July 26, 2015

Tarek lived most of his life with a retired couple and a female German Shepherd named Gabrielle.  Their “Mom” was the dog person in the family; and when she died this year, the husband decided to sell the house and move closer to relatives in another state.  He wanted to be sure both dogs would find good homes first, though, and contacted GSRNE for help.

We had to place Tarek and Gabrielle in different foster homes, and they both did very well learning to live with new pack members.  Tarek showed some separation anxiety for a while and was uncomfortable in new environments, but he has gained confidence in the care of his foster Mom.  He loves riding in the car but would be reluctant to get out until they were back home.  In order to work through that issue, his foster Mom took him on short rides to safe places where she could walk him around on leash briefly and then back into the car to the next destination.  Tarek now is happy to hop out of the car when invited to explore and goes to the office with his foster Mom occasionally.

His foster sister is a senior German Shepherd who no longer enjoys romping and playing, so Tarek has made friends with a neighbor’s dog.  After going for leash walks with their people, the two dogs were allowed to play together in a large fenced yard and now get quite excited when they see each other.  Tarek was overweight when he came to GSRNE, but he has lost some of the excess weight and is showing us that he loves to run and play.  When someone is around to notice, he’ll pick up his squeaky ball and chew on it to make it squeak, just for fun.

Tarek likes people and approaches calmly, staying close if being petted or drifting away if not.  He barks alertly at unexpected noises or if someone comes to the door; but then his job is done, and he settles down nicely.  Tarek has learned good manners and gets an “A” for obeying Sit, Down, Leave it, Stay and dropping a toy on command….another bonus with this boy is that he really likes cats!