Happy Adoption Day Baxter!

I am a day late with this post, but I feel the need to post it anyways. Two yeas ago, we adopted our amazing dog Baxter. We were both first time dog owners, and really had no idea what to expect. We had originally intended on getting a small-medium sized dog. We lived in an apartment at the time and didn't think a larger dog would work for us. But the minute we met Baxter, we knew that he was the dog for us!

Baxter was about 1.5 yrs old when we got him. We had plenty of challenges with him (he had food aggression, was not socialized with other dogs, and loved to get into trouble). The first night we brought him home, he got into a garbage can and ate something he shouldn't have (something he still loves to do if we aren't careful he'll eat all of the dirty tissues he can find). We called a 24hr vet who told us to induce vomiting to make sure whatever he did eat, didn't end up getting sick or with an obstruction. A month or so later he slipped his collar and went running through the golf course we lived on at the time. It took us almost an hour (and some pepperoni, doggie treats and endless frustration) to finally get him to come to us.

We spent many hours working with a trainer going to both individual sessions as well as group sessions with him. We worked with him at home, and spend months with him at home on the leash in the house to help him learn that we were his family and that he needed to listed to us. It was July of 2008 when things started to turn a corner. We had left him quite suddenly at a kennel to attend a funeral out of town for Josh's grandmother. When we returned as we got out of the car to go pick him up we heard him barking and saw him jumping in his kennel. We could tell that he was finally seeing us as part of his "pack".

This past year has been wonderful for him. We are in a house with a huge backyard for him to run allover and play all day during the summer. In the winter he can bound through the snow to his hearts content. We live close to a park that we frequent often. Both days this weekend we spent at least an hour at the park playing with many other dogs in the unofficial "dog park" area of the park. Though he plays with other dogs and has fun, he constantly is looking where we are and coming back to "check in" with us.

I don't remember what our life was like before Baxter, and I hope that we will eventually adopt another dog for him to play with and become part of the family.

Here is a picture of our "family" the night we brought Baxter home.



Happy Adoption Day Baxter!!!