Luke

Luke

Poodle/Terrier Mix

 

Luke

 

Luke

 

Luke

 

 

Luke's new human writes:

He's nailed himself to my side and he seems happy.
He's not much of a licker, though, unlike most other dogs I've known :)

He likes sleeping on the tile floor most of all and he pants while he sleeps anywhere else, so I think he feels hot a lot. He likes sitting in my lap when I'm in a chair, but he pants the whole time. He definitely doesn't like being outside in the heat of the day. He never asks to go out, and won't go out his doggie-door, but he'll come back in through it.

October 23 Update!!

Luke's become a huge favourite at the dog park, with both dogs and people. He's always socialised great, but he took a few weeks to figure out how to play. First he picked up "chase" and then learned to wrestle. In typical Westie fashion he attracts more attention from the big dogs than the small, and he likes them better, too. His "best friend" is an English Lab named Toby who's the champion wrestler and is about three times Luke's size in every dimension and I'm sure out-weighs him by more than that. Luke always wants to wrestle, but he has trouble getting Toby interested. He tries to leap onto Toby's back and everyone simply cracks up with uncontrollable laughter.

Last week Luke finally had a chance to see what he was doing to Toby. A long-haired teacup Chihuahua (Alex) about a third Luke's size started behaving the same way Luke does to Toby, and Luke couldn't figure out why this little tiny thing wanted to wrestle so badly. It was very funny, but we all agree Luke didn't learn a thing :). He's one of the most dominant dogs at the park, but not in an obnoxious, mean, or cruel way. He simply radiates self-confidence, and is charming about it. There are several regulars who work in vet practices, and they say he's one of the most-composed dogs they've seen, and they're constantly complimentary.

He still has no interest in toys, or "tug", or "fetch", but rawhide chewies always get him going. I've been able to simply keep his food bowl full, and he eats only about the recommended amount each day, so he's even low-maintenance in that way. I move his crate from next to my desk to next to my bed when we start and end the day and he spends the night on my bed or in his crate next to it, as he chooses. He still loves napping on hard surfaces or in his crate most.

One of my usual nicknames for him has become "the furry alarm clock". My real alarm goes off at 0345 on workdays, so he gets to go back to sleep for another couple of hours, mostly in his crate, once we go downstairs. On weekends, though, I'm lucky to stay in bed until 0630. When the sun comes up, whatever day of the week, he knows it's time to go for a walk and he goes bonkers. He calms down nicely before I'll open the door and behaves himself very well once we're out, though. We walk anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes, depending on my schedule, but on weekend mornings we spend a couple hours at the dog park as well.

Now that the weather's changed he loves going out the doggie-door and napping on the deck, in the sun, near the pool. He has no interest whatsoever in swimming, which will keep him out of both lake and pool, so it's both good and bad at the same time. He's a great watchdog and always lets me know, but only with a single small "woof", that there's a boat going by, and then he runs out to make sure we're not facing an amphibious landing or something...

I think that's the highlights, and thanks again for finding him for me.