Baxter022110

MEET:

BAXTER

STATE: CT
AGE: 5 yrs
DOB:
WEIGHT:   75 lbs
SEX: Male
NEUT/UTD: Yes/Yes
COAT COLOR: Brindle
DOCKED TAIL: Yes
CROPPED EARS: No
CHILDREN UNDER 4: Very stong for under 4
CHILDREN OVER 4: Yes
SEPARATION ANXIETY:
OTHER DOGS: Yes
CATS:
CRATE TRAINED: needs a push
HOUSE TRAINED: Yes
LEASH TRAINED:   Some
OBEDIENCE TRAINED:   Somw
MICROCHIPPED: Yes
ADOPTION FEE: $320 (includes $20 microchip fee)

UPDATE 6/6/10 - Hi, I'm Baxter. I am loving life. I've been with my new family almost 3 1/2 mths. Every day my Mom and my Dad take me outside to remind me how good I am. We do training. I love my training treats. My doctor told my Dad that I'm getting a bit heavier but that I can stand a couple of pounds. I have gained some weight you see, because I am so good--at least that is what my parents tell me. They tell me I am smart. I didn't even know how to sit when I arrived. Now I heel, sit, stay, and come when Mom or Dad says "front". I have a hard time with that when I'm distracted with other humans and dogs.
Well today my parents went out for a few hours and I stayed home with this great big beef (cow leg) bone from the butcher that was frozen. Wow was that great. It was so hot and humid outside and Mom had just brought me in from a walk and I couldn't drink enough water, so my Mom thought the cold bone would be great. It was so good that when they got back home, I greeted them, they fed me my supper, and I went back to my bone and chewed for a couple more hours. It felt real good on my teeth.
Oh yes: my teeth. Remember back in March I got 7 of my teeth pulled because I had severe dysplasia of the gums and my teeth were rotten? Well now Mom brushes my teeth and I love the toothpaste. Mom says my teeth are so white now and that my breath is so sweet she doesn't even mind a lick once in a while. Dad is always asking me for kisses. Doc says we have to keep-up that tooth brushing thing to have a healthy mouth.

Remember I had the sore on my back that was running and bleeding and looked like I had chicken pox?, Well that's gone too and I don't scratch anymore. Mom says my hair has grown back over the old sore. I have the same kind of sore on my toe, but Mom is bathing it twice a day with stuff the Doc gave her and it feels so good--I just lay there and watch her put a bandage on too. Mom says that my gigantic toenail is rubbing it and making it bleed again and again. So she wraps a clean bandage on it twice a day and it's seems like it's' getting better.

My Mom and Dad took me to a dog park. My Mom wanted to see how I would like it. I met this really small black dog and it rolled over and put 4 paws in the air. He was really nice--so I peed on him. Mom said she was mortified and apologized to the Mom. They just walked away. Oh well I just loved it: the park had a running stream, lots of dogs, lots of running room, but some dog bit me and drew a little blood so Dad says that's it for that dog park. So he takes me to another park that has a lake in it and I just wade right in and walk around and oh the great smells there.
Every week Mom and Dad cook for their daughter and family, I am learning how to be in my Mom's daughter's yard with their dog, Starr. Starr is a labrador retriever mix. I am learning how to go outside and relieve myself by following Starr through the "dog door". It's so cool and so fast to learn. Everyone complements me when they see me now. They say I am much more well-behaved. I have to continue to learn manners so I can do sleep overs with Starr. They have these two little humans that live next door. Well they are great because they are eye level to me and they stand and watch me play with toys and laugh at me. They aren't allowed to play with me too much cause I get a bit carried away and I might knock they over. They are only 3 years old. I even went on a trip to Long Island with my family to meet all the nieces and nephews. Boy did we have fun and Mom and Dad said I was well-behaved.
Well I think thats all for now. Thanks for finding me this home. I'm lovin life.
Baxter
ps. when my Mom figures out how to get pictures on here, you can see my new smile. :o)

