Yesterday we had a 4th of July BBQ to go to. I suggested we only go for a couple hours at most since Shadow is still new and he definitely seems to have serious separation anxiety. Husband said we’ll go and he will swing back in a couple hours to give both Storm and Shadow dinner, take them out and then head back to the BBQ for fireworks. OK…To be safe, I closed my closet door, hid my husky stuffed animal I keep on the bed (he stole it once before but didn’t damage it) and made sure all of the screen doors were secure (he knows how to open doors with his nose if ANY opening) and moved anything remotely edible from the kitchen counter.
Well, husband went back after about 2 hours. I got a text message that said “You don’t even want to know.” Oh boy.
Apparently Shadow grabbed my PJ shorts off the bed and shredded those. I liked those :( And took one of the bed pillows into the living room but only drooled all over it so it just needs a cleaning. Then by jumping on the door to the garage, opened the door and shredded the recycling. But the door closes on its own so it closed him in the garage where he was stuck without water until husband got there. He said he opened the garage door from the car and Shadow came running out and all stressed out looking He knew it would be bad from there.
He cleaned up a bit and fed both buddies (Storm was out on the deck perfectly quiet and content.) Then he brought Shadow back to the BBQ and just kept him on leash by him. When the fireworks started he did get stressed but husband walked him around and calmed him down and he was OK. Angelus HATED fireworks. And Storm could care less. Shadow seems in between on the stress scale about them. He zonked out in the car on the drive home and went inside and went right to sleep. The stress from the day clearly knocked him out. Poor guy.
It is clear he was hit when he did anything bad by his former parent(s). He gets very stressed and scared looking. I hate people. He was also probably left alone lot. We need to work on both of these things. He needs to feel safe. I knew leaving him that long would be bad. I raised 2 awesome dogs (perfect IMO but I might be a little teeny bit biased) who were never afraid of me or of being punished/hurt/yelled at. But a rescue has been quite different than raising a puppy. Unlike Angelus and Storm, Shadow is more husband’s dog than mine so we’ll see how that goes. I’d be doing a few things differently but Shadow loves him more so he gets the responsibility too!
Just received his DNA test back. They say 100% husky. SO NOT TRUE. Yes he clearly has husky in him – I’d even buy a full 50%. But he is not 100% husky. No way. He’s too big (Angelus was big for a husky and this guy is about 12-15 lbs bigger, longer and taller.) If I had to guess I’d say German Shepherd or wolf based on his coloring, lankiness, length, love of swimming, and his one-person attachment. But oh well – he’ll just be a husky mix. ALTHOUGH husband just pointed out that the company does not identify wolf, coyote or dingo. SO…maybe husky is the only “dog” identified and he is part wolf which I called after his first 2 days with us.
The only real damage from his time alone was some minor door scratches which can be fixed and my poor, cute PJ shorts :( They had little squirrels on them so I think he really just likes to eat squirrels!
