Oh it's You

I see a dog. I smell a dog. We're walking straight towards it and fosterpops just lets me steam right ahead. What? Fosterpops does his 'jolly' voice. Oh it's Humphries. No big deal. We walk back to their house and I play with him and Bella - it's our weekly playdate. There's talk of us coming over just to meet Humphries outside again mid week to get me used to the idea that dogs on the street aren't all bad.

Table Manners

I've learnt some nice table manners. I wait on my bed till dinner is served. Then I go into a down position and wait until I get the ok. I do the down thing without asking now and I make sure to wait. Last week I lost my head a little ( I was hungry) and didn't wait for the ok. Lawd. Everything went back into the kitchen and we started over in s.l.o.w motion and I had to wait even longer. I do drool a little while waiting which, although unacceptable by human standards- fosterpops says its perfectly fine for a french bulldog and he takes it as a compliment to the chef. Licking the plate clean is also fine.

Playdate

Had another playdate with my old foster buddies Humphrey and Bella and it was a lot of fun. It was bewildering to fosterpops how well we got along, we exchanged bones, took turns in chewing them, no snarkiness, no possessiveness- just good natured romping around. OK there was a tiny bit of humping. So I can still get along really well with some dogs- just not all dogs, yet. He says this is going to be a regular weekly playdate as I seem to be a little better on the street the next day. Yay.

Motivated

The things I will do for 4 little slices of banana stuffed in a kong. Fosterpops is tricky, he's discovered my achilles heel is novelty. I don't just like Mackerel treats like we had 3 days ago or the Beef and Liver ones that we had today. He knows, to get me motivated, I like - change. He'll mix it up, slices of Banana here, a little cheese there. The other night while we were practising responding to my name at home, I got licks out of a small bowl with ice cold kefir. Delicious. It was all over my nose, I loved it. When he comes out of the kitchen I'm like where do you want me -sitting? in the crate? on my bed?- no problem. When we are outside, I can get a little more particular. Sometimes I get so verklempt by those dogs that just come out of nowhere, I actually refuse a treat. But that's happening less- its' hard to say no to the new flavors and I'm kinda getting a little less worked up.

Keeping it Loose

I'm a puller- in transition. I used to be a surging ahead maniac. I get it now, I speed up, fosterpops slows down and even stops and (I hate this) we may even go back the other way and start over. And then there's the "hey Revo, look!". Over and over. Just as I am getting all hopped up about some crazy cat scuttling under a car. Wait, where was I, what, huh? - it just messes with my concentration. I guess that's the point. The good news is, I enjoy our long walks and the extra treats are sweet. Am I completely reformed- no. Is there still a lot of slowing down and verbal direction like 'easy'- yes. Is it getting better and better every day? Oh yeah, I'm keeping it loose, most of the time.

The Shriek

I had my evaluation by my trainer Jenny. The good news is that I'm really great at home, very friendly to visitors and people in general. Even better news is that we went to visit Humpries and Bella who I used to live with at my previous foster home - and it was great. I was very well behaved and had fun with my old buddies.

Not so great was my reaction to dogs on the street. Jenny watched how I responded to a few different ones carefully managing the situation, tried a few different things and finally she let me ahem just let it all out with this one dog just to see what I would do. As you can see, I got some operatic chops.

But that was over a week ago, and things have progressed a lot, I'll keep you posted all about that- the video above- that's going to be the old Revo. There's a new Revo that's working hard and long to be less of a hot head. In fact today I looked at a pit bull across the street and I just did like a tiny little whine. I get treats for keeping my cool- which is cool.

My First Week

Back in the big apple. Sadly, my adoption didn't work out. After a quiet low key week, I am adjusting well. Fosterpops works from home so there's lots of company and we take two long walks a day. We're working on stuff. I learnt how to a 'down' and getting all riled up about a squirrel is apparently not ok which somehow ends up with me doing a sit. I get lots of treats for doing this so its a fair trade. That's it for now, have to go take a nap.