UPDATE 4/27/10 - Well this is Baxter here. I am in a forever home now and lovin life. I get to snuggle with my new human;, I get to go on car rides a couple of times a week. I visit my new friend, Starr, a labrador retriever mix who just had surgery on her ACL AND she did a sleep over at our house. That was exciting for me to have her in our pack. But we had to leave each other alone because I had just had surgery too: on my mouth. Starr and I were very good. Starr wanted to be left alone a lot-so that was fine with me. After all I have Clancey , the cat to keep me busy. He is a good cat. I just ignore him and he doesn't need to show me that he is the boss.
I did a bad thing last week. My forever Dad took me to the doctor to get the sore on my back looked at. We pulled up to a light and I saw a dog on the leash with some human lady and I jumped out the window to play with the dog., The Human lady was very calm and nice. My human Dad was so concerned. I can't understand why. I'm a boxer I love to play. He could've played too.
Also last week a lady trainer came to our house. She was so nice. She said nice things about me and gave me lots of treats to do simple things: Like sit, stay, lay down, front.. and some other things like walking on a leash-humans call it "heel". I think my humans got trained , not me. Anyway. It was all easy stuff. But I get so excited I don't like to listen all the time. So me and my humans practice 2 to 3 times a day.
I love this stuff: the treats are just great and they pat me on my head and say "good boy" all the time. The training lady says she thinks I was trained once or I'm just very smart. I'm very smart.
My forever Mom put a sock on my left rear foot to stop me from itching a sore on my back. (don't know where the heck it came from) It works because I don't make my sore bleed anymore. My Mom washes it twice a day with some medicine the Vet gave her. It's in a spot that I can get at with my left leg. Even if they put one of those "cones" on like Starr had to wear, I could reach it. My nails are big and it feels so good to scratch. So on goes the sock. Mom says "put a sock on it boy" then she bends down and puts the sock on. I don't care though. I leave it on. I love all the attention. I just am lovin life.
So at night I go upstairs with my forever Dad and sleep in my bed. I have 4 beds in this house. Is that cool or what?   When they aren't looking sometimes (like when they are in the shower) I creep up and rest a while on the bed. I love those pillows they're cool. They tell me to get off and I do immediately but hey you can't blame a guy for tryin. I do the couch too but have to leave when they come in the room because they say "off".
Every Tuesday, we go to Starr's house. My forever MOm and Dad cook for Starr's Mom and Dad and kid, every Tuesday. Starr has a human kid in her house and she laughs at me all the time. It's hard for me to settle down when I go places. I feel a bit insecure. LIke maybe the humans will leave me, but they have a hard time getting me separated from them--Mom calls me the Velcro dog.
Today my Mom took me to her old office--she's retired. All the women there loved me. But I get a bit nervous: what if she leaves me? But I got lots of treats and I get the back seat idea better now when we go for rides. If I lay down on the back seat, I get more treats. Isn't that fun?
My Dad took me to New York to see his brother and a bunch of kids down there. I was very good. My Dad was proud of me and I love Uncle Roger's cat, Windy. She hides from me. So I get the bed all to myself. Uncle Roger doesn't care if I go on his bed. He loves me.
Okay, I gotta go for now. Sun is out and I think we will go for a training walk. Say Hi to all my transporters and to my foster Mom, Jean. Here I am signing off for now and lovin life. Baxter

UPDATE 4/20/10 - Hi everyone:
I had no idea that I was supposed to update you on our adopted dog
and bundle of joy, Baxter (our 5 year old brindle). Here goes:

