Henry goes out for a beer, or two

The second night with Henry was uneventful. He came into the bedroom and found a spot where he wasn't barked at by Della or Arby. I let him out in the yard with the Danes and the shepherds several times throughout the day and he does his business and comes back in when I call him. Otherwise he's parked out behind my chair if I'm at the computer, or someplace where he can be in the way as much as possible if I'm in the kitchen. He's not eating much, but it's not a full blown German Shepherd hunger strike. 

I haven't yet left him loose in the house when I go away, mostly because I don't go away. This afternoon, however, I decided to take a drive up to Patch Brewing Co., in Gordonsville to drop in on Clay. I thought that Della would be mad if I took Maya, and Maya would be mad if I took Della, so I left them both at home and took Henry instead. 

I checked with Clay first to make sure there wasn't an overwhelming crowd of people, but he said it was fairly quiet at that point in the afternoon so off we went. I figured I could find a spot away from most folks where I could at least see them coming if they approached us and that's exactly what we did. Henry was anxious and excited to be there and left to his own devices I'm pretty sure he would have ran around, met everyone, and had a good time. That wasn't on my agenda, however. I wanted a nice calm first visit where he met only carefully selected people. 

I realized immediately that I need a better restraint system on him rather than my simple leather slip lead around his thick hairy neck. I could control him, more or less, but it often meant digging in my heels and using my body weight against his. We didn't walk around because I didn't have enough control to do that without embarrassing myself so we just picked a spot and stayed there. I had taken along a bag of treats that I was going to ask people to pass out to him if they wanted to meet him, but Henry had no interest in the treats. Instead, I just explained that he was a very new foster dog that I didn't know much about yet and that we were taking it very slow with meeting new people. Everyone responded to that very well and either admired him from a distance, or approached him slowly and carefully, listening to my caution about his sore ear(s). 

Henry was absolutely fine with everyone. He barked a couple times out of frustration with me because I wouldn't let him drag me all over so he could explore the place and meet everyone. After the first beer (mine), he became less anxious and settled down, even rolling over for belly rubs. That reminds me, Clay discovered this morning that Henry knows sit, down, and rollover, which he performs in succession as one long trick. 

It was a good first outing and I'm sure we'll do it again, but I need to teach the dog some leash manners first. Actually, what I need to do is fit him with a gentle leader and get him to accept it. That's really the only thing that will give me the control I need over a dog of his size and strength. 

His paws are enormous. 

He rolled over for belly rubs a couple times, which gave me my first chance

to look at his surgery site, and it looked good.

There are actually two bars at one end of the pavilion. 

That's Clay standing behind the bar on the right.

When we first arrived, he had nearly that same level of anxiety that he had

on his first day at our home, but the longer we were there the more he settled down.

He's bonded to me very quickly and he's very fond of Clay too.

He trusts us already and that seems to help him settle down in new situations.

Everyone remarked how good looking he was, and rightly so. 

After struggling to hold one of the biggest dogs we've ever had, 

I came home and struggled to feed one of the smallest. 

She tries to chew on the nipple of the bottle rather than suck on it.

Only when she gets into the "upward facing dog" yoga position does she 

get some proper suction action going. She holds that position by

digging her very sharp, needle-like claws into my skin.

Sojo was 2 lbs, 14.8 oz. after the evening feeding.

I'll get one more meal into her before bed. 

I hope we can get her to 3 lbs. by the end of the weekend.