Sam is playful. I guess he’s probably about 2 years old. he interacts well with my black 55 lb. bully and my male chorkie who weighs 8 pounds. He has slightly nipped the chorkie, once on the eyelid, and once on the neck. Superficial wounds both times. The Chorkie is confrontational with Sam so he pushes it. Sam is not confrontational with either dog, He is extremely attached to me and wants all my attention. He doesn’t always get it because I give the other two attention and he accepts that pretty well. He is very friendly with strangers if introduced by me. He is a great watchdog with a very strong bark with people I have not introduced. Only once did he snap and snarl at my plumber who is a pretty shady character, so I was not unhappy about that. Otherwise, he is very friendly with men and women. He is frightened of loud and/or unexpected noises. Since he was a stray for so long, he is shy around certain behaviors he thinks are threatening. He is really kind of a big baby. I think it would be best if Sam were an only dog because he is such a love bug and needs so much affection. He definitely needs an owner who is able to cuddle with him. He loves to be touched and have his head and face stroked. He also needs an owner who will give him plenty of exercise and mental stimulation. In Toas I live in the country so when I’m able to, we go on long walks, and he gets to sniff a million smells. He loves it. I walk him on a leash, and recently I have started dropping the leash for short periods of time. I reward him for returning when I call his name with a tiny bit of hotdog. He’s not 100% returning yet. But has made a good start with that. I have never trained a dog, so I’m probably not using the best methods. I’m concerned that it may take a bit of time for him to transition to a new owner. Although he did attach to me pretty quickly. But when I got him, he was not neutered, was used to doing what and going where he pleased and he has come a long way from being a pretty wild dog to being a dog who prefers being inside and being content that his needs will be met.
I love Sam so much and will be extremely sad to let him go but it’s not fair for him to not get the training and exercise be needs nor advantageous for me to be constantly overwhelmed by such an active dog plus two more. On really bad days when I can’t walk him at all, I give him 100 mg trazodone. Sometimes I give him one in the morning and one at bedtime. But when he has been given plenty of walks, he doesn’t need it. I have had one volunteer dog walker and another that I paid and then I would do it occasionally and that was really good but my one that I paid quit doing it plus I really can’t afford it on my fixed income.
