He's blossoming! He's ready!

Einstein has been here 2 weeks now. During that time he:

Adapted to a household of 3 new dogs he didn't know-- never a growl or an argument from any of them. Wonderful.

Adapted to me and my husband, and has learned to not only trust me, but also to climb into my lap, look to me for reassurance when he's scared about something, and he's following my training direction like a champ.

Learned the general toileting area in the yard, and has not had one accident in the house at all!

Enthusiastically begun his obedience training using the "clicker training" method. This method allows me to communicate to him exactly what behaviors I want from him. He is food-motivated and takes the food with a polite, gentle mouth. He is solid on "sit", and is now working on "down", "come" and target training with a target stick.

He's consistently allowed me to push him, in baby steps, out of his comfort zone. He is growing in trust and confidence every day. Yesterday morning we walked down the street and watched a construction project from 2 houses away. Yesterday evening I drove him (with his sitting in the seat, not a crate) to the local market and coffee hangout, where we sat on a bench and watched the cars come and go, the people walk by, etc. So many new experiences. I'm careful to go slowly, and each time, he's been initially scared but with my gentle guidance he settles in. We went over to a quieter lawn in a park and practiced some obedience training in that more-distracting setting. He did beautifully, controlling his keen awareness of (and sometimes concern about) people walking by, traffic, etc.

This dog is blossoming. I am so thrilled to report this because what I'm seeing is that he is not a "permanent wreck" as some dogs can be. This is not a dog who will always be permanently timid. This is not a "special needs" dog-- a "special needs" dog has permanent disabilities. This dog is overcoming his traumatic past. Each time he moves to a new home, he has to rewind a bit and rebuild that level of trust and confidence. Frankly, that's appropriate. But each time, he rebounds a bit faster. His traumatic past is being replaced with enough "positive experience" that it's teaching him how to regroup again. His new owner must not be discouraged by his need to regroup again when he moves to a new home.

The reason I'm keeping this blog is to overcome people's general tendency to make a snap judgment about a dog. I want you to see his progress, and how simple it is to achieve. Trust me, what we're doing here is not rocket science. And we're two busy people who work full time so it's not like I'm dedicating my life to this. Anyone can do this, it's simple, and it's compassionate, and it's effective.

I can see this dog excelling at obedience with the right owner. I can see this dog doing therapy work someday, with the right owner. I can absolutely see this dog being a bright, happy and affectionate pet in a relatively calm household, which is exactly what he is at this stage in our own home.

We already have three dogs, or we'd definitely be keeping this guy. We can honestly say we love him and we are ready to wait for the right permanent, loving and responsible home to come forward for him.

Is that you? Is it someone you might know? We welcome inquiries. Einstein is ready to meet his new home.