Foster Report for Andy 🐾
We had the pleasure of taking this wonderful boy on a foster for 4 days. We’d walked Andy before and knew he was a very special boy, and couldn’t wait to see more of his personality.
Andy settled really quickly when we arrived at home. He went straight out for a wee, explored his new surroundings, then settled down for a nap. We were told by Carol that Andy has some issues with separation, so we worked a lot with him to set boundaries. The first day he followed us almost everywhere, but by the next morning there was a huge improvement and this only continued. By the last day, we could be out in the kitchen, he’d be happily stay napping on the sofa ☺️ I’m sure with some work and patience he could be built up to being left for short periods, but this would need to be at his pace.
We knew Andy liked to be upstairs with us when he slept, which may be an issue for some, but we were totally fine with it. We set him up his own little bed in the hall outside our room where he slept happily. He did try a few times to sneak up on the bed, but after a “No” and “bed” he got straight down and curled up. The first night he woke a few times, plodded into our room (I think to check we were there) and went straight back to sleep. Second night he did this once, then then final night he came in, said goodnight to us (probably the cutest thing ever, he walked in, booped myself then my husband) then took himself to bed where he stayed all night.
On the second day we took Andy to Pets at Home to pick out some toys. He was AMAZING! So well behaved, not phased by the other dogs approaching him (although the rabbits caught his eye but he just watched with his ears up) and attracted quite a crowd of people who wanted to come meet him.
That night we met up with former WGW boy Bally and his pawrents and went to the pub! He was a complete gent, laid down and chilled out.
From what we have seen, Andy doesn’t seem bothered by other dogs. He and Bally got on great and when approached by a few barky dogs on walks he just carried on and minded his own business.
One thing we did learn- HE LOVES TENNIS BALLS! He loves squeaking it and bounding around the garden after the ball- and he returns it which is amazing!
He is brilliant when it comes to being house trained. We made sure to take him out every few hours and before bed. He would go all through the night from around 11pm until 7am with no problems, and we had no accidents. He was also such a good boy and came right in afterwards… which was appreciated at 11pm when it’s raining!
Andy loves his food and devours it in seconds so we are considering a slow feed bowl for him next time he comes to see if this helps. He’s insanely food motivated and this really helps when it comes to training. He picks things up really quickly and soon learnt that waiting patiently in bed = good boy and treats.
He was great in the car and naps in the back. We did a couple of journeys with him and he was totally fine and settled once we started moving.
All in all, this wonderful boy is perfect and we have totally fallen in love with him. Our plan is to try and take Andy out on more fosters to work on his separation issues and see if we can provide the right environment for him. However for anyone home all day who is willing to invest some time, patience and love in this boy, you will be rewarded with unconditional love and an amazing, doting boy who loves nothing more than to snuggle you on the sofa… and tennis balls