Jake
Jake and his new sister Mariah. They look so happy together!!
Rocco is now known as Jake. Here is a letter from his new family to the family that fostered Rocco:
Hi Michelle,
I received the paperwork yesterday. Just in time for Jake's visit to the vet for his rabies shot and check up. My vet said his lungs sound clear and gave him a clean bill of health. Fecal sample was negative too. He's gained 2 pounds since he was weighed at the shelter. He's eating much better. I stopped adding canned food to the dry Iams after 3 days, and have kept the bowls full. He usually eats after we do in the evening, but he has been nibbling throughout the day too. Mariah's lost 2 pounds and I've lost 5, so we're calling Jake our "personal trainer." Dan runs 4 miles with him every other morning and I run/walk with him on the opposite mornings (Mariah doesn't want to go - she snuggles up with whoever is still in bed, so she gets a little quality time alone too). Every afternoon we've been hitting one of the dog parks. He loves to swim at the Yahara and Warner Parks close to our house. We've also been to the Token Creek and Tower Parks where he could fetch tennis balls for hours. He is really a gentleman with other dogs at the park. We've never heard him growl, but we finally heard him bark last night when the coyotes were yelping in the woods (and I think Mariah started him off because she was howling back at the coyotes, otherwise he probably would have slept right through it).
He and Mariah are getting along great. We took them to my parent's house last night and my Mom took the attached picture to send out a "new grandpuppy" announcement to the family (Mariah even looks like she's smiling). I really think she was scared of him at first after her last German Shepherd experience at our house. Now that she knows he's not going to attack her, she's perfectly fine with him. He's been fine with 3 of the 4 cats too, but the 4th cat sees him and darts away, so he's having some issues with controlling himself when he sees that cat. So, we'll just have to keep the cats locked safely away when we're not home for a little while longer. I'm sure they'll both be fine once they get used to each other. We've also been over to the next door neighbor's house several times playing with their two English Springers in their fenced in back yard and everyone gets along great.
His first obedience class is May 28. He is already such a great dog. We haven't had a single problem with him at home, other than making sure to lock the doors we don't want him to open... With additional training and socialization he's going to be fantastic. I think he's finally starting to realize that he's home.
I hope everything's going well with your new foster dog. Thanks so much for all the work that you do. If there were more people out there like you and Larry, all of us Humane Officers would be out of a job. Wouldn't that be great!
Amy