Greyfest excitement

Oh we had a ball at GreyFest!! Primco is a very friendly and social boy. Everybody is a friend, human and hound alike. And boy did he run like the wind during the Blur of Fur!

This first picture shows one exhausted 9 yr old Aspen who can barely keep his head up (notice the squished nose on the console), and one still very happy 3 yr old Primco. Just a little difference in stamina...

It took a little bit of hound wrangling, and a little bit of patience to get things organized with both hounds in the back seat. Despite the somewhat comical acrobatics, (obviously, this arrangement was not a long term solution for the 1+ hour ride home!) there was absolutely no "attitude" at all while they both jockeyed for position.

After a few minutes, they both settled in for a long winters nap.... Well, OK a nice sound sleep on the ride home, anyway. Sweet dreams, boys.

New sights and sounds? No problem!

Primco continues to get more and more confident. He is an absolute dream to walk - no pulling at all. A couple days ago we encountered a man on a bicycle. I expected a little aprehension from Primco, becuase he still sometimes sidesteps me when I come into the house carrying packages or a suitcase. But the bicycle man did not even cause him to look twice. And then shortly behind that was a woman walking a bycicle up the hill, and he wanted to go see her. I was impressed!

The next night was even better, though. We encountered a group of 4 children playing in the street, ages 3, 5, 6 and 7, plus a little electric kids-car that they were driving around. They all started squealling excitedly and wanted to come pet the "puppies". Primco enjoyed all the loving, despite the noise and many little hands. By the time we walked past that house and back again, we were "mobbed" by the kids about 8 times. The 3 yr old boy was very timid at first and would only pet the dogs on the butt, and pulled away quickly if a head turned in his direction. By the last petting session, the little boy was quite triumphant because Primco had licked him! It was very cute seeing the confidence build (in both Primco and the kids) each time they chased us down for another petting, hugging, loving session.

In the house he is still a little rambunctious when excited, and doesn't always stop before bumping into you, but that is just his own 3 yr old zest for life showing through! At first he was constantly by my side. But now instead of a 'velcro dog', I call him a 'slinky'. He lets me get out of site, but the further away I am before he gets up, the faster he comes running! He doens't want to miss out on anything interesting! Don't you need to add a 'slinky' to your toybox?

So much to learn!

Just a quick update to say that Primco is such a sweet loving guy! He has accomplished a few new things this week. The basement stairs are no longer a problem, even with the TV on he comes down and lays in the room with us. Although the other night, hubby was watching one of the Mummy movies, and Primco layed at the top of the stairs for about a half hour. Then eventualy he did come the whole way down. It's amazing what the smell of Doritoes can do for your confidence! He used to be a little leary of the ice maker in our fridge. We have it on the crushed ice setting, so it makes a bit of a racket when you fill your glass. Now he comes right up hoping that a piece will fall to the floor just for him. Sudden noises can still unsettle him a bit, but he quickly recovers and goes back to whatever it was that he was doing.

Dinner time is much less chaotic now. He patiently waits while I feed our other hound first. Then he follows me to his crate, waits until I fill his bowl, and then hops in to eat his dinner. I don't shut the crate door, but since he was fed last, it gives our slower-eating hound a chance to finish in peace. Even if Primco finishes first, just a quiet word will keep him away from the other food dish. Then of course both dogs switch bowls to make sure that the other did not leave anything behind!

Life as a foster

We've had Primco for a week now and he is a character! He is full of fun, and eager to please, loves stuffies, and will take things to his bed. Sometimes it't toys, sometimes it's my husbands slipper, or the dishtowl or the mesh bath-poof from the bathtub. As you've seen in the video from the kennel in previous posts, he will chase (and retrieve!!) toys thrown in the yard. Our tennis ball has a squeaker, and it took him a while to figure out the HE was the one making the noise. In this video you will see him drop the ball, and look around for the critter that is squeaking. The first time (of course I did not have the camera ready for the first time...) he would play with the ball, chomp, squeak, drop it, look around, pick up the ball, chomp, squeak, drop it, look around, over and over and over. I think he's got the picture now though! That is my 9 yr old Aspen with a case of the zoomies in the backgound.



He is doing great on walks, still shies some at loud or unexpected noises and strange objects that we encounter (like garbage cans, and moving realtor sigsn, etc), but we pause to investigate, and then he moves on. We have a fenced yard, but he will potty on leash as well. At the moment, he follows me from room to room, but does not require attention, he just likes to be with you. He does love attention though, and a good neck scratch makes the corners of his mouth turn up in bliss.

We have noy yet encountered very young childern, but with us he has no space issues on his bed, we can sit with him and pet and hug and smooch on him. He his a very curious fella, walks around, sniffs everything to check it out. All in all, he has adapted amazingly well this past week to this new change in life, and is turning into a Prime catch!

full of fun

This guy is ready for anything!! Primco is a big boy who is full of energy, and he is ready for you to take him home. We had lots of fun running outside in the cool weather and playing tag. He is a little faster than me, so I kept losing :). Come and let him chase you!

What a good boy Primco is! He was very excited to see us last night when we arrived at the kennel for our Monday night walks. Primco was playful, as usual, and did an excellent job fetching the ball for Heather. If the weather would have permitted, he would have played for hours.

Wed Night Walks

Primco has an enthusiastic lust for life. He is playful and friendly and loves to be with people. His leash walking is getting better and better. He settles down nicely in his run and will make a wonderful companion for some lucky family.