Today is one month since Baxter came to live with us. Even though he’s obviously hoping that his natural ninja skills have rendered him invisible, I wanted to put the focus on him today to write about how we’re adjusting to our new lives together.

I’ve read that it sometimes takes a few weeks with a rescue dog to see their true personality. I’m not sure if we’re there yet with Baxter, but I have seen some changes since we first adopted him.

Food: When he first came to us, Baxter was not what I would call food motivated. He scarfed down his breakfast and dinner, but he really didn’t care very much for treats. When I gave him a kong the first time, he was pretty disinterested. It was just too much work to get the kibble out of the toy. I persisted, giving him a kong full of kibble before giving him the rest of his breakfast, and after a few days his enthusiasm increased noticeably, and he emptied the entire kong–a momentous occasion. He’s a little more enthused about treats and even his kibble now. He’s also extremely enthused about hotdogs, which we’ve been using for some training.

Training: I wish I knew more about his background, because Baxter has obviously had some training. He knows he’s not allowed on the furniture and aside from a couple of weak efforts the first couple of days doesn’t try to climb on the couch or chairs. He’s housebroken. He knows sit and will now plop down when we snap our fingers. He’s very good on the leash, sticking by our sides when we walk. He does like to follow his nose sometimes, but usually the slightest tension on the leash as he falls behind or pulls ahead moves him back to our side. He’s pretty good at stay too. He doesn’t seem to know down, and come continues to be a problem. I think he knows it, and we’ve practiced it lots, but he likes to amble and sometimes he has better things to do altogether. Occasionally he seems a bit stubborn or disinterested in obedience, even for commands he knows. We’ve gone back to basics working on eye contact when we say his name, which I think will help.

Energy: Baxter is a low energy guy and tends to spend his days dozing as much as possible. I take him for a 20-30 minute walk in the morning, and then Matt usually does a long walk in the afternoon. In the evening we’ll sometimes do another short walk or a ramble in the fields. Depending on his mood, we may do “zoomies” dashing and chasing around the yard. Whether it’s zoomies or toys or a ball, Baxter usually loses interest after a few minutes and goes back to lying down.

The run: The outdoor dog pen is not a hit. So far, it’s been an opportunity for Baxter to demonstrate his determination as he comes up with yet another way to escape. He doesn’t run away. He just comes looking for us. Dude does not like to be alone. He’s fine if one of us sits in the run with him or even if he can see us puttering around outside, but once we’re out of sight, the whining starts and the escape follows soon after.

The cats: Ralph, Easter and Baxter are getting along… like cats and dogs. More than anything, Baxter wants to be friends. However, Ralph has declared them mortal enemies. She’s also obviously told Easter a few big bad wolf stories. Our playful little kitten, while slightly more curious, is no more warm and fuzzy than her mother. Easter came close the one day, but rather than letting Baxter sniff her (and okay, a big, wet tongue may have been heading her way too) she chose to hiss and claw. And as soon as the cats take off running, Baxter is compelled to give chase, even if he’s been sitting quietly up to then.

Social skills: So far, Baxter has not met a person or a dog he doesn’t like. We take him to the park when we play baseball, and he lays quietly on his long lead while we’re on the diamond. We go on group walks with our vet clinic, and he’s very friendly with all of the other dogs and people. We’re very vigilant around other dogs still, but so far he’s been very polite. He meets everyone, but he’s usually not that interested in playing, so he just sits down by himself once he’s sniffed enough. I would like to see him be a bit more playful, but a more important next step is working to help him understand that just because there’s a new person or dog around, he doesn’t automatically get to meet them.

The issues: The one issue that I’ve seen develop over the past month is a bit of an attachment disorder. We’ve left him alone a few times, and he’s been fine on his own in the house. However, he’s a little bit anxious about us leaving. Gathering keys or opening the front door often makes him get off his pillow to investigate, and occasionally he lays on the mat at the front door making sure no one sneaks out on him. Even staying on his pillow in the basement while we go upstairs to get a snack in the kitchen is hard for him. He seems to be slightly more attached to me than Matt, but company in general is most important to him. We don’t want to create any separation anxiety, so we are trying to not make a big deal out of comings and goings, trying to help him realize that if we leave we will come back, and trying to help him learn that he’s okay to be on his own.

The biggest thing that I’ve learned over the past month is that I am absolutely a dog person. Matt and I have been waiting a long time to bring a dog into our family, and I’m glad that it finally happened. Baxter seems to be a good fit for us. I just hope that we’re good for him too.

You all heard from Baxter himself earlier this week about what life has been like since he came to live at the farm. Now it’s my turn to talk about his life before and how he came to be ours. (Brace yourself for another long post).

Here’s his story as we were told by the woman who fostered Baxter:

Baxter lived in Kentucky. His neighbour’s chickens started disappearing, and they blamed Baxter. They threatened to sue Baxter’s owners unless they got rid of him. Baxter’s owners also kept chickens, which he never bothered, but his owners got rid of him anyways. They surrendered him to a high kill shelter. I don’t know how long he was there, but when that shelter was over capacity, it put out a call to rescue organizations in the U.S. and Canada asking them to take some of the dogs before they were euthanized. Baxter was one of the dogs who was rescued. Apparently, when dogs are shipped, they usually ride in crates in the back of a truck. Baxter arrived sitting up front beside the driver, which tells you about his good nature.

For three weeks, Baxter lived with his foster family, which included other dogs, cats, bunnies and kids. He got along great with everybody. His profile was posted on Petfinder, and that’s where we saw him first.

