Guest Blogger: Lisa Bartel
All of the adoptable animals at Animal Friends are wonderful, potential pets for the right family. One of those dogs is Rickon: a dog who stole my heart.
He came to Animal Friends as a puppy with two of his litter mates. They were each adopted, but Rickon was brought back due to his high energy. His family was growing and didn’t have the time to give Rickon the adequate amount of exercise he needed. Although not much is known about Rickon’s background, we can see that something has made him fearful.
You will fall in love with Rickon at first sight, but it may take a few slow meetings for him to fall in love with you. Once he does, he will love you forever. I am lucky to have the opportunity to spend time with Rickon each week as I volunteer at Animal Friends. I love to play with him in the play yards, do mental enrichment activities, walk around the campus and just snuggle and nap with him in his room or the backseat of my car. Oh, did I mention he loves car rides?!
After a year of being around Rickon, I knew that I – along with my husband and our dog – wanted to explore the option of fostering Rickon with the hopes of adopting. With the help of his other volunteer friends, we did meet-and-greets and walks together until everyone was comfortable. We brought Rickon home.
Upon bringing Rickon into our home, we learned very quickly that our dog needs to be the only dog in our home. Unfortunately, there was no way for us to adopt Rickon despite him being a wonderful dog in the home. He is very inquisitive and explorative. He also likes most other dogs. He enjoys one-on-one play and is a part of the weekly play groups at Animal Friends. He is smart and responsive to training with positive reinforcement. Rickon is housebroken and will lead you to the door when he needs to go outside. Rickon has a healthy chewing habit but knows what and what not to chew. In my home, he only chewed the toys we gave him and never on anything else. He respected the boundaries we set up for him with baby gates and never tried to jump over them. Rickon really seemed to love my husband and this demonstrates his potential for making new friends.
Rickon responded well to a daily schedule that included a walk, outside time, mental enrichment, training, naptime, and just being around us when we watched TV – Rickon snores when he sleeps and it’s adorable!
We know that Rickon will need to be in an adult-only home, possibly with another dog. This home must be patient and provide the mental and physical exercise and positive reinforcement that he requires. Rickon has some fear issues but once you get to know him you will be able to read his body language to know when he is feeling stressed and can help him to remain calm.
The volunteers at Animal Friends have been worked tirelessly with Rickon on coping mechanisms to help with his anxiety and fear, loose-leash walking and how to go to his mat. All of these activities, as well as the mental enrichment games Rickon enjoys, can be shown to you when you meet Rickon. We encourage you to continue these activities at home.
If you have a patient, loving, adult-only home with time to give, please come meet Rickon. If you are looking for a companion that will love you unconditionally, consider making Rickon a part of your family.
I look forward to each and every time that I see him. I wish I could have adopted him because he holds a special place in my heart.
