A bit of a breakthrough at work with the barking!! Clark is back in the kennels and is settling with a lot less barking! I have had him up in the kitchen for a few days and he had settled so we have moved him back to kennels for most of our day at work together. I hope he now believes that I am still there, I haven't left him and he doesn't need to worry. He is a sensitive little soul.
Something that I have learned from fostering, or I should say something I have had confirmation of, is that rewarding what you want from a dog and ignoring what you don't want works. Clark now knows that he should wait before leaping out of the boot until he hears our release word, he has picked it up without any 'formal' training. We just always use the wait command and the release command (OK) for every time we go in or out of the boot and he has picked it up. His recall is improving too and he is more and more reliable coming back when asked. All our friends who have studied dog behaviour, formally or informally, will know all the things we do has a direct impact on the dog and we can undo improvements so easily by not thinking through all our actions and directions to our charges. I have learned so much having Clark here.... from my girls reactions to him, from friends support and help, from reading more about behaviour and training and I am so grateful to Terrier SOS for giving me this opportunity to have Clark as our foster boy.
This fostering business is hard, rescue is hard, both emotionally and physically. I have always supported rescue but until we had Clark I didn't really appreciate how much it takes to have dogs come into your home and into your heart! He is just such a treasure and absolutely worth every bit of extra work but we have to work every day around all three dogs needs.... I am cautious about leaving him with my girls unsupervised (I am not worried about him, more about Wena eating him!!) Clark therefore has to come to work with me and that means his cage need maneuvering, medication needs to be taken with us, food needs to go, trainers and coats for a walk at lunchtime and lunch for me that takes less then 10 mins to eat as Clarks needs come first. Walks at home have to be managed as Clark cannot walk as far as my two and he really only needs just two 30 minute walks a day whereas my girls are used to having more. Feeding time needs managing as Clark has special Urinary food and Wena wants his and he wants Wena's! Bedtime is easy, the girls have always slept on our beds but Clark has never even attempted to get up, his bed is by my side and he is very happy to be snuggled up down there in his bed, warm and happy.
If you have never fostered but would like to then please don't read the above as a complaint it really isn't, I would do anything to make Clarks time with us right. Read it more as an indication of the ways your life changes without you realising by how much to accommodate a little life in need of love and attention. It is an absolute pleasure having Clark here and I cannot recommend fostering highly enough so if you would like to take plunge then fill in a fostering form and go for it!
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