Trigger

Trigger - a great name for this super energetic doggo. He’s a bundle of fun and loves to play games, but can get hyper very quickly. He’s extremely intelligent and with ongoing obedience training will be the most loyal dog you’ll ever meet ??.

Food
He might act a little fussy to dry food in his first week or two but once settled in he will eat dry food in the morning and a mixture of dry food and meat in the evening.

Trigger does not like men !!!!!!!

He really loves drinking water and will drink a lot of it throughout the day - be warned though, he’s a very messy drinker and water ends up everywhere ??.

Toileting
Trigger is fully toilet trained and is usually comfortable holding on until you let him outside to go, but at times where he really needs to go will go and sniff the front or back door.

Commands/training
This boy is one very smart cookie - sometimes too smart for his own good ??.

Boundaries will need to be set from the get go and you will need to be stern with him when he misbehaves. He can be compared well with a toddler in their terrible twos and can be quite defiant at times. He understands the word no and has learnt that there are consequences for misbehaving. A 10 minute timeout has been the best way to settle him down, we’ve also tried a spray bottle but he now thinks that’s a game. At times he will sulk and whine when he doesn’t get his way...it’s rather cute, but it’s important that he understands that you are the boss ??:

He knows how to sit, come and stay. But if there are any other dogs around he will ignore you on purpose and solely focus on trying to pull towards the other dog.

We’ve started practicing heel, though this needs a lot of work still, and he worked out after about 3 attempts that the treats he was receiving were for learning this new commands and he started refusing the treats.

An experienced dog owner is a must, as he will need to continue his obedience training and will need someone who can pull all the tricks out of the hat to keep him learning.

He also seems to have some separation anxiety and will want to be close to you always. We have been practicing giving him some alone time out in the backyard each day by making him think his human isn’t home. When he doesn’t realise you are there he will chill out, sleeping in the sun, play with a ball or eat some food, but the moment he realises you are there, he will pound and scratch at the back door until you let him in.

Lastly, he will need to be tied down when travelling in a car as he will try to come to the front of the car and jump on you.

Size
Trigger is a medium sized dog, though jumps a lot when over excited and he can jump really high. He’s also very strong for a dog of his size.

Bedtime
Since coming into foster care, Trigger has been learning to sleep in a crate at night. Some nights you’ll need to pick him up and carry him to his crate as he will try stay on the couch, but other nights he will happily walk straight in. With continued practice he will get more and more comfortable with sleeping in the crate.

On his first night in his current foster home he barked for the first few minutes but settled down quickly when he realised I wasn’t reacting to his calling out. Each night since he hasn’t let out a peep. He sleeps right through the night!

Exercise/games
Phew ??, the first challenge of every walk is getting the lead on. It’s like trying to wrestle a crocodile, he will wriggle around and try to nip you playfully while getting on his harness and halti. Once on he’ll charge straight out the door, pulling you in tow. He requires both harness and halti when walking or running as he wil