Bear - 1 Week Update
Bear, the almost three year old chocolate Lab, arrived at his Forever Home one week ago. Bear lost his first dad in a tragic accident in January and had a difficult time until he recently spent two weeks in a very loving NEARR foster home and attached himself to his foster mom to the point where he followed her into the shower.
Now, upon arriving at his new home, he has attached himself to me, Big Boss, like Super Glue covered Velcro. He won’t let me out of his sight except when his new mom is around. He suffers from separation anxiety and at first, would not eat or even take treats. In a short week, he has come around to where he is eating regularly and starting to feel comfortable in his new environment.
He enjoys riding in Big Boss’s pickup truck and going to hiking trails by the brook, always secured on a long retractable, cloth leash. He has a reputation as an escape artist. He does have issues meeting other dogs but we are working through that by walking down back roads with other dog owners and their dogs that are on opposite sides of the road. We will continue that practice and introduce him slowly. He had issues with one resident dog here that was a friend of the family and it happened the very first day he arrived when he was full of anxiety and confusion. Bear did not have issues with other dogs at his foster, as they had three dogs. Perhaps he is still confused about where he belongs and whom he can and can’t trust, but, as I mentioned, we are working through that.
He will attend a beginner’s obedience class starting very soon and we will address that issue there. We will schedule a vet appointment as soon as we get his records from NEARR. He is great with people and also our four-year-old granddaughter, although we are on guard to not allow a situation to develop if we can help it. Bear is like a giant teddy bear, wanting to please and just loving any and all attention that he can muster up. Once he settles in he will be a fantastic friend and family member.
We’re very happy to have had the opportunity to adopt Bear after losing our beloved NEARR dog, Duke Skywalker, a month and a half ago to cancer. Duke arrived eight years ago on Memorial Day and Bear arrived on Memorial Day this year. We know that Duke would approve of and want us to give Bear the same kind of home that he shared with us and the fact that they came to us on the exact same date, eight years apart, is not, in our opinion, just a coincidence.
Many thanks from Bear, his new mom and Big Boss, for all the wonderful work that all of the NEARR volunteers do to help dogs such as Bear find new Forever Homes. You folks are the best!
