Thanksgiving Weekend!!

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend with Travis and the dogs. It was great to spend four days with everyone!

Travis was a very good boy for his first Thanksgiving and he spent most of Thursday hanging near me in the kitchen, watching me cook and waiting for crumbs to fall :) 

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were full of hikes and walking the trails. We tried to take everyone to the Town Lake Trail, but Travis is not quite ready yet. He is still really young, and was getting VERY excited to meet all the dogs that were walking by. Instead, we went on the Greenbelt, where everything is a bit more mellow :) 

Travis is a pretty active boy, and does the best when he gets enough exercise and mental stimulation. He will do best in an active home- not really run 10 miles a day active, but a home where he gets at least a good hour of outside/walking/ ball playing. By the way- Travis is learning how to play ball! He is pretty good. He has not quite mastered "dropping it" yet, but he is coming really close. 

My favorite Travis moment was in the middle of the night one night- I got up to get some water. Travis was sound asleep in his crate and he looked so peaceful. It just made me really happy, because he looked so content to be in a safe place :)

Travis had his second bath on Sunday. Here are some pictures of him in the tub! He does really well and for the most part- even stays still while his medicated shampoo sits on his body for 5 to 10 minutes. 

Picture of Travis Playing with his Toys!

The First Week

Travis is sweet, young border collie mix. He was found in the country, beat up from neglect, skinny and had bad skin infections. He was taken to Town Lake Animal Center and was put on the list to be put down. That's when ADR stepped in and pulled him from the shelter, and placed in a foster home- a safe place where he can heal while finding his perfect forever home. 

Travis has generalized demodicosis- a type of non contagious mange that infects the body with patchy fur, skin infections, bald scaly skin. The bacterial infection makes this a very itchy (and smelly!) skin issue. Right now, Travis has a medicated"spa treatment" bath every 4 days and takes medicine to help his hair to grow back and make him more comfortable.

We have had Travis since Tuesday evening and he is doing great! He is already housetrained, cratetrained and has good house manners. He is a chewer, but as long as he has lots of chew toys and kongs to play with, he has not chewed on anything that is not his. It is obvious that he is not used to being handled, and he is "mouthy" when I try to pet his back- but is already doing better with that, and we will be working with "touch- treat" over the next week. During his first bath on Wednesday, he did really good- and stayed still while I soaped him up. He is a stinky boy right now, and I can't wait for his hair to start to grow back! 

Yesterday was Saturday, the first day that I got to hang out with Travis for the entire day. I took all three dogs to a field near the house. Travis liked running around, but he stayed close to me. The exercise was good for him, but he is limping on his back leg- so we will be going to see Dr. Blatt next week about that, and so he can check his progress on his skin. 

So far, he is a really SWEET boy and seems very grateful for a safe place to begin his transformation. With some good food, medication, training and LOVE-this boy is going to be KNOCK OUT soon!