FLURRY
 Shelter Intake Photo |
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| *FLURRY* IN A NUTSHELL: Just getting to know him. | |||||||||||
| No sooner had we pulled the girls, Pearl and Luna, when we received an email from Rebecca, telling us about a 2 year old male German shepherd named Flurry that was now in danger at the same shelter. We had just been to the shelter the day before and no one had mentioned this boy! We had also committed to taking in the two pups from Bakersfield, so it didn't look like we were going to be able to help Flurry. Rebecca wrote, "I want to foster him, but he's in Riverside and I'm in San Jose so finding a rescue is difficult. Would I be able to work with your organization to foster him until he finds his forever home?"
Click for Flurry's Instagram Video Click for More of Flurry's Shelter Videos on Facebook Once we looked at the videos of Flurry, and talked to Rebecca about what fostering a dog long distance look like, we were determined to save Flurry with her help. UPDATE 9/1: Rebecca went to the shelter today to met Flurry. Her only comment (contrary to his intake photo), "He's gorgeous! " Rebecca adopted him on the spot! He is scheduled for neuter surgery in about a week, after which Rebecca will pick him up and take care of him through his recovery.
UPDATE 9/5: Rebecca got word from the shelter ... Flurry will be ready for pick up tomorrow!!!
According to Rebecca, "He's very sweet but very stressed. First walk he only pulled to smell certain things. Only have him on a nylon martingale right now since a prong would be too scary. He is very nervous and won't stop moving. I had to lift him into my car but at least he allowed me to handle him that much! He did much better getting back into the car! Just needed a boost. But dear god, he smells so god awful and they said no bathing for 10 days!! " We definitely don't envy Rebecca the 6 hour drive home!!
Rebecca contacted us from the road, "Found a pet store with spray deodorant haha. Much better. Now we can go! Right now, he's very skittish of loud noises and just nervous in general but at least he is very tolerant of all handling that I've had to do. Our plan at home is to keep him crated in this giant airline crate we have that we had for our 95 pound shepherd. And he will be kept in a separate room. He'll get walks regularly throughout the day and fed separately also. The shelter told us to keep our dog away from him for 10 days."
UPDATE 9/9: Flurry's foster mom provided some new photos and videos of this handsome boy today!
Foster Mom's Facebook post pics and videos
UPDATE 9/9: "For being 2.5, Flurry is a pretty chill dude. In the house and even backyard, he just wants to lay near his person (he loves women more) and chew on bully sticks. He does love to go on walks."
As soon as we have room for him here in Phoenix, Flurry will be surrendered to our rescue. In the meantime, if someone in California would like to adopt Flurry, we'd love to hear from you!!
UPDATE 9/22:
FOSTER UPDATE 9/25: "For his reactions to dogs while on a walk - In his first few days we had him, he barked at a lot of dogs but that went away fast so I lump that with decompression and settling. Now he has only had a big reaction to dogs that have come up on us as a surprise on a blind corner and he barked loudly and makes himself tall but was fine once we had space again or if given a prong correction. This has only happened a couple times. He is definitely interested in other dogs and will show interest just by perking up and raising his tail and wagging it and looking in their direction but otherwise that’s his only reaction to dogs across the street or a few houses away. We have not done an introductions on walks or with my dog yet because my dog is the trickier one. He has never barked at her or given us any indication of not getting along with her but she’s the handful in this scenario haha. They see each other through the two baby gates separated by just 2-3 feet away and he just wags his tail (no negative body language from him and no barking).
It’s been so hectic this month so my husband and I have not been home much at the same time to do careful introductions, but hopefully this is my last crazy week because I have a work conference and we can do more with both of them starting Sunday.
We have walked by cats before and he takes no notice. I am trying to be on the lookout for cats on walks now so we can find one for him to really see so I can check his prey drive. Squirrels he will just perk up but not move towards or try to chase. He doesn’t seem to have a high prey drive. On walks he just wants to check everything out and sniff and exercise. My husband has jogged and hiked with him and said he did well.
If I’m in the room with him free or in the yard with him, he will be playful and excited and then settle. He’s really loving toys now! And treat balls / food enrichment toys! He can be shy of new people especially on walks but only if they try to approach to pet him. Otherwise he’s been great on walks. He warmed up quickly to my sister when she visited and really bonded with my husband while I was gone but I haven’t had him meet anyone else. For me the first few months with a new dog is always letting them settle and not trying to tack on stressors. He also accepts a quick single prong correction really well for unwanted behavior - being too mouthy (no teeth pressure) or jumpy when he’s excited to be released from the crate or the initial first days of barking at dogs Adoption fee to be determined.
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UPDATE 9/6: Rebecca flew to the Riverside area this morning, picked up Flurry at the shelter and is driving him home to San Jose this afternoon! 
