Post #18 - A Foster Story: Buster Joins a New Pack

Handsome Buster

Buster and The Boys Meet

My two male shepherds and I met Buster at the kennel a few days before he moved to our home for fostering.  They were all minimally interested in each other, which was the best kind of outcome we could have hoped for.  My guys are neutered but Buster is intact, and it would not have been surprising for him to take exception to having two strange males enter his turf.  But the Big Man couldn’t have cared less, he was far more interested in the still relative novelty of being showered with love and attention by people. 

I left that night quite smitten with him, but with one or two unknowns about how easy it would be to foster him.  First (and most pressing, after seeing the environment in which he had spent his entire life), I was wondering how easily he could learn that “inside,” where you don’t use the bathroom, now means multiple rooms in a house rather than just a 6’x6’ space.  Second, I wondered how I was going to get him into and out of the car for transport (remember, he weighs in at 105 lbs!).  I had brought my doggie ramp along to the kennel to try him on, and he wanted nothing to do with it.  I couldn’t tell whether this was because he didn’t know what I wanted or wasn’t strong enough to walk up it, but this was clearly something we were going to have to work on.  And finally, Buster hadn’t yet passed the “Cassie test.”  Cassie is my senior female and queen of the pack, and if Cassie ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!  I was not all that worried about this last point after meeting Buster, but it was still going to be important for their first meeting to go well. 

Buster Passes THE CASSIE Test!

So the big day came, and Andrea and Jon kindly transported Buster to me to help with intros.  First thing, Buster and Cassie went for a little peaceful on-leash stroll, which turned out to be a completely simpatico non-event—to them anyway!  To me, it was huge, and boded well for integrating Buster into the household.  

 

Yup Mom! 105lbs can fit!

Then we went into the back yard to get reacquainted with the boys and start building habits about the right place to use the bathroom.  So far so good, so into the house we went for supper and to settle in for the night.  Any yes, despite my worries, he did fit through the doggie door!

 

Poor Buster had a rather nervous first night, with nothing familiar and none of his kennel mates around.  I couldn’t bear to crate him, so I confined him to the kitchen and laundry room, with access to the doggie door.  After an hour or so of pacing and going in and out the doggie door a dozen times, he settled down and rested quietly through the night—exhausted, no doubt.  The next morning, there were no messes.  Hurray!  We went outside and he promptly did his business in appropriate places, so we were off to a great start as far as reliable house manners.  I’ll spare you the rest of the weekend’s details about his bodily functions, but let’s just say he totally gets it. 

Supervising Mom in the Garden

The rest of the first day was all wide-eyed wonder.  He remains relatively uninterested in my dogs but is endlessly fascinated by my every move.  Who knew I was so interesting?  He follows closely at my heels and is an especially attentive supervisor of garden chores.  

He quickly learned that a leash means a w-a-l-k (very exciting) and which door to position his big self in front of, but seems to think that every walk is “his turn.”  Unfortunately, the other dogs also get turns, so we’re doing a lot of “Buster Shuffle” at the door.  He manages to cajole me into several walks a day—short for now, until he builds up stamina.

In addition to walks, it seems that Buster has opinions about lots of things, and he’s happy to share them:  yogurt (should be on the side, not mixed in), baby gates (inconvenient), faucets (fascinating), storm doors with weak latches (‘scuse me, comin’ through!).  On short acquaintance, Buster shows every sign of having a personality as memorable as his stunning good looks.  I look forward to sharing that with you as it emerges.