Buster Brown is Back in Town

Buster at his foster home

"I have had dogs all of my life. I've trained them all. My last dog lived to be 15 years old so I KNOW DOGS and THIS dog is out of control."

A common complaint from previous adopters. They've forgotten signing that they understood that their puppies were't perfect and had behaviors which required training.

Dogs need training, formal training with a professional trainer. 

I too have had dogs all of my life. I too have taught a few puppies to sit and to stay. I've bought books about dog training and watched the videos on petfinder.com. I handle over 1000 puppies a year and consider myself a puppy expert. But I am not a trainer and like a child, Dogs do not come pre-programmed with manners. We must teach them how to behave in our homes and community.  I know our adopters know this but between work, soccer practice and a few discouraging home training sessions, it can become too much for even the most experienced dog owner.

It is through such a situation that Buster came back to us. 

Puppy Buster

Buster was adopted from Colorado Puppy Rescue in December of 2012. He was one of five puppies in his litter that,  at the time,  looked to be shepherd mixes.  Buster now looks very much like a shar pei mix.  Buster's family did not have the time or the patience to train Buster at home.  They had jobs and two young children. They had even signed him up and paid for a class but did not have the time to take him. If his family had taken him to his class he would have been a great dog for them. Now he's back at CPR where,  even with all of our combined dog experience, he will spend time working with a professional trainer. 

Buster acts like a small puppy in a big dog body. It made it difficult for him to be with the young children in his family. He jumps up and snarls when he plays,  scaring the dickens out of the kids.  Other dogs get irritated with him very quickly. He needs to learn some manners. Buster has otherwise been well cared for.  His coat is beautiful, clean and shiny. His eyes are bright and curious.  He is healthy,  up to date on his shots and has been neutered. He may look like a shar pei /shepherd mix but his nose is glued to the ground like a hound. 

Buster playing with Merlin

Buster was pretty scared when he was dropped off at our adoption event with a crowd of people that he didn't know but as the day went on a few of our volunteers were able to make him feel more comfortable. By the end of the day he was checking out the other dogs around the store and following scent trails in the parting lot. 

Buster's foster mom says that he responds better to the name 'Eddie' and has been working on his crate training. The dogs that he's staying with are teaching him some animal manners and his training starts this week. Thing will be getting better for him soon. 

I was contacted by the adopters of one of Buster's litter mates after they saw his ad. Their dog Pyro had many of the same issues this is what they had to say:

'I find him to be very smart and easy to train with treats, but if he is distracted by something he finds more interesting, like another dog, he will come when he feels like it, not just because you are giving him a command (aka, stubborn, which is a common trait in Asian breeds). Without exercise, Pyro gets very naughty and

Pyro at home

sometimes tries to wrestle with my children (aka -plays too rough). I think many of the behaviors Pyro will grow out of, but I have often thought that if Pyro went to a home with kids younger than mine, and a family without experience with dogs, he would likely have been returned. On a separate note, we think there may be some Shiba inu in Pyro. One other thing to note is that Pyro is an animal chaser. I suspect, especially after seeing the pictures of Buster staring into what looked like a rodent cage, that Buster is too...

Buster

Buster's foster mom say's he's very smart. He's house trained, sits and lays down most of the time. He's good with her VERY large dogs but tries to dominate the smaller ones. He's perfect and gentle enough for her eleven year old, wheelchair bound child. He's a good dog and learns quickly.

Meet Buster and his foster mom at today's adoption event.