28 June

Gus’s Travels: A First Week Unlike Any Other

by Jon Katz
Gus’s Travels

Gus has had a first week unlike any other first  week. He has been all over time, been hugged by hundreds of people, ran around the refugee retreat at Pompanuck until he crawled into his crate for rest. He seems to be housebroken – two small accidents during the week (due to our distractions), he rides in the car, runs into his crate, sleeps through the night, has not caused a minute of sleeplessness, does not complain when left alone.

Gus has been socialized beyond the experience of any dog I have ever had or known, and has begun his work as a therapy dog at the Mansion Assisted Care Facility, where he has made two very joyous visits.

He adores Red and follows him around, he and Fate are still wary of one another – Fate steals his toys and keeps hers guarded under the dining room table. Red is a generous spirit, Fate not so much.

We took him to the retreat with a bunch of hyper-active teenagers the last few days and he had a  blast running around them, going over to a towel to sleep when he was tired. He is a curious and loving spirit, and we are delighted to have him. The vet say she is in perfect health and asks that we keep him away from other dogs and most people for another five or six weeks. She admits he will not be kept away from people, but we are keeping him away from other dogs.

I’ve been compiling some training tips I want to share with people, and I’ll do that later this week, once the retreat is over. Gus is a rock star on the Internet, for sure. I am focusing my next book on him, it will be called: “Gus And The Small And Big Lessons Of Bedlam Farm.”

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