Dog Trio

PHEW. That last post was wordy.

But I don’t think this one will be any better. (At least there are more pictures) Trio has been with us now for 2 and a half months! Time has really blown by. But a lot has happened so I just want to get us all up to speed here.

So here’s how transporting the dogs from Alabama works. Rescue staff rent a van and drive down to pick them all up and drive them back. They drive overnight so they arrive in Wisconsin in the morning. It’s a 17 hour drive (I am told) and they make one stop halfway through for potty and water breaks.

Now keep in mind they are transporting like over 20 dogs at once. That is really an undertaking.

We arrived at the transport pick up location which is basically a parking lot with a small field next to it (for pottying)

The van arrives and dog after dog is unloaded. As they are unloaded their names are called, and the foster or adopters step up to leash them up and take them to the grass. About halfway through I heard them call Trio’s name, which, at the time was Leonard (his shelter name).

Finally out of the van!

For first impressions, he was a LOT smaller than I expected! The angle of the photo made him look so tall and lanky. But he is just a little 24lb fluffy pup. That actually worked to my advantage because he fits in the same size crate as my older dog, Gen.

The second his toes touched the grass he peed, pooped, and was ready for cuddles. That is also a great sign, considering we were going into this with no prior knowledge of his potty training ability. (Which by the way is great. He has clearly been potty trained at some point)

Trio is quick to make friends!

Everything was going great- except his surgical staples were still present. I could see nothing wrong with the suture line so I took him home as planned and followed up with the rescue.

Turns out, they were having problems getting his medical records. They had mistakenly not been sent up with him. Eventually we did find out his amputation was on September 15th, and over a month later we finally had the official clearance to have staples removed.  Which was a good thing, because by that time they were ready to fall out. All went well, after a quick visit to the vet we were headed home with a well healed incision.

In the meantime I was wasting no time with him. We started crate games on day one because if there was one thing that was most important, it was that he could be crated without anxiety.

Week 1 crate games!

I couldn’t believe it. After doing crate games for a few days he already understood the cue to sit down and wait for his release word- even with the door open. The next thing we worked on was door behaviors. That translated easily and he is a pro at waiting in front of the open door for his release word. I was not about to let him bolt his way through a door into another busy street. (My imagination interprets his pre adoption injury as a car accident though I have no real proof of that)

I was (and still am) absolutely blown away by border collie intelligence. I couldn’t wait to get him signed up for basic manners class.

He was also getting along great with my older dog. She can be a bit snippy with puppies who are a bit too energetic with playing. But for whatever reason, she let’s Trio jump all over her and he really brings out the puppy side of her too. They have a great give-and-take relationship with their wrestling. They get rough but no one is ever consistently more submissive than the other. And if it wasn’t for their races around the backyard, I don’t think dealing with his energy would be nearly as easy.

Speaking of racing around the backyard- Trio’s mobility is great! He runs and plays and jumps around on the couch and rarely stumbles. I knew he would adjust well but this is even better than I hoped for!

Gen helps with Trio’s rehab with a game of tug!

I did research on easy at home strengthening exercises for tripods. I planned to walk him across pillows and feed treats back and forth for core strength etc.  But so far his appetite for play is getting him plenty of exercise.  Wrestling with Gen is a full-body workout.  Balancing on the top of the couch to look out the window is great core exercise!

Balance exercise

So far everything was going great, my husband even warmed up to the idea of adopting a tripod when he saw how well he was doing. (Obviously, because we did agree to adopt him in the end) 🙂

But not EVERYTHING was perfect. He is a border collie, and they are [apparently] notoriously vocal. I tried taking him to the park one day and it was just absolute nonstop barking at everyone and everything he saw. So, we practiced. Everytime he barked, we walked the other way. When he was quiet, he got another chance. If he turned around and barked again, we did it all again. I set up a few practice rounds like that with family members. He has definitely improved a lot. The other day I took him for a walk and we saw someone across the street walking her dog. She yelled across the street asking about Trios leg and I yelled back. After we went our separate ways I stopped in my tracks and realized throughout that entire encounter Trio had not barked. Even when I was ‘barking’ across the street at her!

Needless to say we had a big celebration running around on the sidewalk with lots of treats.

So I think that pretty much catches us up!  Currently we are enrolled in basic manners with plans to advance into agility next month.