Many of the dogs that come up from California are not so thrilled with the northwest weather. Some refuse to move forward, others refuse to touch the wet grass and some just look miserable. It was raining yesterday so, I figured might as well see what Tulpen thinks of the soggy times.
I put his gear down while I put on my jacket. He cracks me up - do you think he likes to go for a walk?!
He has no problem what so ever with the rain or wet grass
leaves and wind don't bother him either
He says "Enough all ready, I'm ready to walk"
And he was a trooper! Tulpen was wet and dirty from the walk and a bath was needed. So, into the sink he went and 5 minutes later he was a clean, happy and tired boy!
This what the dogs look like as we get ready for work!
Just hangin out
Tulpen likes his spot, he can watch what we are doing
And then it's time to just sleep! All three dogs are still in this picture. Catty has decided to take sleeping serious and she's under the blanket on the pillow!
I've noticed a couple of times that Tulpen sleeps with his tounge sticking out - how adorable!
And here they are after dinner! All three are in this picture...
A close up of Tulpen and there's that tounge again!
Tonight we tried a new feeder called The Flower Feeder - by Kyjen. This is a new feeder at our house and I was excited to try it out! Tulpen thought it was pretty great and it took him about 10 minutes to eat 1/4 cup of food. So, a slow feeder it sure is with Tulpen. I really like this feeder and a big thanks to Tulpen for testing it out!
I've been getting requests of a side by side with Tulpen and Catty. One may think how hard can that be... Well, Catty takes a bit of time to warm up to new foster dogs and even when she decides they are ok, she still doesn't want them close to her. The only dog she allows to touch her is D'light. It's actually crazy as D'light can sleep next to her, sit on top of her, paw at her face to play and she just doesn't care. Any other dog would get a face full from her.
I was a little concerned with Catty's reaction to Tulpen given he's bigger than her and she's not fond of bigger dogs. Catty is about 13lbs, Tulpen is 14.6lbs and he's a bit taller than her. Both are stocky in build and in no way are either of them physically fragile. The great news is that there hasn't been a single issue. Tulpen has good dog skills and he quickly figured that giving Catty space is a good idea.
Here's a series of pictures with Catty and Tulpen - they are both adorable!
They clearly think I have something they may want
A little closer...
Pretty good! The both have big ears - Catty's are rounded and Tulpen's are pointed at the tips
Here's Catty "sitting pretty" hoping it will get her a treat!
Getting closer together... Tulpen's snout is longer than Catty's.
Cute dogs!
And you if are wondering how I was able to capture Catty and Tulpen... it's all reinforcing the behavior I want with a food reward. This was a nice session of working with Catty on being near a new dog (Tulpen had been in the house for less than 72 hours) where there's a positive outcome. The positive outcome was that Catty was able to experience being close to another dog and that's the experience I was reinforcing with treats. Had there been any growling or stress signals from either dog we would have ended the session. So, way to go Catty and thank you Tulpen for being such a gentleman!
This video cracked me up! Watch their eyes - having food motivated dogs is a wonderful thing!
We are finding out that Tulpen loves lots of things and that includes beds! And lucky for him we have tons of throughout our house. Tulpen spent the weekend testing out a number of beds and honestly and I think all of them are his favorite. The beds he enjoys are based on location. Which ever room we are in, he likes the bed in that area. This way he can see where we are and be part of the action. Tulpen is very much a people dog. He's doing great with Catty and D'light but, clearly he wants to be near me or my husband. Right now he's gravitates toward me since we have spent a good deal of time together and I also dole out reinforcement treats on a regular basis. He's a terrier who is super smart and is very food motivated.
Hanging out in a bed while I work on up loading all his great pictures!
Then it was time to try out the Molly Mutt bed. He's still getting use to wearing his new collar, thus the scratching of it.
Silly boy! A shake off and everything is ok."
After the falling off the bed Tulpen says "lets just pretend that didn't happen..."
Rather than feeding Tulpen out of a bowl I opted to let him try out the Busy Ball.
Everyone knows rat terriers are smart and what better way to stimulate their brain than to feed them with an interactive feeder. We have tons of different feeders and I decided to start Tulpen with this one since it's easy for the dog to be successful.
Remember that you want to match the difficulty of the feeder to the dog - so start with a easy one. You want this to be fun for your pup! Some dogs really excel at puzzles and others never move past a simple feeder and that's ok. My Catty is a puzzle master while D remains with the easiest interactive feeder possible. My goal isn't to have any dog be the best puzzle master. My goal is for the dog to have fun, stimulate their brain and build confidence.
Tulpen arrived late last night and he didn't miss a beat coming of transport. He was happy to give loves to myself and the other state coordinator. We got home and to bed we went.
We were up and 'em at 6am this morning and out for a walk Tulpen and I went. Nothing like a quiet walk to get to know each other. We walked roughly 4 miles and Tulpen did well given how new everything is to him. He certainly likes to get out and about.
Lots of new things to see and smell
New noises...
He loves to greet people! Here he sees a walked coming towards us
He's a stunning boy
Many people think that a rattie over 3 is an "old" dog. Clearly those folks haven't spent time with a rat terrier. Tulpen like my Catty (who is roughly 9yrs old) can motor a walk. In fact 3 hours after we got home, we went for another walk with Catty and D'light and Tulpen was more than happy to be out and about again.
Once we were home from the second walk it was time for a bath! I don't always give a new foster a bath so quickly but, given his temperament I was guessing he would do super.
I'm happy to say I was correct on how he'd do in the bath. He wasn't overjoyed but, he did enjoy all the massage and sweet talk. He did super so kudos to Tulpen.
Below is right after the bath! Silly, silly rattie boy...
And more Tulpen cuteness - D'light wasn't so sure what all the excitement was about
It has been a very busy day for Tulpen and he was a real trooper. After all the excitement it was time to find a nice cozy bed and kick back.
"One more picture then I need to rest"
And then it was time to take a much deserved nap. Welcome to Washington sweet boy, you will certainly be a treat to foster!
