...FINALLY SOME APPLICATIONS

Riley has been posted on Petfinder for at least a few months and people are finally giving him some attention.  He is a good size, good temperament, easy to have around, cute, cuddly, etc etc.   Just the kind of dog I would have thought anyone would want.  Maybe some dogs are of the 'to-know-them-is-to-love-them' variety and pictures on line just don't do them justice.  Riley is certainly very lovable.   There are multiple applications now and hopefully one is a good match.  We have gone and met 2 couples already, so maybe I'll be posting his departure soon?

In the meantime, we continue to go to various places for walks - around the city, at the beach, trails, etc.  He really loves to run around and smell all the new smells.   So much smelling in fact that he has been doing that reverse breathing/sneezing noise.  Maybe he has a summer cold or he has inhaled something.  We tried a nose rinse with saline...which you can imagine went over really well (at least he was still hanging around me afterwards, he didn't run and hide).   He seems to be making the noise alot less so whatever it was is resolving itself.  


Sticking his tongue out at me...no doubt
remembering the nose rinse back at home.


We have spent the majority of our time down at the dog beach.  It's the best place to take a dog, who is shy around new people, because you can be guaranteed to run into dog lovers who are happy to be patient and help Riley learn that almost all people are good for some affection.   He has come a long way in two short weeks.  He now goes up to strangers and allows them to pet him, as long as they don't come on too strong and reach to grab him before he has a chance to have that first tentative sniff of their hand first.

I was asked by one of Riley's applicants if there's anything they would need to watch out for in adopting him and the only things I can think of are that he loves to run with anyone who runs down the beach.   He will chase after them, catch up and run long side them (he will also chase bikes).  No harm done, but one smaller kid was a little shocked to see him all of a sudden running alongside and it made him stop in his tracks.   He once ran to a picnic table full of people with good food.  He looked like he was thinking about how to get onto the table to help himself, or rather trying to find the best side to jump up on.  Fortunately after a few times of calling him and increasing the tone in my voice I was able to override his interest in the food.   I was very grateful to have been saved from the embarrassment of having to apologize for stolen lunch.  I haven't been able to test him very much around kids so he will need to be supervised with toddlers (and even some adults who he doesn't know) to ensure they are respectful of his shyness and also to ensure that kids don't chase him to pet him and accidentally corner him.  This would still scare him today, but hopefully his fear/shyness of well-meaning strangers who come on too strong will lessen as he has more positive experiences, giving him confidence.   He seems to be quite good with kids who are playing on the beach but in my opinion caution with kids and dogs is aways a good thing. 

All in all, I really don't think there are any negatives with Riley.  I've even had the chance to take Riley to two different homes with cats and his reaction was just what I wanted to see.  The first cat he encountered he sniffed the air from a respectable distance and that was it.  In the second house he went nose to nose with a resident cat and he treated it no different than he would have, had it been another dog.  

He is a good catch for a very lucky adopter.  I will miss my little foster-buddy once he's adopted!


Proudly surveying HIS beach.