Houston through the week of November 14-19th, 2016

We have fed all the dogs together (in the same room) but it seems easier for now to feed Houston in the laundry room and our guys in the mudd room (separated by a short baby gate that noone jumps over). He doesn't have his cone on while he eats.

Houston doesn't seem picky at all regarding food- he came with some Blue Buffalo, Life Protection Formula, Large Breed Adult, Chicken and Brown Rice. We're feeding him this and adding some supplements we give our guys as a topping- a green blend formula and salmon oil, along with a green lippid mussel powder we used to give our older Weims for joints and such (to him for his old wound) - all to assist in helping his coat and general well-being.  We feed our animals a raw diet and Houston has gotten a few pieces of beef heart and chicken leg quaters/necks and gobbles it down (just saying, he'd go that route in a heartbeat).

I was a little concerned about how Ringo would take another older male dog in the house but he has been such an accepting fella (so proud of him!). He is "my boy" though and there have been a few cases of guarding me, but not much and not as much now that we've been together a week. I did let Houston on the bed one night and when Ringo came to jump up on the bed, Houston guarded him (barking loudly and lunging at him) and Ringo backed down (and everyone was ordered off the bed). That said, yesterday morning, Lola came in while I was still in bed and I pulled her up with me, and then Ringo came in and got on the bed. Houston came trotting in (with his cone on) and after a little pacing, decided he was going to jump on the bed also. Lola and Ringo were laying on me mostly, and Houston just curled up on the end that was available and we all shared the bed in peace for about half an hour (all so good).

We try to give Houston as much time without his cone as possible, but we've quickly learned that even if your eyes are constantly on him, he might try to get a lick in. It doesn't seem like a compulsive thing, but looking at how the wound heals, the skin gets dry and tight and we could see where if he moves the right way it would bother him and he'd go for it. Instead of feeling sorry for him, we just put the cone back on him for the sake of getting that wound healed up. When his cone is on, I've been putting an organic healing balm on it to help soften it as it heals and to help reduce itching (my mom says this stuff was the only thing that kept her from going insane when she had the shingles!). And btw, that wound does NOT keep him from doing anything (if you couldn't tell from the videos of him and Ringo playing). You can see how he sits a little different (that leg out a little-I'll try to get a good picture) but that seems to be because of the way the surface wound is healing and not to do with something on the inside.

Best trait he seems to have? The rapt attention he gives you with his eyes:) Have a bad day at work? Houston will listen to everything you have to say with intense attention (especially if your bad day had you reaching for a snack.....it'll prolly make everything better if you share a little with this boy). He's a leaner (meaning he'll stand next to you and "lean in" so don't move on him!), and he does like to direct you with his snout. He does get mouthy during play and so I try not to get him riled up and let him and Ringo take it out on each other. He was previously living with a 2.5 year old and as long as no one was screwing around, I could see where he would be a-ok with the rugrats. Second best thing about Houston? The fact he's 7 and not 2. He is at that perfect age where he still likes a good romp, makes an excellent running/walking buddy, but he doesn't NEED this stuff 24/7. He's fine chilling in the house but ready when you're feeling more adventurous. I already mentioned he rides well in the car. He does pull on the leash (not constantly) but listens to you (except when there are cats involved and I'm guessing other little darting creatures) and corrects. He learns - we have chickens and yes he was on point with them and yes he wanted to go after them and I did let him once.....right into the electric fence that surrounds them. He remembers that fence. I guarantee those chickens are not safe from him if they're outside that fence though.

He sits well next to his new buddy, Ringo:

He curls up nicely in the bathroom while his human showers:

I must add that he also has the genetic predisposition to automatically start licking the air when that human busts out the body lotion (what is that about dogs??). I mean it's even before I put any lotion on!

Speaking of genetic predispositions, he has little to no immunity to the power of the deathray. He'll even make himself small enough to fit in the only available one:

Here he is in the living room with his cone on. This isn't just a single soft cone, his previous owner had to get tricky with it and sew another cone onto that one to make it long enough for him to not be able to get at the wound on his leg. It's held on by another collar that's looped through the base of the cone. He can get to water with this thing on (and cats - there was another near miss this morning - Cat is determined to be back in the house (not surprising) and got out of the barn office by darting through legs and then snuck up to the front door and darted in the house with Houston in the front room - again, all were separated without harm, although Jim was the human around at the time again and his blood pressure is suffering from the shock - he likes both Cat and Houston and it sucks that Houston won't allow to have the cats around):

And here he is by my desk last night as I wrote about him on the blog. 

And here are more videos of how well Houston gets along with the other pups in the house. I think he would do very well by getting to go to (always supervised) play dates to stay socialized with other dogs and get to play and get his rough-housing on! He likes play with other dogs much better than a game of fetch, although he'd love to have his own Kruuse cube and a few good bones to chew on by himself (see the links before to see his specific recommendations on toys - he asked I add this one also).