Matt and I started looking for our dog at the end of June. We went to the local SPCA and Humane Society and didn’t find anyone who was going to be a fit for us. We knew we wanted a rescue dog, but we didn’t want someone who had a whole lot of issues or was super hyper. This is not too much to ask when adopting a rescue dog. There are lots of great dogs out there, so make sure to take your time and find the right one for you. Our biggest debate was on size: I wanted a bigger dog and Matt wanted a smaller one.

Searching online through Petfinder worked really well for us because we could specify what we were looking for. For those that don’t know, rescues and shelters from all over North America post adoptable animals on Petfinder, so in one central place you can see hundreds of dogs (or cats or other animals) who need a home.

When I was looking for Baxter, I never searched by breed or gender. Age (young or adult), size (medium or large–hey it was me doing the searching) and the “my household has” section (cats, kids and dogs–not that we do, but I wanted a dog who was good with all three) were my usual criteria.

When Baxter showed up on my screen, he sounded perfect for us. I emailed the woman who was fostering him, and she wrote me back right away and confirmed that he was easy going and “a really awesome boy.” She encouraged me to submit an application through the rescue, so I did.

The application process was pretty involved. The form was very long and asked lots of really specific questions: What type of food were we going to feed him? Were we going to take him to a trainer? If so, what was the trainer’s name? Under what situation would I ever get rid of a dog? Why did we want a rescue dog?

I was completely honest on the application, talking about our barn cats, how long we were at work during the day and that we don’t have a fenced yard. Since our application, I’ve read a lot about how many rescue organizations are very strict and won’t adopt dogs to people with outdoor cats or without fenced yards, but I found our rescue organization to be very reasonable, and fortunately my honesty did not result in our disqualification (more on that later).

The rescue also asked for three personal references, contact information for our vet so that they could confirm how we take care of our other animals, a phone interview and a home visit. Not every rescue follows this process. This was simply what ours required. It may seem like a lot of hoops to jump through, but I respect their requirements because I do feel that they wanted what was best for Baxter.

From my initial email to the rescue to completing the preliminary screening took just three days, and then on Saturday, day four, we got word that we’d been declined.

I was extremely upset.

The only red flag that was raised through the whole screening process was the outdoor run that we planned to use for him when we weren’t home. The people at the rescue were adamant that they do not adopt dogs to be outdoor pets, and they were concerned that Baxter could not tolerate cold winter days outside.

I felt like Baxter was the one for us. So I asked to be reconsidered. I promised that Baxter could stay indoors, and we wouldn’t subject him to severe weather. All Saturday afternoon and into the night, I had to stop myself from obsessively refreshing my email–I limited myself to checks every half hour. Sunday morning, we woke up and we still hadn’t heard back. Finally, by late morning, I found a phone number and called the rescue. They had just approved us. There will be follow up visits to make sure Baxter isn’t outside when the weather is inappropriate, but he was going to be ours.

The afternoon was spent again obsessively checking my email, waiting for word from Baxter’s foster family that we could come get him. Finally, late in the afternoon, he was ready. Matt and I hopped in the car immediately.

Our first meeting with Baxter at his foster home was very brief, which in hindsight may not have been the best for determining that we were actually meant for each other. But in that brief meeting he was everything we had been told. We saw him with very little children. We saw him with a very little kitten. We saw him with the family’s other dogs. He met us and was very polite, if a little reserved. He definitely knew something was up. We signed the adoption agreement, handed over our cheque and took all of his paperwork and vet records. The woman who fostered him gave us a box full of food and treats and walked him out to the car. He hopped into the backseat, and he was ours.

Since then, Baxter has lived up to his easy going reputation for the most part. At home, in the car, on walks, on outings, inside and out, he’s pretty well-behaved. He’s still adjusting and wants to do things his own way sometimes. He’s gotten pretty attached to me, so we’re working on helping him realize he’s okay being on his own. We’re still adjusting too, and I know we’re making some mistakes. I’m sure my desire (obsession) to make this relationship work is contributing to his attachment disorder. We are all working hard together to overcome our issues. I am pretty confident that the three of us are very happy that we found each other–I know the two two-legged ones are.

A couple of notes:

• About chickens: Yes, Matt and I want to get chickens someday. However, that day is probably a few years away still, and I’m not going to pass on Baxter on the chance that he might have issues with chickens. If it turns out that he does, we’ll deal with it then.
• About the outdoor run: Yes, we are still hoping to use the outdoor run when we’re not home. It’s my opinion that the run is a better place for him than a crate or shut in a room in the house. We’re working slowly with him, making him spend about an hour a day in there by himself so that he can get used to it. He’s turned out to be a very stubborn, dedicated escape artist, so I cannot say he’s used to it yet. The good news, I guess, is that he doesn’t run away once he gets out. He just comes looking for us–the attachment thing again. The run includes a fully insulated dog house, which as the weather gets colder will be filled with straw and have a sturdy flap on the door. If the weather is very severe or the run ends up not working out, we will have a place where he can safely spend the day indoors even if we’re not home, as I committed to the rescue.

During the screening process with the rescue, we were asked a few times why we wanted to adopt a rescue dog. I find that a really difficult question to answer. I can tell you we’re not picky about what breed we have. I can explain why we didn’t want a puppy. I can say that we’re prepared to invest the time that it takes to help Baxter adjust to his new life. I can give you the pat “we feel like we can give a dog a good home” answer. All of those things are true, of course, but I don’t know as they sum up the answer of why adopt a rescue dog? I guess I would say, “Why not?”

Who else has adopted a dog? What was your experience with your shelter or rescue organization? Any tips on helping a dog adjust to his new home? Anyone have advice on dealing with separation issues or training a dog to stay in his kennel (big or small)? Baxter (and Matt and I) appreciate any wisdom you can share.