I forgot to mention William has gotten a puppy. A German Short-haired Pointer named Hank. He actually came from our neighbors down the road... Here's Hank story...
Hank was born February 28,2009. A breeder sold him to our neighbors 6-8 weeks later. By the time Hank was 6 months his owners were looking for a new home for him, and had gotten another puppy (black lab) to replace him. He was re-homed and then returned with 24 hours because he whined too much when they put him outside over night. Once returned his owners decided to keep him because he was behaving so well, and seemed to be on the fast track to being well behaved, well trained loyal dog. That illusion didn't last long and Hank was re-homed yet again only to come back not too long after. This time there was no resolution to keep him because he obviously was beyond fixing. Enter us....
The owners wife called me one day and asked if we'd be willing to take Hank...since we have Zoey, also a GSP, she figured we might be able to handle Hank. I called John we discussed it and agreed to take him in at least to save him from being bounced from home to home. After I said yes she showed up at my door about an hour later with Hank. He was ours to have... she asked William ,"do you want a puppy?" to which he replied yes. So thus Hank was his...
Hank came to us incredibly underweight, and natural. He has an appointment to be neutered next week and you can't see all of his hip bones, spine or ribs anymore... but he's not quite at a weight that's to my liking yet. We're working on it.
As for his behavioral issues... we have no REAL issues. John has been working on leash training... heel, stay, and come... and my job is to play with him! I also work on some small things like sit, stay, and down. According to his previous owners he was not capable of sitting or laying down.. I had him doing both the first day with him. He does dig but it turns out he was on a mission to catch a gopher so no harm really, he also marks ...allot (only outside..no indoor marking which is great!) but I'm hoping once he's snipped that will no longer be an issue.
He's such a good dog, and very good with William no matter how rough William gets with him....
He just needed someone to take some time with him and not expect a well behaved trained dog without any effort being put towards that.
Additional note... I don't think Hank's previous owners are bad people just uneducated in what it takes to raise a dog, they never got past his "puppy stage"... they needed a lesson in patience, and to actually spend some of their time training the dog they chose.
Hank is a GSP... which is a VERY active breed, and is prone to digging or chewing if bored. Just sticking a GSP in a large backyard is not the answer.
