Since it's been a week since Padre came in, I thought I'd do an update.
Things are going well for the most part. There are a couple of issues. One serious. One not so serious.
First the serious one.
For the last several nights, we've made an attempt to include Padre in the evening "plate licking." That's where everyone gets a chance at a final plate after our dinner. Sometimes it's rice. Sometimes it's soup. Sometimes it's a little bit of what's left over.
We didn't try this until he'd eaten a full meal since I knew food aggression might be a problem. For three of four nights, there's been a varying amount of conflict between him and one other dog. We were always able to make sure he only had one dog to compete with (and never Aggie since she's a piggy eater). The first night he lunged at Skeeter. The second night, he was fine. Last night he growled at Haley. Tonight he nailed her...or would have if I'd not been right on top of them waiting.
So that's it. No more including Padre in the plate lickings. He's just fine around the others if he's handed something, but he turns into a jackass when he free feeds. I had told Randall I would give him one last chance. That was tonight and he failed it. I won't endanger the other dogs.
The other thing, which is not so serious is his possessiveness. It's completely understandable, though it's not allowed. Mainly it's growling. I've never let it go past that, but he's never shown much interest in anything beyond that. It's also happening less and less frequently, so I suspect in a week or so it won't be an issue.
Beyond those two things, he's an absolute doll.
We're still brushing and working on his coat. It seems to be improving. He's still itchy, but between the bath last Sunday, the grooming, and good food, it's making progress. Hopefully within a month we'll see the dead/dying coat come out and be replaced by healthy shiny coat and good skin.
Randall also took Padre for a walk today. With the cooler weather, Padre has a ton of energy, and he was going out in the backyard every chance he could. Since Haley has declined over the last several months, we knew her days of keeping Randall company on long walks were over. She's pretty much limited to the shorter ones. But Padre has taken on that role happily. He went for a nice long walk this morning, and Randall said beyond teaching him to heel, he's just fine. Nothing bothers him. He won't go for the night walks until Randall is comfortable that he's steady on heel, but that shouldn't take long.
He has an appointment Monday morning with Dr. Walthall. He's in good shape, but he is going to need his teeth cleaned, and I want her to see him before hand so she can do blood work and check him out. I would like a heartworm test done just for the records, and I want her to check him out good. Then we'll schedule the dental.
Other than the two problems I mentioned up top, he's really a good house guest and fits in well with the group. He's going to do just fine here, I think.
