Ready for a Home

Two-eyes is doing wonderfully! In the morning, he did 30 minutes in his kennel with no problems, and then in the afternoon he did an hour! He was so comfortable that he just laid down and napped. He is getting the hang of his Kong, and having blankets and the Kong in his kennel I think is a big part of his success.

He's ready for a home, now- I can't really do much more here at the shelter. It's hard to work with seperation anxiety in a shelter environment. After all, while I am the one Two-eyes has bonded with the most, I am still seperated from him a majority of the time- we're only interacting part of the time I'm working with him. In a home environment, it'll be much different and he'll have a chance to bond much more tightly to his owner. However, getting him used to the kennel, getting him to like the kennel, and getting him used to the idea that it's no big deal to be left alone in a kennel, is a huge step in the right direction for Two-eyes.

What I would recommend for an adopter for Two-eyes would be to take him home and hang out with him for 15 minutes or so. Then, put him in a kennel with a bunch of comfy blankets and a Kong full of food or treats (loosely stuffed). Leave him there for 30 minutes, and then when you take him out, ignore him for 10 minutes or so until he settles down. After a little while, if he did well, put him in the kennel as before for 1 hour. If he was nervous, go for 15 minutes. Give him lots of praise in the kennel and toys and food to reinforce the idea in his head that the kennel is fun. If you can trick him into thinking that the kennel is fun and out of the kennel is more boring, you are on the right track!

In this way, I think an adoptive family should be able to work up to a couple hours seperation the first day, and then successively I'd think he could do 8 hours easily by the end of the week. The key is to never let him out or give him any reinforcement if he whines in his kennel, and never leave him confined for longer than he's able to stand. It often helps for many seperation anxiety ridden dogs to have their family ignore them for a little while when returning from a seperation- that way the seperation isn't so much of a big deal.

The ideal family for Two-eyes would likely be a family willing to deal with seperation anxiety (of course) with either a stay-at-home parent or someone with a flexible schedule who won't have to work an 8 hour day right away without a chance to come home in the middle and let Two-eyes out to relax.

If you're interested in Two-eyes, please call the shelter at 563-582-6766 and talk to Mel or Pete if you have questions about seperation anxiety. We'd love to help you out! In the meantime, Two-eyes will be beginning to learn new commands to help his adoptability. He's smart, and already knows "Kennel" and he won't come out of the kennel until he hears "Let's Go!" to invite him out. He learns quickly and is eager to please, especially if it means playtime or rubs!!