This is Gus’s world, we’re just here to experience it
Standing on rocks is always a good time.
Gus is a reactive dog
What does this really mean? Until we rescued him from our local shelter, we had no idea.
First of all, what reactive is not - not aggressive, not bad, not untrained. As a side note, I do not believe there are any bad dogs.
When we first brought Gus home, he was timid. It’s unclear what his past life taught him, but we noticed he lacked confidence. As Gus became more comfortable with us, he started to show more of his personality. While in the comfort of our home he became playful, goofy, and a little clingy. Outside was a whole different story. Gus would loudly bark at and lunge toward anything around him that made a sound - cars, people, other animals, even planes flying overhead.
As time went by, Gus got worse on walks. If he saw a dog while I was walking him, he would pull so hard on the leash that he would pull me over. It got to the point where I wouldn’t walk him anymore. Neither of us understood his behavior or how to help him. So we did what many others might, we took to the internet. We tried different collars and leashes, shoving treats in his mouth to try to create positive experiences, calming chews, running to wear him out, and on and on. Nothing seemed to help.
We reached a breaking point one day when we were walking in the park and Gus got too overstimulated. He went after some geese, he made a huge scene when a group of runners passed by, and then the final straw was when he lunged at and nipped a walker who surprised us from behind. Thankfully he did not bite that gentleman and the startled park-goer was understanding of Gus being a menace. What if Gus had bitten someone? What if Gus lunged at a child and scared them? What if, what if, what if? And what now?
We knew we needed help. We were lucky to find an incredible trainer named Maria. She helped us to understand that Gus was a reactive dog guided by fear and insecurity. Gus needed leadership and guidance to help him navigate the world. We sent him to Maria’s Board & Train program where he lived with her for 4 weeks. What kind of a dog would come back home to us?
Gus is still a reactive dog. We are certain that this will never change. But now we know how to help him. Our day to day with Gus may look different than the life of a non-reactive dog. He will never go to a dog park, he may not join on us on a patio, he may never be the calm dog that someone can pet at a park. But he's our dog and we love him. We committed to giving him a great life and we work towards that every day.
Before we had Gus, we had Juno
Juno was the sweetest dog I had ever been around. I rescued her from the shelter around the same time the relationship between me and Jon was blossoming. It was a very special time and Juno was a very special dog.
At the animal shelter, Juno was the only dog who was not barking. I asked to meet her and she came out of her cage and gave me a hug. My heart melted and I knew she had to come home with me. The shelter warned that Juno had a large growth on her leg and that didn’t sway my decision at all.
I remember taking Juno over to meet Jon on his lunch break from work. She instantly connected with him (as I had months earlier). I loved seeing them interact.
After having Juno’s growth removed, we thought she was set to live a long and happy life. We didn’t know it was a pre cursor to the cancer that would take over most of her body.
Juno was so easy going. She almost never barked, she entertained herself, she was calm, and she was very loving. She could be around any person or animal without issue. We took her on road trips, to the dog park where she mostly sat near humans waiting to be pet, to restaurant patios - she went with us everywhere.
We had Juno only a year and a half when she developed a cough. She was a dog prone to laziness, but she seemed more lethargic than normal. After taking her to the vet, we were told her spleen was dangerously enlarged and needed to be removed immediately. We agreed to surgery the next day and were hopeful she would recover. Sadly, she had a massive stroke. It was devastating. We later found out that many of her organs had cancer. We had no idea how sick she had been. We always tried to give her the best life, but if we had known her last days were sooner than expected, would there have been more pup cups, more adventures, more cuddles?
It was hard not to feel like we didn’t get enough time with our sweet June Buggie. But we try to instead focus on appreciating that we got to take care of her for the time that we did. She was such a delight and we miss her still.
Having a dog like Juno before having a dog like Gus made for an interesting transition. Every dog is different. Our love for both of these dogs is the same though. Although almost complete opposites, both Juno and Gus deserve a good home and to be loved.
Gus loves blankets and pillows
What is Gus, really?
Our vet told us she thought Gus is a boxer and black lab mix. By his looks, that made sense to us. But we were still curious about Gus’s ancestry.
A quick swipe of his cheek and a few weeks waiting, we were given some answers. According to this test, Gus is neither a boxer or a labrador.
It’s hard to know how accurate these results are, but they are certainly interesting. Gus’s behavior seems to match up with being mostly a guard dog. It’s hard to imagine how all these types of dogs managed to mix together and turn out Gus.
No matter his past, Gus’s future is clear. He will be on a lifetime adventures with us as a lovable mutt!