Hi Golden Meadows Hope you’re all well.
We are so sorry for not getting in touch sooner – our lives have been turned upside down for the last 3 months when we welcomed our son (Evan) in to the world.
Our furry boy (Rufus) born on April 17 from Sally and Major’s litter is doing well. He’ll be 9 months old on Christmas Day and we are super excited to have Christmas with both boys – their 1st of many hopefully.
Rufus is a wonderful dog and has become an amazing companion and an integral part of our family. He is loving, loyal, fun and just a super dog.
Rather strangely though, he suffers from huge anxiety around sudden and loud noises in particular trucks. Not so much cars any more but the bigger vehicles. We live in the Oakland Hills and it’s a really quiet neighborhood with the odd Amazon, UPS or Fedex truck or some tree maintenance vehicles that cause him some distress. Our house has internal and external steps that lead to the driveway and he can see all of the way down when he sits at the top of the internal stairs. He has been extremely reluctant to descend them and get into the car because of the fear of any passing trucks. That has got better but only because we have sought advice from San Francisco SPCA and their behaviorist team who recommended that he take anti-anxiety medication (Zoloft/Sertraline). That seems to have calmed him somewhat as he now comes down the stairs to the car to go out for walks.
He is reluctant to go on walks around the neighborhood even though the roads are relatively quiet and instead prefers the forest trails near where we live because he can run off the leash and there is no traffic or noises. He loves the trails!
We haven’t been able to do as much training with him as we would’ve liked because of the baby arriving. Consequently he hasn’t learnt to stop jumping up on people, stealing the baby’s clothing and coming when called. We have engaged some private trainers but not for long enough to make a lasting impact. We are considering sending him to someone who can board and train him with the hope that he will come back with at least the basics. We recognize it’s not his fault as he is still a pup but as our attention is often diverted to the baby, we are unable to devote sufficient time to training him. That aside, we love him unconditionally and are so glad he is part of our lives. Here’s some photos of him as he’s progressed into a handsome dog.
Take care and Happy Holidays!!
