Syer got adopted today. Ever since I found out this afternoon, I’ve been a happy/sad mess.
It all started on Tuesday when I went in to train him. I saw a couple looking at him in his kennel. He has a sheet partially blocking his dog run since he gets a little worked up by passing traffic. The woman was smiling and talking to him softly. Part of me gets a little defensive when someone is looking at my training dog. I know it’s stupid, but you get attached and in a weird way, sometimes, for a millisecond, you don’t want them to leave the shelter. I got over that emotion and as the couple started to walk away from Syer’s run, I asked them if they wanted to meet him.
They said yes, so I set them up in one of our visitation rooms and went back to tell Syer to be on his best behavior and to prep him to come out of his kennel without getting too worked up. If you read my previous post, you know Syer “demand barks”, especially when he wants out of his kennel. He did pretty good as I approached, so I slipped in quickly and started leashing him up.
The most direct way to the visitation room would have taken us past a row of ready-to-bark dogs, so I figured it better to take the long way through the lobby and then around the back of the dog runs where a hallway would give us a straight shot at the visitation room without passing many dogs.
Syer did great, until we were almost to the visitation door where he started to back pedal and not in a good direction. He started to back pedal toward his kennel which caused us to go past all the dog runs that I tried to avoid in the first place.
It was ok though. We made it to the lobby and I psyched him up for another go around. This time, we’d turn on the treat machine and get super excited as we approached the visitation door.
We made it! But immediately I could tell he was scared by the visitation room. The thought occurred to me that he probably hadn’t been in there much. Although he’s a lovable goof to me with a squeeze-worthy blocky head, he doesn’t present well to our guests with all his barking, so being in a small room with new people was probably a little freaky for him.
I tried to cheer him up with some treats and verbal encouragement. He wasn’t taking the treats and cowered in a way that I’ve never seen him do. Slowly though, he got a little more comfortable. He came over and buried his head into me as I told the couple how lovable he really is. Not only was I telling them but I had proof to show for it.
At this point though, I thought Syer may have blown it. The couple was nice, but not very interactive with him. They gave him a lot of space and just watched. Looking back, I think this was the right move on their part since Syer really needed some time just to get comfortable with all of us and this weird room we had taken him into.
I told the couple that Syer is really awesome as soon as he gets past the lobby door. Although I wasn’t sure if they were interested in him, I invited them to go on a short walk with me as I got Syer ready for training.
Once we got in the lobby, he made a pretty quick b-line for the front doors of the shelter. That’s always ok with me as a trainer. No matter how great a shelter is, it’s still a really stressful place for a dog. Just think if you were in a human shelter and the guy next to your cage wouldn’t stop screaming. You’d rush to the door too, even if just for a brief walk.
At the front door, Syer dutifully went into a sit position without any prompting. “Great job Syer! Look at how you know you have to sit at each door,” I said. “You must have a really great trainer!” I love a chance to ham it up and take some undeserved credit that really belongs to Syer for all the hard work he put into training 🙂 Through the first doors and into the second doors, he reliably did another sit. Now Syer was truly starting to sell himself.
Outside, he got more relaxed and interacted with the couple more. Now that Syer was feeling a little better, I started to show off his sit and shake commands. Syer has a very “meaty” handshake as I call it. He gently plops his paw into whichever hand you offer and holds it there firmly without pulling it back until you let go. I told Syer, as I often did after his shakes, “If this were a job interview Syer, you’d get the job!”
The couple still seemed a little undecided. They said if they were going to adopt a dog, they would come back on Thursday. I thanked them for hanging out with Syer and getting to know him a bit. Off they went.
Back in the Dog Training Room, I told one of the behaviorists how Syer did and that the couple might be back on Thursday. Maybe they’ll come back for Syer, I said. We both hoped so, but she said it’s also not uncommon for people to say they’ll come back and they never do.
Today is Thursday and, at this moment, Syer is at the home of the couple he met on Tuesday. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
My heart is so happy and at the same time I just want to see Syer one last time. I’ve already daydreamed a few times about what it would be like to see him in town and to have a chance to get a big blocky head hug from him again.
I don’t have any recent pictures of Syer, so I’ll just wrap this post up with a picture from one of the first days where Syer seemed to open up and relax around me. I’m going to miss that handsome smile 🙂
You did it, Syer! Great job, buddy!
P.S. May you never see Russell ever again. That guy was the worst!
