Update on Max and Patton

[weber1b]

I have not been on this site much lately as I have been much busier, but I wanted to give an update on my pack. Many of you remember Max, who I pulled out of a shelter in Whiting Indiana, and Patton, who was abandoned at a vet in Atlanta. I found both of them on this forum. The original threads are;

ADOPTED: Whiting, IN shelter male needs rescue

Acworth, GA-Stunning GSD abandoned at vet office

Max



This fella has been both a challenge and a treat to have. We have spent more money on him than I would ever have imagined that I would on any animal, but he has such a fun personality that he pays us back most every day. He has had one hip operated on and while his skin has cleared up tremendously, his hair is still very thin and we have to bath him weekly or he just gets greasy. The dermatologist helped to some degree, but .......

Our biggest dissapointment with Max is he still is aggressive with dogs outside our group. He would have so much fun running with other dogs, and would give us more opportunities to mix with other folks that I wish we could get him past that. He does great with Clover and he and Patton are now totally fine together. Problem used to be, Max would start something, Patton would finish it and one or both would have blood on them. He loves ball chasing still and his favorite toy is this big hard plastic ball given to us by a co-worker that Max loves to bite at and push around the back yard. He also likes to just lay down in the grass and just looks at peace when he is out in the back yard. He is the first one to go to bed at night and goes right to his blanket and will stay there all night. As I have mentioned before, he is a talker and lets us know all about it if we have been gone a couple days. Best thing is after one year, he finally stopped chasing the cats and they now have run of the house again. He likes to stick his nose in their business and gets a face full of cat paw. Its fun to watch now that we know he is going to harm them.

Patton



Patton is an amazing and challenging dog. By himself, he is generally very obedient and fairly easy to walk. He is very athletic, loves to ball chase and runs, not trot back with it like the other two. He is also very strong, which is where he sometimes gets challenging. He is dog friendly, unless the other dog shows ANY agression and then he is ready to go. That's one of the reasons we first had to be so careful with he and Max. Now Max can pull at his collar while Patton is laying down and there is no issue.

He is also very protective which has been a problem because if he feels there is a threat, he bites. Fortunately, he uses the Shepherd inhibited bite and does not break skin, but a problem nonetheless. People who are used to Clover and Max being very approachable have tried to approach Patton. We stop them, make him sit, converse with or shake hands with the person and then Patton no longer sees them as threats and he is then fine. We also have to be careful when folks come over to the house. My brother in law popped in the front door at Christmas without letting us get Patton and Patton grabbed him. After he got over the shock, he then took Patton for a walk and told us NEVER get rid of this dog. He was impressed enough with Patton he would like to take him, but he and my sister just don't lead a life that is conducive to having a dog. If we are going to have a lot of folks in and out, we cage him. We had him out at Thankgiving and Christmas though with lots of family over. Once he meets whomever is in the house, he is good and loves the attention. My youngest son, who is 18, can do anything to him and he just eats it up. We have also spent a lot of time on the issue, we just make sure we don't let our guard down.

When we originally brought him here, we weren't sure if we would be able to keep him and after some of our original challenges, we're planning on placing him through our rescue group. However, he has now been here long enough, and is working so well with our other two, that he is staying. Watching him bound around the backyard when we go out to play, chasing the ball in the school yard and just hanging out, he is a fun dog to have around. I think he used to potentially be an outside dog as he loves to just hang out outside, even when no one else is out. He loves to be combed (unlike Clover) but HATES to get his nails trimmed (shepherds can be such babies). We just have to always remember who he is and what he is capable of.

And while these two are the ones who came to us from the forum, we don't want to forget our original rescue dog who took us down this path in the first place. She is still our princess and while she lets the boys go through the door before her and will sometimes defer in tug of war, she is still the boss of the pack and let's them know when they forget.

Clover



I'll try to keep the updates coming and do more pictures. I also need to get a video of Max with his big purple ball, it's a riot.

[BowWowMeow]

I remember your dogs very well. Thanks for the update and glad to hear things are working out between the three of them.

[bianca]

That is a great update and I have to say all three of them are beautiful

[Stosh]

Very beautiful dogs! Great story, thanks for the update

[Whitedog404]

What a lovely family you have. All dogs are pretty great, but there is certainly something a little more special to me about those we rescue.

[Anja1Blue]

Yes, I do remember those guys especially Max - and was stunned to see that his original post was almost 2 years ago - time is flying by. Sounds like you have a good handle on making it all work! Thanks for rescuing, those are 2 lucky boys!
______________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge