Happy Gotcha Day Todd!

 

INTRODUCING TODD!! This sweet boy just came to LFS yesterday. Todd’s story is a sad one. He was reported to animal control as a stray running around with another dog and chasing cats in the area. When animal control went out to find him, they ended up having to set a trap to catch him, as he was extremely afraid of approaching people. Once at the shelter, it was obvious that Todd hasn’t had the best start to life and has had limited socialization with people/new places. He panicked when the shelter staff tried to put a leash around him, but despite his fear, he didn’t try to bite, he just wanted to get away. He did perk up a little when another dog was brought by to meet him, but Todd remained depressed and terrified in the shelter environment, so LFS was contacted to see if we could get him the help he needed. We took him to our vet’s office where he will be fully evaluated, neutered, and updated on vaccines. At this time, we are going to give him a few days to decompress in his new environment and then allow him some time to heal after being neutered while we work on building some trust. Once he is healed, we would like allow Todd to spend some time with our trainer to help him gain confidence and work on socialization. For this reason, we will wait to place him in a foster home for a couple of weeks. 

 

For now Todd seems to be enjoying the peace and quiet at the vet’s office. He still doesn’t quite understand what the blankets and beds are for, but we hope that soon he will be comfortable enough to choose to lay on them. He began to doze off while one of the lovely veterinary team scratched under his ears, and we were so glad to see that he felt safe enough to eat for us. It’s definitely going to be a longer journey, he will probably be more comfortable in a home with another dog and with a fence. But with a lot of love and patience, we know that Todd can become the happy dog he deserves to be.

 

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TODD UPDATE 6/29/20: Todd is doing so well in his foster home! He has learned to just relax and go with the flow. His fur foster brother and sister really put him at ease and he pretty much does whatever they do. Playing solo with a ball is probably his favorite thing to do, which is so cute. He also enjoys being outside and going for walks. He is great on a leash and is more comfortable now when cars go by. He is house trained and has earned the right to have free roam of the house when we go out. He is cute and petite and is just as sweet as he looks

 

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TODD UPDATE 5/23/20: Once Todd was healed from his neuter and became more comfortable with his new environment, we started allowing him to spend some time in doggie daycare where we really saw a positive change in his behavior. He started to open up and show his personality, and he started voluntarily coming up to the staff at the clinic for attention. Last weekend, Todd went to his foster home and started the next phase of his journey. Here’s the update from his foster family:

Todd is doing great so far. The first night he was scared to go up the stairs and so we had to pick him up and bring him up. Ever since then he has done great going up and down. He didn’t want to go in his crate at first either so we had to pick him up and put him in there as well. He slept great through the night with no issues. Over the weekend we spent most of the days outside in the backyard so all the pups were back there with us and Todd strolled around, sunbathed, and followed Watson and Dixie (his doggie foster siblings) around and did what they did. He has been eating well, though he doesn’t like being watched while he is eating or he will go away from it. He is about as sweet as it gets. Since we work from home he is around us all day and just follows our dogs and goes and lays where ever they are. He loves taking his naps. I wouldn’t say he is fully potty trained but he is pretty close to being it. The other day he finally picked up the toys and balls and started playing with them. He had been scared of them before. He is definitely scared of pretty much everything but has improved on not running away from things now. He pretty much just gets the scared face and then when he realizes he is ok he perks up. When he is ready for adoption, he needs to be in a home with another dog because without our dogs I don’t think he would do a lot of things he has done. He sees them do it and sees that is ok. For instance with going up the steps, they helped get him confident with that. With people he sees they are good with the people, so he comes over and wags that tail like crazy to get pets. We have been going on one mile walks twice a day and he is improving on the leash for sure. When a car passes, he pretty much doesn’t move, he hops over in the grass and won’t move till the car passes.

**Todd is not yet ready for adoption but we will update when he is. He is doing well with his heartworm treatment so far and is taking it all in stride. Todd’s still got some learning to do, but he is well on his way! Todd’s ideal forever family is one with another dog in the home, a fenced in yard, and no small children, as loud and fast movements still scare him.