Getting to know you ...

Smokey has been with us for a week now, and he's a really great dog.  He's a really easy going guy and fits right into our family.  He has so many good qualities, and I'll try to describe some of them for you.

 

He's not an aggressive dog at all.  In the past we've had to feed our fosters in a separate room from our dogs.  We don't have to do that with Smokey.  He's not aggressive at all if one of the other dogs walks by him while he's eating.  He just does his own thing and doesn't bother the others.

 

I believe Smokey came to us already housebroken.  He hasn't marked in the house at all that I'm aware of, and he hasn't had any accidents.  I think I've figured out the way he tells me he has to go outside to do his business.  He'll come running up to me and just stand in front of me and stare.  The reason I think he's telling me he needs to go outside is because he comes running up with a sort of urgency about him.  I'm not completely sure, but I think that's his way of telling me he has to go outside.

 

As far as his outdoor behavior, it's awesome!  He doesn't do much barking at all.  We have a little dog behind our fence at the backside of our yard.  The neighbor dog comes to the fence and barks for our dogs.  Our dogs bark back and then run up and down the fence line.  Smokey goes running over to the fence too, but he's the only one not barking.  He also loves to watch the birds in the trees, and he loves to chase ants!  Yes, ants!  He sits on the patio and stalks the ants.  When he sees one he pounces on it, and yes, he eats it.  It's really funny!  He even watches them from inside the house and will scratch on the door to go out and then pounce on the ant!

 

Inside the house he's also a very good dog.  He doesn't pick up books or magazines that might be lying around and chew them up, although he will pick up a Kleenex or paper towel and tear it apart.  That's the extent of what I've seen him chew.  He'll play with toys if we're playing with him, and he'll fetch a ball and bring it back.  He's definitely a lap dog and loves to cuddle up with us and just hang out.

 

It's such a pleasure taking care of Smokey!

 

 

 

Welcome Smokey!

We've had Smokey with us for just a few days and we're having lots of fun getting to know him.  He's a very sweet dog with a very calm way about him.  He's very people oriented and follows us from room to room just wanting to be near us.  He fits in so easily, and it seems like he's been with us for a long time.  He's getting along well with our two dogs and has started trying to play with them.  He runs up and gives our dogs a playful nudge, and then starts running around trying to get them to join in.  It's very cute!  Our dogs aren't quite sure what to make of Smokey yet, so they just stand by while Smokey runs circles around them!

I've crated Smokey a couple of times since he's been here.  It doesn't seem to be his favorite place to be, but he handles it fairly well.  He whines and barks a little bit, but he's definitely using his "inside voice."  I'm going to continue crating him to help him get used to it, but I have to say that I have no real reason to do so.  He's very relaxed, not aggressive at all, doesn't chew on anything, and so far hasn't had any potty accidents in the house.  He goes to sleep at night with my daughter, and then I bring him downstairs when I go to bed so that he can spend the rest of the night with our dogs.

It was interesting to me that the first couple of times we fed him he didn't seem to know what to do.  He just sat looking at the bowl of food and finally took it from our hand.  He also didn't seem to know what to do with a treat.  He was hesitant to take it from us and then just put the treat on the ground.  Once he saw our dogs eating their treats he got the idea.  He's very polite when he takes his treat and waits his turn until our dogs have gotten their treats. 

Here's a couple of pictures and videos of Smokey.  He's an amazing dog and so handsome!  He loves, loves, loves people and kids, and is handling our very high energy dogs like he's known them forever.