Rex went along to our Fun Day and had a weekend break in foster. Here is the update from his fosterer ...
"Rex was such a good boy at the Fun Day yesterday, he mixed well with other dogs and showed no sign of nerves at all. We spent quite a bit of time with Buddie and his girls and Rex not only seemed very keen on Brea and Millie but was also very good with Buddie.
So mid afternoon we piled into the car and Rex travelled very well, just relaxing on the back seat without a peep. The idea of getting into the car didn't appeal to him but once on the move he was fine, and when we reached home he waited patiently until he was told to leave the car.
The first few hours at home were a bit hectic. Poor Rex seemed very confused and was finding it hard to settle. He was very focused on Tia and was intent on mounting her, for which she told him off several times but he didn't react at all (actually I think he quite enjoyed winding her up
). Towards the evening I could see that it was getting a bit too much for Tia as Rex wasn't getting the message so I had to intervene and tell him 'no'. At first I had to pull him away from Tia as he wasn't taking much notice but after a short time he began to listen and left Tia in peace. I think this marked the end of his 'settling in' period as by then he was much calmer, and once the kids and Tia went upstairs he spent an hour cuddled up with me on the sofa and I got to see the real Rex.
Tia slept with the kids last night while Rex was in with me - first thing he did was tunnel his way under the duvet but after 10 minutes decided that it was far too hot for that so joined me at the top of the bed where he fell asleep draped across me.
Morning arrived and it soon became apparent that Rex was now much more settled and a different dog to the previous afternoon. He was calm and very affectionate, was over the moon to see the kids again and very happy to see Tia, though he did again try to mount her but stopped as soon as he was told no. At kennels I've always found Rex to be a bit hard of hearing as far as commands are concerned, he's just so happy to get out of kennels that he wants to make the most of it. But today he was so much better, call his name and he'd come running straight away, even when out on his walks on the extender lead his recall was so much better than it is at kennels.
This morning I sent Chelsey upstairs to get dressed while I washed up the breakfast dishes, then wondered where Rex has disappeared to, should have known, I snuck upstairs, camera at the ready, to find this
We had a lovely walk this morning where he really let his hair down and ran and ran and ran on the extender lead. We met a few dogs and he was very good with them all, on his lunchtime walk he was desperate to play with an off-lead playful Mastiff but the owner saw Rex was on the lead so called her dog away.
His house training has been very good, other than a small accident when he first arrived on Saturday. Not so good with the cats as he's very interested and far too focused but no one's perfect
Food, well he wasn't too keen on Nature's Menu which was a surprise, but I'd left out some raw beef to try him on and he yummed that up. The previous evening I'd given him a different, good quality wet food but again he only ate some of it, but a couple of raw pork chops and cooked Gammon were much better appreciated
Rex does appear to carry some sadness with him, when you first give him a cuddle there's a feeling of 'errm, not sure what's going on here, what are you doing?' from him, as if he's never really had a close bond with a person. But stop cuddling him and straight away he's nuzzling your hand and pushing himself back into you, 'that doesn't mean I'm not enjoying it though'.
Overall I think Rex has done incredibly well given that he did seem quite out of sorts on his first day. He was so much better from last night onwards and really impressed me with the way he responded to commands today, I think he rather likes the challenge (and the fuss he gets for being a good boy).
Rex has huge potential, he is a bit 'raw' and you can see that he hasn't had much in the way of training in his past life but he does respond well to firm commands and with some consistency he should come on in leaps and bounds. It's a pity that we only had him for a short weekend as we were getting to see the real Rex today, but he'll definitely be coming again if he isn't homed in the meantime".
Rex is available for long term foster until his forever home comes along.