Seth

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Update 11/12/04: This pup has made tremendous progress. Seth will graduate next week from basic obedience training where he was the star of the class. He’s mastered “sit” and “down” and is working hard at “stay” and “drop it.” The house kitty appreciates his skill at “leave it” when he’s given treats on the rug in front of the sink. Seth will come when called and never ventures far away from his people.

Seth’s foster parents have been taking him to the dog park several times a week to socialize him. At first, he was so scared that he’d simply park his butt on his mom’s shoes. When he finally ventured off the sneakers, he’d run around barking and growling. Now he’s stopped barking except when he gets real excited, his growl is much more muffled, and he looks like he’s actually enjoying himself. Seth loves to chase and be chased, and is learning how to play with other dogs. The ball and Frisbee are his favorite toys and he’s become quite adept at catching both if he gets a good throw. Seth gets many compliments at the dog park for being such a handsome, smart dog, and rightly so! He’s a real looker and longs for a forever home where he can be safe and spend his days pleasing his family.

Update 11/14/04:

Seth continues to make progress in his foster home. He has become quite adept at Frisbee and is learning to control his barking. To accelerate his behavior modification, Seth’s foster parents recently enrolled him in an 8-week Obedience Training class, which he will complete in January. At that point, Seth should be ready to go to his forever home!

Update 9/29/04:

Seth came into rescue with absolutely no training. He’s slowly made progress, but remains needy and insecure in some ways. That, combined with his being extremely hyper, have made him a real challenge in his foster home.

Seth is doing some things very well. His foster parents have housebroken him and taught basic commands. He has learned to walk on a leash. He’s almost dangerous to run with, however, because he tends to weave from side to side. He wants to run extremely fast and comes to sudden, unexpected stops. Both of his foster parents have taken tumbles as a result.

Seth is getting better about not jumping up on people, but still needs improvement. He just can’t seem to control himself. The good news is that his foster parents can tell he’s beginning to think twice before he does it!

This guy didn’t seem to have a voice during the first months in his foster home, and then, he discovered his vocal cords! As Seth has gained some security, he’s begun to bark and has a shrill voice……not typical of a male springer! At first, he barked only when he’d get excited, usually when he thought he was going for a walk or to play fetch. Shortly afterwards, he started barking when he’d hear noises and felt that his new home or foster parents were threatened. Then, he began barking when his foster parents would pull into the driveway. His foster parents are continuing to work on this with him.

Seth still loves to chase butterflies. He continues to get along well with Maggie, Lucy, and Percy Kitty, although, Lucy has to be protected from him. Seth has knocked Lucy, aged 11 and very arthritic, flat several times. He has been a good playmate for Maggie. They enjoy playing tug of war with a rope and chasing critters in their yard. Although he’s afraid of a garden hose, Seth still loves water and swimming.

Seth’s real strength is his absolutely wonderful disposition. He’s never growled at another person and will let people take things from him freely. He loves to cuddle and has a need to be extremely close to people. Being in their laps or literally on top of them works for him. He’s a real sweetheart and will be a great companion for the right adoptive family.

Original:

Seth is a handsome two-year old black and white Springer that came to us when his family moved and took the kids and cats, but left him behind. Go figure! Needless to say, Seth came to us heartbroken and in need of attention to recover from the trauma of losing his family. His physical condition and behavior indicated that he may have been left alone for long periods of time without food. He was starved for attention and very thin.

He continues to want to go everywhere with his new mom and dad, to the point of not wanting to go outside or into another room unless you are right there with him. If he thinks you are simply going to put him outside and stay behind, he will grab your clothing and pull you along. He does not want to be left alone.

Seth is so full of love that he can almost talk to you about it. He yearns to cuddle…anywhere and anytime. He would love to sleep in your bed or lay on your lap (even though he’s much too big for most laps!), but so far, his foster parents have insisted that he stay off the furniture. They do cuddle a lot with him on the floor, however, and that makes Seth so happy.

Seth came to MAESSR with no medical history. He was extremely thin and had a very stinky, matted coat. He had been an “outdoor dog” before living in the animal shelter for almost two weeks, and much of his hair hadn’t seen a brush or the light of day for….probably ever.  After a thorough bathing and grooming, you’d hardly know he was the same boy! He has a gorgeous, soft, curly, and shiny black coat with big white booties, a glistening white tummy that he loves to have rubbed, and a dashing little white beard on his chinny chin chin. He will be an extremely handsome, big boy when he gains some weight and grows into his huge paws. Seth is still thin but is now eating well and gaining weight. He has good skin and passed his initial physical with flying colors except for one small detail: he hadn’t been neutered. Now that has been taken care of, and he is completely up to date on all of his vaccinations.

Seth doesn’t just have good looks, he also has lots of “puppy” energy. He absolutely loves to play ball, especially if the ball happens to squeak. The remarkable thing is that he will actually bring the ball to you to throw again instead of insisting on playing “chase me now!” Seth also loves soft toys. He has adopted his foster sister’s teddy bear (which she never really liked) and enjoys giving Teddy a good shake as he prances around the house. Seth also has an extremely gentle mouth. He is gentle with children and loves to give soft kisses, and not just to humans. He enjoys kissing other dogs and even the resident cat. His favorite “hobby,” if not playing in water, is definitely chasing butterflies. He absolutely loves to run and jump and try to catch them!

Seth has adapted amazingly well to Lucy and Maggie, his foster parent’s two female ESSs, who are ages 4 and 11.  Lucy and Maggie have assumed the role of patient and understanding mothers with this young, high-energy boy.  They have all gotten along extremely well, with only a few minor “spats” that were instigated by Queen Lucy.  Even Percy, the resident tabby cat, is adapting well to the new boy on the block.  He introduced himself to Seth after only a day and thoroughly enjoys Seth’s sweet kisses on his ears and rear end.

Seth went to his foster home with pretty good social manners.  He rarely counter surfs and raids the trash, and behaves himself at parties and with unfamiliar people and animals.  At his first outdoor barbeque, he didn’t beg and surprisingly was found lying on “his rug” in front of the sink while everyone was on the deck eating.  He has learned to walks and run on a leash, how to sit and lay down, and is working on the oh so difficult “stay.”  Seth loves water and spends most of hot summer afternoons in the little watering trough that his foster parents fill each summer for their Springers.

Unfortunately, he loves water so much that he sometimes plays in his water bowl, inside and outside.  He also loves to chew, and so far has politely restricted himself to rawhide bones and chew toys and not his foster parent’s shoes.  Whenever he’s found a shoe, he’s promptly taken it to his foster mom so that she could put it away.

Because Seth was an “outdoor” dog, he came to his foster home in need of basic potty training.  His foster parents think that he’s almost ready to graduate since he hasn’t had a mishap in some time. Because he loves to drink (water!) and is still working on learning how to ask to be let out, a key right now is to let him out often, which seems to work! have slowed and he’s calming down much more quickly. >

This sweet dog has the obvious potential to be the best friend anyone could ever have!  He’s handsome, smart, happy, loving, and eager to please. All he needs is a family to return the love!