Hi All,
We have had Trooper for nearly 8 weeks now. We have watched him go through so many changes it is unbelievable. He is our second adoption after fostering and adopting Rommel back in December of 2007. At first, Trooper was very guarded and unsure of us. He was actually afraid and showed this through a bit of aggressiveness when it came to his toys and bed area. However, I am happy to say that with time, patience, firmness and love, this type of behavior has become non existent. We have actually nicknamed him “Smiley” because he has a constant smile on his face now and has really reverted back to “puppy hood”. A month ago he would become depressed, especially at night, and was a bit “indifferent”, yet obedient, with us.
He is a different dog today with his tail constantly wagging, (along with his constant smile) there are no signs of depression anymore, only exuberant behavior wanting to play and be with us every minute. He and Rommel are fast buddies and do everything together. It is not unusual to wake up now to Trooper dropping his Kong or his huge Kong Ball on our heads before we are even awake so we will play with him.
We have come to learn that it takes time for these dogs to acclimate to their new surroundings. For Trooper to have been surrendered by his “former family” was truly a devastating thing for him (or any dog) to overcome. We are not sure what Trooper experienced before he came into the Rescue but I can tell you that we do not believe it was good.
I think the biggest reward with adopting these dogs is to help them go through all of the changes that are inevitable and end up with happy, healthy, devoted companions. Every time I look at my Trooper I fall in love all over again and feel so lucky to have been able to adopt him. I also want to thank Sharon for caring so much about this dog while he was being fostered in her home. I believe she gave him the huge head start needed to end up the dog he is today. Thank you Sharon , I hope you and Lee are able to come out in the spring to see this beautiful boy. I also want to thank my husband Bill for helping me to adopt my gorgeous German Shepherd.
Sincerely,
Linda