Artie (Arthur)

Artie was a stray at a local shelter. He was completely shut down, would sit in the back corner of his kennel and not look at anyone. Dogs like that don't fare well in shelters and often don't get out. They are so scared that they don't show well and consequently never get adopted. It's for dogs like this that fostering can mean the difference between death and a new life. 

Artie is a young neutered male, probably between 1-2 years old. He's a young one, but is past the puppy stage, although he missed out on some the lessons he should have learned as a pup. He is still somewhat fearful of strangers and acts as if he's never known a kind touch from an outstretched hand. He took a couple of days to fully warm up to me, but now he's attached to me. We've only had one visitor to the house since he arrived, but he took to her very quickly.

The first time in the pasture I kept two leashes on him, one being a long line in case he decided to run. By that time he was already pretty attached and I didn't need to worry about him running off. He can get out of almost any enclosure if he wants to, however. I have been crating Artie at night and he doesn't really care for it. He escaped from one crate in the office. When I put him in a more secure one at night, he just fussed until I let him out. Last night I just brought him upstairs to the bedroom and he spent the night there without incident. He also escaped from Daneland when I left him out there on the second afternoon he was here. Fortunately that meant he was still within the fenced pasture. I went out to find him and was very happy when he came right to me once I spotted him. He can get out of the a/c yard too, but he will come back inside when I call him. To make a long story short, don't trust him off leash or out of sight even in a fenced yard until he's bonded to you.  

What can I say? I really like him. He took to Callie right away and seemed to like the company of an older dog. She gave him a feeling of security I expect. His house manners have been excellent, no accidents, no marking. I took him hiking with Maya on Saturday and then they spent several hours together on Sunday roaming around the yard and the pasture as she was showing him around. Artie is available for adoption through Green Dogs Unleashed.

Artie and Maya heading out on their first hike together.

He wasn't bad on the leash, no pulling, although he did wander from side to side quite a bit.