Good Boy!

Every day Walker is with us, we see some improvement in his anxiety issues.  These little victories make our hearts sing!

When I let the dogs out the back door, Walker is always the last to go out.  When he first arrived at our house, I would open the door, move around the corner where he couldn't see me, and he would go out.  Then, to push the envelope, I began slowly closing the distance between me and the door.  

This weekend I decided to challenge him even more by opening the door, stepping back from it a couple of feet, but putting my hand on the door so that Walker had to pass under my raised arm to get out the door.  He was cautious the first time I did that, but he loves going outside, so he decided to risk it.  Since then there's been no problem at all.  Yay, Walker!

Another sign of progress is Walker's willingness to let me take photos of him at close range.  He'll also look at me while I'm doing it.

No close up lense!

Hey, there, Walker!

Look at those sweet eyes.

The bowing boy!

With Walker, the little things mean so much.  Every time he puts trust in you, you know you've accomplished something.

Chatterbox

The longer Walker is with us, the more his sweet little personality blooms.  Today, we learned he's a chatterbox! 

Here's what one greyhound adoption group says about chattering:

CHATTERING: The teeth chattering that greyhounds do when they get excited. It often looks like they are cold or scared. They literally vibrate with excitement. They are just letting you know that they are so happy to see you!
 

Walker chatters AND he adds some vocals to the mix!  Sawyer was sitting on the floor talking to him.  He's was circling her and wagging his tail.  Then he started this little whine, emitted through his chattering teeth.  It took us a minute to figure out where the sound was coming from - it was Walker!!  It sounded a bit like a snort!

His last foster mom told us he likes to play with toys.  In the last fews days, he's really taken a liking to Blue Dog.  He loves to hear it squeek! 

Every day is an adventure with Walker.  In spite of his anxiety, he is so well-behaved.  He really wants to please his people. 

Part of the Pack

Walker is very smart.  He's already learned our routine.  In the mornings, he knows what it means when he's told, "It's time to go downstairs."  He goes downstairs and then outside.   When he comes back inside, he knows it's time to eat.  Then he usually goes back upstairs while we check e-mail and get ready for the day.  Then it's back downstairs again for one more potty break before we leave for work and school.  Of course, he's been watching our two hounds and he really enjoys being with them.  We put the crate away this past weekend.  It seems that every hound who comes to our house ignores the crate anyway.  Maybe Truly and Maggie whispered in his ear, "Don't go in there . . .  they won't make you."

In these photos, Walker is showing us how tired he is.  He can hardly keep his eyes open.  About 9:00 p.m. each night, he and Truly watch us carefully to determine when it's time to go to bed.  When he comes back inside from the last potty break of the night, Walker waits to hear, "Go upstairs."  Then he runs (joyfully) up the stairs to the bedroom.  Walker is not two years old yet and he loves bedtime more than any dog I've ever seen - except Truly.  They almost race to the bedroom.  Walker always wins!

Walker would love a home with other hounds so he can be a part of a pack.  Being with other dogs really does seem to lessen his anxiety.  Anxiety is part of Walker's personality, but it's not all of his personality.  When you see him running with hound friends, or gnawing on a bully stick, or approaching you (while you're sitting on the floor) to be petted, you can see what a wonderful pet Walker could be.  He is special and he needs, and deserves, a special home.  One of the biggest advantages of adopting this 1 year old boy is that his forever family will get to enjoy him for a long, long time!

Walker the Male Model

Walker has a special talent I just discovered  . . . he's a model!  He posed for these photos this afternoon -

After the photo shoot was over, he went inside and had a great big drink of water.  Then he went off for a nap.  Modeling is hard on a boy . . .

Walker's Getting Comfortable

Walker has been with us for about a week and a half.  This photo was taken last Saturday, about a week after he arrived.  He got here at about the same time as the new shipment of bully sticks!

Maggie and Truly are in the foreground.  Walker is at the top, right corner
 of the photo.  He chose that dog bed, I think, because he could keep an eye on the
humans and hounds coming and going from any direction.  It should be stated that
while he was enjoying that bully stick, he really wasn't paying attention to anybody or anything else.  :)



By Sunday, Walker chose to move to a bed further into the room and closer to us.

His last foster Mom sent this toy with him.  When he first arrived, he wasn't too concerned with it. 
By Sunday, he started carrying it around with him.

By last night, Walker had chosen to move even further into the room. 
Here he is on the bed that sits right in front of my recliner.

He's asking, "Why were you resting your feet on me?"

Walker eagerly eats his breakfast and dinner as soon as it is served to him - right along with the other dogs.  He loves going outside!  I'm thrilled to report that he comes back in by himself about half of the time.  If he doesn't come in when I call him, I go stand near the bottom of the deck stairs.  That seems to be his signal that it really is time for him to go into the house - and he does.

His disposition is such that both of my hounds seem to like and accept Walker.  Neither seems to mind the game of musical dog beds, maybe because Walker freely shares his toys!  He doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body.  When he first arrived, I was surprised to see Maggie make a couple of corrections (some growls and one nip at him).  He didn't run or cower away from her.  He didn't growl or nip back at her.  He stood there and learned to stop doing whatever he was doing to offend her.  If Walker was a child, his report card would indicate that he "plays nicely with others."

Every night, I sit on the floor and pet Truly and Maggie.  It's never more than a few minutes before Walker approaches me for his share of love.  He likes to have his ears scratched and his legs rubbed.  I like to think he's allowing me to build a relationship of trust with him.

Finally . . . the Sun

Walker has been waiting for the rain to go away and the sun to come out.  Finally today, there was sun!

He likes to stand and bask in the rays.

He wants to drink out of the fountain.  The water is not for drinking, so we drained the lowest bowl.

He's "hiding" behind this bush.  He watches us when we're on the deck.

This beautiful boy is a puzzle.  He's not bothered by the sounds of the dishwasher, the washing machine, the dryer, the vacuum, loud cars or other odd sounds.  He's not afraid of sneezing or coughing. 

He delights in the company of other greyhounds and he gets along famously with them.  He plays joyfully with dog toys.  He wants to be petted.  He likes for Sawyer to sit with him and sing to him.  He's active, inquisitve, confident and smart.  He's well mannered in the house.  He's been in a new foster home with brand new people for only four days now and he's still not had a single accident or torn anything up.  (I can't say this about any other dog I've ever brought home.)

His anxiety is related to approaching people and exterior doorways.  Otherwise, he's gentle, loving and a very good boy who will become an awesome forever friend for just the right family. 

Life with Walker - Day Three for Us

Today is our third full day of fostering Walker.  I'll admit I was a little worried about our first workday with him because we all had places to be early in the morning and because he would be on his own (there would be no humans but there would be two other hounds) for most of the day.  Fortunately, I needn't have worried.  He took a little longer than Maggie and Truly to eat his breakfast.  No big deal.  He went outside when I called him and he came right back inside when I called him.  While everyone was getting dressed, eating breakfast, etc., he walked from room to room to see what we were doing.  Then he went to the living room with the other dogs.  One last potty break before we left and he did great.

When we came home from work and school, Walker was there at the front door with Truly and Maggie.  He joined in the typical greyhound excitment to see us then they all wanted to go outside.  Again, no potty accidents in the house!  Absolutely nothing disturbed!  Good boy, Walker!

Walker loves to be where we are and to watch what we're doing.  Here he is watching Sawyer play ball with Maggie.  He didn't care to play - just wanted to watch.

It still raining here.  Can't wait for a sunny day so he can play outside and run around a bit.