A Sheltered Dog

40°f/4.4°C, clear and chilly! Still very dry.

I mentioned our new dog in my last post, Pip. We got him from our county no-kill shelter. Pip was one of a litter of what they call pitti-puppies--puppies that are a cross between a pit bull and some other breed. Here's the thing: almost every single dog in there that was not a small breed was part pit. 

Apparently people who own pit bulls refuse to get the males neutered, and the result is a lot of unwanted puppies. There were 5 or 6 in Pip's litter, and several of them are still in the shelter 4 months later. Still, there are several dogs that have been there for 2 years or more! So I guess 4 months isn't that long in the scheme of things.

Pip came with all his shots, neutered, trained to a lead, knows a few commands, and was outfitted with a lead, collar, harness, and a couple toys. All this for an adoption fee of $32. Last time we adopted from the shelter was in 2009, and then it was $85, but thanks to grants and donations the cost has been drastically cut.

He has been a pretty good boy; a few accidents in the house which we expected but last night was accident-free. Yay! The one issue we are having, though, is that he is extremely afraid of Larry. This is so odd, because dogs usually adore Larry. Pip is okay with Larry petting him if Larry is sitting down but if he is standing up, it's a whole different story. What's up with that? We can only surmise that either he was so used to the all-female staff that a male scares him, or that the vet who gave him shots was a male. Do you have any ideas as to what might cause this behavior?

We are having Larry provide all the food and treats, but so far it doesn't seem to help-- unless he is sitting down to hand out the treats, of course. Beyond that, I have no idea how-to address this.

There is one other small issue: Pip is deeply attached to me. I can't even go to the bathroom by myself! It's like having a toddler,  I swear. 

It's not really a problem but I want him to be more independent.  So yesterday when we worked at our booths, we took him with us but Larry had him on a lead and took him for walks while I worked. He seemed to do just fine, and was a very good boy in the  van and around people. 

But today I had errands to do in town so went by myself and left Pip with Larry. Poor little pup hardly got off the porch all day, and was so shy of Larry that Larry couldn't get near him. Of course, if he sat down Pip would come close but not close enough to be touched. 

Pip has a lot of learning to do. This big ol' world is all new to him. It's going to take time and patience to get him to be the independent,  secure dog I want him to be. 

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