Gater Fox Red Labrador Retriever Male 7 Years Old ID #2506

September 6, 2024

We’re almost 3 weeks into Gater’s (/Bear’s) stay with us. He has been responding to “Bear” pretty well. Formally, he’s still known by the CIA as Gater. We try not to pry into his past though, we all make mistakes.

He’s really started to show us his personality this week, as his naps have continued but he’s been more playful and energetic. We believe he’s starting to feel at home and safe with us. We haven’t weighed him yet, but we’re hoping slowly shedding some pounds is bringing him back to his true self. We love him as is he, and he knows that.

We’ve explored some more walks, and met more furry friends at a nearby local dog park. We’re still keeping distance from the off-leash area, and staying on woods trails and meeting the occasional leashed dog that passes us by. He definitely has some interest in these dogs, but it’s more of an excited desire to sniff them and not any form of aggression. He’s become good buds with Echo, and we’ll visit her house and she’ll visit ours.

We’ve learned a bit more about him: He absolutely loves apples for treats. Devours canned dog food and tolerates dry food. He wasn’t a big fan of the bath we gave him, but quietly sat there and accepted it. He showed no interest in peanut butter or the lick mat we tried to comfort him with. Loves tennis balls and his chew treats. Always prefers to lay on something comforting, like a blanket, dog bed, or sneaking onto the couch occasionally while the family is out shopping. His plush dog toy apparently makes for a great snooze pillow.

He likes to sit like a gentleman, legs straight out.

He’s not a fan of wearing hats, but will cooperate long enough for a picture.

He has found that the best time to take a loud, snore-filled nap is when Foster Dad needs to hop on a company-wide Teams call for everyone to hear. Gotta be right under the desk, too. That’s where the best naps happen.

This bundle of joy continues to brighten our days!

August 25, 2024

Gater continues to do well this week with us!

The last few days have been full of fun and more naps. The cat interactions continue to go well. He seems pretty indifferent to them, but they’re still keeping to their hangout room upstairs where they’ve claimed ownership for a while now. New toys arrived for him a couple days ago, and he spent the better part of that afternoon inspecting each one. He’s really enjoyed the chew toy treat.

We explored some woods trails that have a dog park, but we kept to the trails while we could gauge his attitude towards leashed but unfamiliar dogs in public spaces. He seemed interested, but quickly redirected to continue our walk as we passed by a few dogs. No aggression or defensive issues. He really has been quite a good boy for us!

After the walk we went to a family member’s house where he met Echo, the traveling family dog. Lots of sniffing later, they became pretty good friends. They’re both pretty low energy, so they seem to have a mutual understanding of how to interact with each other. He also met a handful of new humans and thoroughly enjoyed all of the pets and attention. Echo came back to our house with us for the night and they’ve been hanging out together ever since. We’ve noticed no food or toy aggression. He’s been such a gentle boy with everyone.

Gater has shown to be quite a fantastic dog during his time with us. Pretty low energy, Velcro dog that just loves to be near people. He’ll follow us around the house and plop down for his next nap, never more than 5 feet away. His snoring is quite comforting, knowing he’s happy and relaxed. He’s loved his dog beds that we have spread throughout the house, and blankets designated for him as well.

We’ve started nicknaming him Bear, as he sounds like one with his goofball noises and moves like one with his larger size. He didn’t have any name recognition with Gater after the first ~4/5 days, but seems to be picking up the name Bear faster than he was with Gater. Must be closer to his former name / nickname!

August 22, 2024

Gater continues to be quite a gem for us!

We had a fantastic walk on a leash last night. His excitement to leave the shelter on Monday led me to believe he was just going to try to pull me all over the place on his walks, but that wasn’t the case. At the start, he was pulling a bit for a few minutes because he just wanted to sniff everything. It’s all new to him, so who could blame him? By the time we reached the end of the block he relaxed right at my side, where he stayed for the rest of the walk. He’s a great companion for touring the neighborhood. He did see a bunny which caught his attention, but he didn’t try to chase. To cool off afterwards, he defaulted to his “gator” pose on the cool kitchen floor.

Today, we had a quick meet-and-greet with upper management (the cats upstairs). He was great with them, cautiously approaching and sniffing but keeping some distance. The cat was a bit unsure of him at first, as he is quite a bit bigger than her doggy BFF she grew up with. We don’t anticipate future issues with calm cats, but we’ll continue to slowly introduce them until they’re familiar with each other. Tomorrow we will be introducing him to our family dog, Echo!

The rest of the day was filled with more naps and A LOT of snoring. We tried a treat or two to see how he is with taking them, and just as we expected he was gentle as always. We’ve noticed no food aggression either. He really is a gentle giant!

August 21, 2024

Gater had a very successful day in his new foster home with us yesterday. He came in as a stray, though it doesn’t appear he was a stray for long. He’s still decompressing from his time at the shelter, as he’s spent a vast majority of his time with us snoring up a storm while cuddled up on his dog bed.

He’s been fantastic with our 6-year-old daughter, very kind and gentle. Loud noises like our vacuum or the doorbell don’t seem to faze him at all. Gater does seem to be a bit hesitant to be on his own in our backyard, so we’re assuming he was an apartment dog and always leashed when he ventures outdoors. He will do his business if he has company, then return to the back door waiting for us. He’s been happy to play fetch and enjoy the sunshine. He saw our neighbor’s dog through the fence, and after a single “bouf” to say hello and couple minutes sniffing each other at the fence they parted ways quietly and uneventfully. I’m sure this is a nice change for him, coming from a shelter full of barkers. We’ll introduce him to our family’s dog once we’re sure he’s settled in here, but I do believe he would get along with other relaxed dogs. We haven’t fully introduced him to our cats yet, but he had no reaction to one of them being quite dramatic at the top of the stairs yowling for attention. That cat is a drama queen anyway.

So far, he has spent two nights and a couple hours during the day on his own. We’ve let him free-roam downstairs while he’s adjusting, and he has done so well. No accidents, no chewing or whining. He loves to be around people. He’ll move with me (or my wife) around the house, and once I sit somewhere he’ll lay down and start his next nap session. I never realized just how much my shadow snored before.

He’s a big boy at 112 lbs., but otherwise healthy. We’ve all gained a “little bit extra” from covid, so we don’t judge him for it. We’ll be working on leash walks and more frequent exercise to bring him back into shape for swimsuit season next year.

He’s full of love and really enjoys being around us, just as much as we enjoy him around.

Gater at the shelter