| 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.
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