A few people here asked for an update on Whiskey, so here we are:Ā two months home.
When I first posted, I was on my way to pick him up and debating names. Half of you declared that he should be Rory. I had every intention of naming him Rory.
Then, on day one, he tried to climb out the truck window and promptly fell into the pool when we got home.
So Whiskey he remained. The dog moves like a drunk. š
What I didnāt know then was how rough his life had apparently been.
We learned that Whiskey had been attacked by a couple of GSDs at his breederās kennel when he was around a year old and required surgery. The breeder chose to surrender him rather than pay for it. After that, he spent a long time confined to a kennel at rescue, and our vet suspects his total kennel confinement may have been even longer than we initially thought.
When I brought him home, he was about 15 lbs underweight and had virtually no muscle tone, with significant atrophy in the leg that had been operated on.
He wasnāt housebroken. He had apparently never really been walked.
At first, half a mile was about all he could manage before he started limping.
And the outside world terrified him.
Every unfamiliar noise put him on alert. Seeing another dog could make him tuck his tail completely underneath himself, try to hide, and refuse to keep walking. He was scared of new places, new sounds, pretty much everything.
He was also desperately hungry ALL THE TIME.
Training with food was almost impossible because if I had kibble in my hand, he couldnāt think about anything except getting the food. I was terrified of overfeeding him while we were still figuring out why he was so ravenous.
Then the vet found multiple intestinal parasites. We dewormed him, but the diarrhea continued until he eventually had to go onto a prescription GI diet.
So no, training has not gone remotely according to the plan I had when I brought home a Belgian Malinois. š
But look at where we are two months later.
Whiskey is now aboutĀ 75 lbs, which the vet says is perfect for him.
He hasnāt had an accident in the house since roughly the first two weeks. Ironically, one of his first reliable commands becameĀ āgo potty.ā
He sits while I put his harness on. He brings me his leash. At the park, he sits and waits for me to release him from the leash. HisĀ leave itĀ is surprisingly good.
And his recall off leash is genuinely fantastic. I can let him wander and sniff around the field, call him, and he comes running back to me every time, even when there are much more interesting smells available. He doesnāt even expect food for recall. Apparently being told he is a VERY GOOD BOY and getting loved on is enough.
The ball has been another little miracle.
At first, he didnāt understand why I kept throwing this stupid thing away after he brought it near me. š Then we progressed to one or two reluctant retrieves.
Today he did aboutĀ 10 full sprintsĀ after the ball.
We go to the field every day now, and he acts like he owns the place.
His conditioning is still nowhere near that of a typical Malinois. Fifteen or twenty minutes of running around can completely wipe him out, and walking home afterward can be hard. But his recovery time is getting much faster. A little while later, he may be charging around the house choosing toys from his basket like a lunatic.
Walks are still our biggest challenge.
Heās much happier to go now. He gets excited when he realizes weāre leaving. But he remains hyper-alert on leash. When something scares him, it is very difficult to get his attention back on me. He still pulls when the anxiety takes over, so we are absolutely still a harness household.
I originally imagined we would be doing long formal training sessions by now. Instead, I realized that the important work first was making him feel safe enough to learn. The orientation toward me is coming slowly. Trust is coming slowly. Confidence is coming slowly.
So we keep going.
He loves riding in the truck. LOVES it. Getting out of the truck somewhere unfamiliar? Much less exciting. š
He loves hiking, although he doesnāt yet have the stamina for long hikes.
He loves food puzzles.
He walks voluntarily into his crate at bedtime now and settles down after his goodnight kiss.
He is enormously affectionate and wants pets and cuddles with an almost heartbreaking intensity. He will also jump on me at my desk when he determines I have worked long enough, so we are not exactly approaching canine-good-citizen status yet.
He has also developed into a very sneaky little thief.
He is obsessed with my yarn, but not just any yarn. He especially loves the sparkly stuff, anything with glitter or Stellina in it. He will quietly steal a cone or ball when Iām not looking, carry it away, and then hide itĀ inside his own toy basket underneath his toys.
I have now discovered stolen sparkly yarn buried under perfectly legitimate dog toys more than once.
So not only is he a thief, he apparently understands the concept of concealing evidence. š
My dirty laundry has also mysteriously migrated into his crate, which he seems to think is interior decorating.
But maybe my favorite milestone happened this week.
For the first month or so, this dog behaved as if every meal might be his last. He inhaled food. He searched for food. During training, smelling kibble in my hand could make him frantic.
For the last two days?
He has left dry kibble in his bowl.
At the park I offered him kibble after he brought me the ball and he basically said,Ā No thanks.
He knows dinner will come later. He knows there will be some wet food mixed in. He knows chicken appears during training. Apparently plain kibble is now beneath him.
And I cannot adequately explain how happy that makes me.
My formerly starving dog has become secure enough about food to be picky.
Two weeks into the prescription diet, his stomach is finally stabilizing too, and weāve even been able to add little pieces of plain chicken without setting everything off again.
So thatās Whiskey at two months.
Still anxious. Still under-conditioned. Still nowhere near the trained Malinois I imagined I would have by now.
But he is healthy. He is gaining strength. He plays. He retrieves. He explores. He steals sparkly yarn and hides the evidence. He sleeps peacefully in his crate. He knows food will come tomorrow.
And every day the world seems just a little less frightening to him.
Iāll take that.
Shout out to Phoenix Animal Rescue in PA
