Alfie 4

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Update 12/07/09: Alfie remains a dog of two personalities, the happy house dog and the unhappy out-of-familiar-territory dog. After a few odd encounters with a neighbor dog, his foster mom suspects he may have been trained on an underground fence, leading to his fear of the front but not the back yard. Each morning, Alfie is encouraged to voluntarily help retrieve the morning paper, which can be found at the end of the front walk. Most mornings, he doesn’t advance more than halfway to the street. However, one morning he noticed a neighbor dog was approaching his yard. Alfie raced towards the dog until he noticed he had reached pavement. Skidding to an abrupt halt in wet leaves, Alfie did two forward somersaults before he regained his footing and streaked back to the front door. The next time he saw the neighbor’s dog approaching, he simply ran to within a yard of the street and stopped. While not all bad, Alfie’s self-limiting range in the front yard is surprising.

Alfie’s foster family has no explanation for why Alfie is reluctant to go for walks but not car rides. They continue to take him one short block every day, which he does with head and tail down. Reminders of what a brave dog he is, and a handful of treats haven’t changed his opinion of the great outdoors. He doesn’t like cars, bicycles, or any type of vehicles going by him. He turns away from people and dogs he meets. While his foster family will continue to encourage Alfie to go for walks, he may be the ideal companion for the pet owner who doesn’t enjoy long daily walks in rain, snow, heat, and darkness.

Instead of a walk, Alfie prefers a backyard full of toys to fetch and squirrels to chase. Always ready for play, he has a Springer’s typical sense of humor. A new game is to nose a toy underneath the furniture and then whine for someone to come retrieve it. Alfie will keep this up for as long as his foster family will fetch on his command!

His recent lameness appears to have been caused by muscle pulls from an over-enthusiastic game of fetch on wet grass and cleared up with a short course of an anti-inflammatory. His hips are certifiable healthy with no dysplasia.

Alfie still has a few issues about personal handling, such as allowing his foster mom to clean his ears and give him a bath. On the other hand, he can be petted while he eats. He also will beg anyone who enters the house for attention. He is thrilled, absolutely thrilled, when the cleaning lady comes every other week (as is his foster mom, but she can’t wiggle as hard). Alfie soon should be ready for a family that will continue to reassure him that life is good.

Update 10/28/09: After a month in his foster home, Alfie has become quite the homebody. Due to his excellent house manners, he is given free run of the home, when his foster parents are there, so he can happily follow them from floor to floor and inside and out. He also loves the freedom of a large backyard and is beginning to join the resident Springer in keeping it squirrel free. His favorite activity is a game of fetch. Alfie has picked one toy from many as his and will drop it at someone’s feet then will whine and dance about until the person responds. He will keep up this game so long as his foster family is willing. Unfortunately, very active days have been followed by lameness in one rear leg in the evening, so Alfie will make a return visit to the vet’s office to have this problem checked out.

Although not a barker, Alfie does like to vocalize his feelings, such as an occasional little grumble of displeasure when his foster parents leave for work, and cries of joy when they return. He barked with worry when his foster dad climbed high up an extension ladder. Alfie also gives little excited whines while he waits for his special breakfast. Hidden somewhere inside that treat-filled breakfast is a med to help with a curious behavior. Alfie has yet to feel secure outside of his foster home. He is all wiggles of joy when he meets visitors inside the house, but he avoids contact with new people outside of the house. He doesn’t enjoy walks, and is shy, but not the least aggressive, around new dogs. His foster family hopes that this medicine will help Alfie relax and be a happy dog wherever he is.

In the meantime, his foster family continues to reassure him that he is a wonderful little guy. After a few days of daily brushing, he trusted his foster mom enough to start rolling on his back to have his belly groomed and let her work out some tangles in his long, gorgeous ears, and snip around (but not underneath) his too-fluffy feet. Alfie is thrilled when his foster dad vigorously pats him and roughs up his coat, all the while telling him what a good dog he is. Alfie still has some trust issues, but he is more than willing to return love with kindness.

More on Alfie to come.

Original: Alfie was left at a Pennsylvania shelter by the family that had owned him since he was a pup, leaving him to wonder, “What’s it all about?” As told to the shelter, his family had two boys, one age 10 and one younger. The younger boy has Down syndrome and could not understand that he should not chase after Alfie, yell at him, and hit him. For the dog’s safety, the family decided that Alfie would be better off with another family. They also said that Alfie never did anything more than growl at the boy.

Poor Alfie was miserable at the shelter. MAESSR immediately stepped up when the shelter asked for help. In a matter of days, he was pulled and transported a few hundred miles to his foster home. All of this change has been difficult for him, so he has been somewhat fearful and grumbly as he slowly settles into his new surroundings. He did not do well at the vet’s office and had to be muzzled for his shots. Alfie, however, does want to be loved and has a very endearing way of burying his head in a person’s lap, or standing between the person’s legs, so that he can get a good butt scratch.

His foster family is working hard to make this small but very beautiful little Springer feel more secure. Alfie has excellent house manners. He is both housebroken and crate trained. Inside the house, he has been very calm, even when strangers come to visit. Responsive to the commands of sit, down, off, and paw, he also walks gently on a leash. The words “In the car” get this boy running to the car door since he loves car rides.

The resident Springer has been giving Alfie invitations to play, but he has yet to respond. The two get along well, though, with no problems of sharing food or toys. They nap together on the couch until the mean mom of the house finds them and orders them both off. Such a rough life!

Alfie’s foster family has no children in it now so there has been no opportunity yet to introduce Alfie to children who get along well with dogs. Watch for an update to see how he does with children in the neighborhood.

If you are looking for a four-legged bundle of love, Alfie is waiting for you!