I haven't blogged on Walker in a while. I've been giving him time to settle in. Walker is such a sweet handsome boy, but Walker is not your typical greyhound. Walker is a skittish greyhound. Some people calls them spooks.
From everything I have read about dogs like Walker, it's genetic. It's not from any specific event or abuse. Some dogs' wiring just gets messed up. That doesn't mean he can't be a wonderful pet.
Walker is cute, smart, playful, funny and happy most of the time. He loves to go outside. He's starting to enjoy toys. He picks them up and carries them off to a dog bed. It's not uncommon for him to have a bunch of toys piled up in a dog bed somewhere.
He is house trained and has good house manners. In fact, he's so good, I have broken many of my own foster rules. He's become a stairs expert. He doesn't counter surf. He doesn't bother with trash. He's done wonderfully with my cat. He ignores my parrot even when Reggie makes all kinds of noises. Storms don't seem to bother him at all either, although loud noise can sometimes startle him (but that IS normal for most dogs in a new environment).
He loves his crate, but he prefers to have me and or his pack (my dogs) with him. He has really gravitated towards my confident male greyhound, Blaze. He likes the girls, but he likes to be with or around Blaze. He also prefers to be in the same room as me. He's not interest in going off and being by himself. He definitely likes to be part of everything.
He will even run up to me and sniff me from the back or give my hand a little lick when I am playing with my dogs. He play bows and wags his tail, in fact sometimes he wags his whole body. He so wants to engage more fully but he's just not there yet. His anxiety still gets the best of him right now.
He doesn't like changes in routine. He and I have certain little routines that he finds comfort with in everything from coming back into the house from outside, to where he eats breakfast and dinner to how I walk by him so he knows that I am walking by him and not to him.
He's clearly a dog that wants to know what is expected of him. He doesn't like change, but at the same time, he is curious and likes to explore his surroundings which is very encouraging.
He stayed last weekend with Kate at Many Hounds Inn with 2 of my greyhounds while I was out of town. At first Kate said he was not happy. She reconfigured some things for him and made sure he was near my 2 dogs. He did great after that. He learned the schedule and routine quickly at Kate's. He even enthusiastically greeted some little girls (10-12 years old) when they came to pick up their greyhounds. But best of all, he ADORED Kate's mom, Jack. I guess he decided he prefers older women!
