Happy Gotcha Day Tate!

Meet TATE!! Tate is a 2.5 year old yellow boy who was surrendered to us when his owners could no longer take care of him. We quickly moved Tate into a foster home, where we have already learned a few things about this goofy boy. Tate is a high energy guy who is still learning what it means to live inside a home. It seems as though his previous owners didn’t have time to show him the ropes of indoor living, but that’s all about to change. Tate’s foster mom says he still doesn’t quite know what to do with himself, and he gets kind of hyper sometimes, so she’s been using time outs in the crate to help him calm down. After a time out, he calms right down. She says Tate wants to be near people all the time. Tate likes to lay down behind her office chair and keep her company.

Tate loves tennis balls and has figured out that if he brings it back and drops it, his foster mom will throw another one. He loves to play and needs an outlet for his energy. He is definitely a water dog. Two mornings in a row he has jumped in the bathtub as his foster mom was filling it. His personality is starting to come through. It is hysterical when he wants to drink water. He flops down on the floor with his paws on either side of the water bowl. He owns it! He’ll drink until he can’t take in any more. We’ll have to take Tate to the pool or lake soon and see if he really does like the water beyond playing in a bathtub.

Overall his foster mom says Tate is like a big, clumsy puppy.  His previous owners must not have worked with him much, and he’s just now figuring out what it means to live in a house.  He’s slowly learning to distinguish what’s his and what’s off limits.  Tate has tried to play with all of the other dogs in his foster’s home, but unfortunately they’re older and not too thrilled about a young energetic friend in their face, so I’m sure Tate would enjoy a forever home with another playful dog.

But, after everything, he has such a great disposition. He doesn’t get upset when you correct him if he’s done something naughty. He just looks at you with those soft brown eyes and you just melt. Tate is going to be a terrific dog with a little more patience; he just hasn’t been given the opportunity yet.

Foster Update 06/27: If a dog’s age were measured by his attitude, Tate is a 6 month old puppy! But what an incredibly sweet dog!

After the first night, and a few time outs in his crate, he settled down a lot the second day. I kept him out of the crate that night, and he slept through the night next to my bed like a little angel. He improves every day! Mike left town for a week, and commented that Tate was a totally different dog when he got back. His owners trained him on the sit and down command, and will respond to those. He’s stopped bolting out the front door, although he is tempted.

But he is still the classic “puppy”. He’s learning what belongs to him and what’s mine, although we still disagree about socks and towels. His owners must have used those as toys, because he’s being stubborn about leaving them alone. He even tried to pull a sock off of Mike’s foot one morning as he was getting dressed. He loves to chew up sticks in the back yard. I had a good laugh one afternoon when he came bouncing back to the deck with a 4′ branch. It didn’t take long for him to figure out that wasn’t going up the stairs. You do need to watch him coming in the house or you’ll find a pile of mulch in the house later.

The boys came around and started playing with him over the weekend. We’ve fallen in to a rhythm. He gets up in the morning and plays with the boys for a few hours. Then he’s calm and lets me work through the day, but come 4:30 or 5:00 he’s ready to play again. I throw them in the back yard and after about an hour he’s ready to calm down again. His favorite toys are tennis balls. You can keep his attention for quite a while if you’re holding a tennis ball and he LOVES to pay fetch.

He owns anything to do with water! He lays down and hugs the water bowl when he wants to drink, and he’ll chase the water coming from the garden hose until you turn it off. I’ll bet he would love to go swimming given the chance.

He’s really smart. He followed the dogs in the doggy door and two hours later he remembered where it was and how to use it. He’s learning things quickly. I think he’d be great at agility training.

He’s going to be a great dog for someone. His favorite spot to lay down is ON your feet. Or in my case, right behind my office chair. He wants to be around people all the time. I would recommend that if he is adopted in a house with another dog it be a younger dog because of his playfulness. I would also keep him out of a house that has small kids. Not because he’d hurt anyone, but because he would feed off their energy level, and he doesn’t need any help with that! He can get over stimulated easily, sometimes to the point that I need to crate him to calm him down. But we haven’t needed many time outs lately. And maybe not with an older couple who have mobility issues. He is a classic clutz! He’s plowed in to Adele too many times to count.