Baxter is a joy and a challenge. We got him in February and he has
had some physical issues--oral issues. But now they are resolved. We
took him to our vet the day after we got him because I had recognized
when we accepted the adoption that he had some mouth issues. His
mouth was swollen and he was unable to close it entirely. Cute
looking though. He stole our hearts because he is soo sweet.
Anyway, Baxter let me put my hands in his mouth and feel around and
was good as gold about my probing. (He didn't know me from Adam).
Doctor put him on anti-biotics for 2 weeks to see if the swelling
would go down. After 10 days, we took him back because it was
getting bigger. Doc took one look at him and said "surgery is
needed). I knew that anyway. He needed at least 4 teeth extracted
from the front lower jaw and maybe more. We were ready for that.
Baxter is a strong healthy boy and we knew he'd be fine. All his
blood tests came out positive and the doctor was thinking we should
move on it as soon as possible.

Well he sailed through surgery fine. When he came home, he wasn't
the least bit groogy. He had 7 teeth extracted. And he got the rest
cleaned and polished and sealed with a sealant. His breath is quite
bad during this period but he is on" Doggy Listerine" His two weeks
convelesing are coming to a close on Friday. And on Friday he starts
obedience school.

Although he is a quick study, he has learned how to sit, stay
(somewhat),lay down (somewhat), come when he is called (pretty good),
off, but there are other commands he is a bit lax on. He sits and
stays for his food at every meal and doesn't move until we say "Take
it". We travel a lot and want him to be highly mannered when he
travels with us, His adjustment to my daughter's dog and her house
is coming around well (his home away from home-and when we are baby
sitting grandkids) is doing nicely, He now looks more handsome than
ever, and is a joy. I did fall over him and hurt my butt. You see,
I also dubbed him the "velcro dog". He is almost constantly
underfoot and I need to break him of that for both our sakes. He
knows who the food-handler is so he doesn't want to be far away. He
loves to play with toys, especially squeaky ones, and he is a
wonderful teaser. But he will also put the toy on your lap if you
don't get the playing routine.

I want to thank our foster mother for being so understanding and good
to him. It was serendipitous for us to meet.

Thank you SCBR for giving us another chance at a stellar boxer, Baxter.

2/24/10 - Baxter has been adopted!

3/1/10 - Baxter has earned full house prevailed. He just goes to his bed or couch and waits for your return. On Saturday we did a home check and although he is learning to stay off we did need to remind him numerous times, but overall I think he was a very good boy and represented himself as a very gentle and loving boy.    There was a cat in the kitchen that was not happy with Baxter but he either did not care about the cat or did not realize it was there. So, I am thinking that he would learn very quickly to ignore any cats in the house or get along with them. Again, that is just my quess.   On our walks he loves to greet people as he is very friendly, but willcontinue once you give him the directions to keep walking. He really is such a love bug
and loves to be in your lap.

2/23/10 I am not sure how long it has been since Baxter lived in a home because his first day he could not relax at all. Every minute he would get up and come over for a pat and try and get on your lap. The second day he found the couch and then stay a whole five minutes or so.   Well today he gets it or maybe he feels safe enough to take a nice nap. I can not stress enough what a sweet boy he is. We were out in the snow today playing with snowballs and he was having so much fun. Does not run away and comes the minute you call his name. I did hear that he was very vocal in the crate at the dog groomer's but that could be because of all the other dogs barking, but today I left him gated in the kitchen while I did some errands and he was fine. I even left some food on the counter just as a test and it was there when I return. My first impression is that you could give him the run of the house once he is knows your schedule and is secure in your home.

2/21/10 - Baxter arrived here this afternoon and already feels a little at home. He just wants to be in your lap. He comes here with just a few manners so we will have some things to work on like learning the word off. We took a walk this afternoon and he was very good on leash, but I must warn you that he is a strong boy and I am sure can pull if he wants to. So far nothing has gotten his interest so I will keep you posted on future walks. Baxter came to us through a shelter in PA were he must have been in some kind of fight as he ended up with stitches in his back end. They kept him till he was healed and got him updated on all shot and neutered him. So far his bathroom habits have been fine. We are off for our last walk for the night. Will let you know how our first night goes.

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