Hey Folks,
Hank has been doing so well - he's grown in leaps and bounds. I have an image and memory of how he was when he first came and how he is now and it truly has been such an amazing transformation. When he first came, he had a hard time even looking in my direction. Now he makes eye contact all the time.
When he first came, he had no energy at all - for sure it's understandable because he was a sick guy and he was really shut down to most things. It was as though he had given up. Now he seems curious about everything. On our walks he will take the initiative and sniff things, he looks up in the trees at squirrels, he wags his entire body when I look at him and make silly faces.
We have a routine now. When I come home from work, I drop my things and I grab a soft toy. I sit down and Hank comes over and sits down beside me and puts his head in my lap and I cuddle his ears. He loves his ears cuddled and will put the full weight of his head in my lap. Then I give him his toy and take care of the evening details, get his food ready and get him ready for his walk.
He has become really tied to his routines - for example when it's time for his dinner he will go and sit next to his bowl and wait quietly. He knows now when I get my dog walking jacket that he's going out and he will walk to his leash and sit down waiting.
He's had a few accidents still in the house - one in particular seemed to really upset him. We were playing, Hank was play bowing with me - I was making goofy faces at him and he started to run in circles. I think they are called 'zoomie's' where they fly around and then run in a circle and then stop and then start again. This was the first time I had seem him do such a thing so I was laughing and encouraging him to play. Suddenly he stopped right in his tracks and looked down. He seemed confused and upset. I went over to him and realized he had urinated. He seemed totally surprised this had happened. I took him right outside and then came in and cleaned up - he seemed so upset that it had happened. I am thinking it surprised him as he might not have felt a need to pee until it was right there.
I called my vet because I wanted to make sure he didn't have an infection. My vet gave me the option to bring him in or just watch him to see if this was just a fluke thing. So far nothing has happened like that since so I am thinking he might have just gotten so excited and he had a fuller bladder and it just lead to his bladder letting go.
The other day we had a sunny day. I have been using a jacket with Hank when his fur was growing in. This day was really nice and his fur is almost all grown in so decided to take him out without his jacket so that he could get some sunshine on his skin. So we are getting ready to leave, I have Hank on his leash and I say 'let's go'. And while Hank stands up, he doesn't walk with me. So I rattle his leash gently while he is resistant, he does start walking out with me but he's looking over his shoulder while we are walking out the door. As we get to the other side of the door, I realize Hank is looking at his jacket. We walk along the porch a bit and Hank is walking with me now but he's still looking over his shoulder. We got to the sidewalk and it dawns on me that Hank is missing his jacket. I don't want him to get into any bad alpha stuff and he has never challenged me around anything at all - but I did hesitate and then we went back for his jacket.
We go back in the house, I put his jacket on and he is now walking full out, no hesitation. Mid way through the walk, it's hot enough that he lets me take his jacket off. We walked all the way home with me carrying his jacket. Since then he has gone out without it, without hesitation, without any resistance at all. All he seemed to need was a bit of time before he gave it up and some reassurance that everything was ok.
Hank still has trouble with off-leash dogs but he loves, loves, loves children. Sometimes children will walk up and want to hug him and I always make sure to tell them they always need to check first before hugging a dog and that many dogs don't 'hug' the way people do. Hank is always the gentlest, calmest boy when this happens and he almost 'grins' when he sees the children. That's usually the only time he will pull a bit on his leash - it's more he quickens when he sees kids coming.
The last couple of times we have been at the lake, Hank has seen the same dog there. Yesterday, he let her come up to him (she was off leash) and she had a stick in her mouth and she was trying to engage Hank to play with her. I know they need to take their time but it really touched my heart that Hank seemed unsure of what he was supposed to do. I kept him on his leash even though it was in an area that off leash would have been ok - but at one point I dropped his leash and let him walk a little beside her. As she continued to try to get him to play I could see him figuring it out - he 'deeked' at her at one point when she ran at him with the stick in her mouth. I knew he was trying to play with her and willing to engage.
His confidence is so much higher - for example we were coming back from the lake the other day and there was a leashed dog behind us. Hank kept turning his head and seemed very uncomfortable that the dog was behind us. I started to jiggle his leash and sing to him and I skipped up the bridge talking to him and singing to him and distracting him basically. Then I slowed down and let the dog with his people pass us. Hank watched all this and then I could tell he felt more confident that he had dealt with this situation. He almost 'pranced' the rest of the way home.
He hasn't tried to get on the bed but occasionally he will 'ask' to come up on the couch with me when I am working on the computer. It's very rare so when he looks like he wants to come up I pat the couch beside me and tell him 'up' (I use that same command when I ask him to jump up into the car.). He doesn't stay for too long but he will sometimes put his head in my lap and let me cuddle his head or his ears and then he jumps down. He seems very aware of his space and my space and then the time when we 'share' space. I still have his 'kennel' up - the gates and pillows I got for him and he sleeps there most of the time until bedtime and he comes up to my room and sleeps on the floor.
He's gained weight now and is approaching what he should be in weight - he's about 65 pounds now and the vet had said with his bone structure he could be about 85 pounds. He's tall and his head is quite large. I can feel his ribs but not like before when he was really skinny. This seems like he is more lean now than skinny. He has his winter coat in spots - it's thick and then he has his longer coat on top. He is looking very handsome and I will get some current pics of him to post soon.
He barks when someone comes to the door but he stops if I say 'enough'. He will sit at the gate now and watch as people go by - I sit out there with him usually but over the summer I will increase the time he gets to stay there on his own. It's a secure gate but he can see out. I will get him a wading pool for the summer and see if he wants to get used to water. I haven't run with him and I am hesitant to do that but I was wondering if he might begin to enjoy water - he didn't like it at first but after our many trips to the lake, he will sometimes go to the water and let the water touch his paws. He sniffs around and I treat him when he gets his feet wet. I would like to be able to lake swim with him but if he doesn't end up liking it we will find other things to help him stay fit. Right now walking and exploring is perfect for us.
As for dating, well, I am so happy not to be doing that. I feel like the best and most important thing I can do and want to do right now with my life is to look after this precious canine soul. I can't imagine that this boy would have lived a life that didn't matter to anyone, a life where no-one saw how special he was, a life where he knew hurt at the end of a chain with people that were not supposed to hurt him. To see him trust again, to look forward to things so simple as a cuddle or a treat... well, you guys all know - there aren't words.
Thank you all for being here and for sharing this journey with me. I know if you guys are reading this far, you all 'get it'. I am very, very grateful.
