too mouthy (which is usually initiated by our very vocal dog... insert eye roll emoji), we have been calling them apart and trying to distract them with a chew bone or other appropriate toy. For the most part, play seems very reciprocal- they each takes turns initiating and engaging. After breaking up rougher play, we often notice they both head right back toward each other to resume play, which I think shows they both want the play to continue. The first day, play was definitely nonstop and a tad rougher. Our dog, Gino, loves other pups and was super excited to have a friend at his house, so he was initiating a lot of play. As each day passes, as they get more acclimated to one another, we have been seeing many more breaks in plays, more snuggles, more naps. If you have another dog in the home, hopefully these videos can help you gauge if Palmer's energy and playing styles would be a good fit. When these two play it can be a lot to manage. Keeping play as calm as possible takes a lot of vigilance.
As I finalize this post, I looked to my left on the couch and saw this.
Palmer and Gino helped me clean off the spatula from making their frozen Kong treats for crate time. OMG... every morning after our morning walk and breakfast, we've been enjoying some super snuggles on the couch. He can be a rowdy baby during play, but he calms down nicely and will just chill on the couch for hours. He is so soft and squishy and is the perfect little cuddle bug. He is about 37lbs and his size is great, big enough to cuddle but small enough not to take up the entire couch.
Palmer really enjoys yard time and has been doing such a good job going outside to go potty. Today Palmer enjoyed running around and helping me in the garden. When the neighbors dogs came out, he was quite startled and there was some growling and barking from both sides of the fence line. I'll watch to see if this improves in time. Most of our fosters are startled at first meeting the neighbor dogs unexpectedly, and it usually gets better with more exposure. I know some of the pics below are a tad blurry, but I think they still capture his happy spirit. In some photographs he looks so serious, which really couldn't be any further from the truth. He is a such a happy happy guy.
Palmer really enjoys walks and even in just a few days has already improved so much. He pulled a bit the first few walks, mostly to get by Gino or to be the leader, but this has improved and we are noticing more loose leash. He is also taking treats on walks now which he didn't at first. This shows us he is not over his threshold and is feeling more relaxed. He perks up when he sees a bunny, but he isn't reacting when he sees other dogs or people, which is a huge plus!
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