 Photo Comments Age: 9 Years Sex: Male Weight: 51-100 lbs
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Leave a bone for Luke
Nicknames:
Luker-duke, Lukifer, Fat-head, Fat-boy, Stinky
Doggie Dynamics:
| | | | | | | | | Energy | | | | | | Intelligence | | | | | | Friendliness | | | | | | Playfulness | | | | | | Disposition | | | |
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Quick Bio:
| -pound dog | -service dog | -dog rescue | |
Likes:
Cuddling! Oh, and snuggling! =)
Pet-Peeves:
The command "off" when pertaining to the bed.
Favorite Toy:
His bed. Then maybe his bright orange stuffed squeaky monkey.
Favorite Food:
Anything Momma is eating!
Favorite Walk:
The beach... until we had an incident.
Best Tricks:
Sit, Stay, Wait, Down, Touch, Wave, High-five, Shake, Shake-off, Bang-bang, 'Git, Off, No
Arrival Story:
I adopted Luke from a not-so-local rescue. I was not told until the day before adoption (after the house check!) of his problems. Apparently his original story was that his first owners tied him to a tree from puppy on and abused him. (He has a branding on his leg.)
After that he was dumped at a high-kill shelter and being primarily black and extra large in size he was at the top of the list to be put down. Add in that the kennel made him neurotic because he was used to being outside.
His last day before death he was picked up by a rescue in the area and the lady in charge brought him home. He was a people dog and LOVED all over people in a puppy excited way so she didn't mind having him around. By this time he was maybe a year or a year and a half.
She put him in her garage with an old couch to sleep on for the night and he went so crazy with seperation anxiety that he ATE THROUGH her garage wall! Plaster, wood, insulation, you name it! He escaped and they eventually found him roaming the neighborhood.
The next few nights she had to sleep on the couch in the garage with him at her feet just so he'd calm down. -- She couldn't handle much more and found a lady that could foster him in the middle of nowhere... sort of a makeshift shelter an elderly woman had made to foster numerous dogs.
He always had to be around her but he would bark and be uneasy at night when he was kenneled with the other dogs. Any chance he got he would dig under wire fences (he has scars on his snout from squishing his face under the triangle parts on the bottom) or jump/claw up and over wood fences as high as 7 feet.
A few people tried adopting him but couldn't handle his escape artist tactics when no one was home. The longest someone kept him was about 6 months.
I ran into his ad and inquired about him. By the time I met him he had been with the elderly woman awhile and was GLUED to her. I tried taking him for a walk and he would look back and cry/whimper/pull to her.
I honestly didn't know what I was getting into but I fell for him.
I adopted him a few days later and when I brought him home he jumped my 7ft wood fence, clawed up my wooden bedroom door, and acted like an all around nut. I was working for a pet store at the time and I brought him to work. I figured I could just crate him in a steel crate in the breakroom. He clawed and spazzed his way into breaking the welds and then scratched up his face by pushing his body through the broken parts. Then he pawed the doorhandle until he got the door open and came running and SQUEALING after me. It was the most neurotic thing I'd seen in my life. I tried every crate the store had... every plastic and every steel and nothing worked.
At one point he ate through the plastic window of my Jeep and got out while I ran into a 7-11! He sat at the front door wagging his tail while staring at me through the glass.
Eventually I had to put him in the solid steel grooming cages but he cried and whined the whole time that they couldn't handle it.
I was frustrated but I asked some questions and found out that his longest home was only six months. I'd already had him three.
I moved in with my boyfriend's family because his father stayed at home due to health problems. He would cry and whine when I left but he wouldn't try to escape as long as someone was home. It was the perfect situation.
Three months rolled by and we had to move into a new place. A place where he'd be alone while I was at work up to 9 hours a day.
A MIRACLE happened maybe a week after I moved in he calmed down and figured out I was coming home and I wasn't going to take him back to the pound or the rescue. I would spend extra time with him on the weekends at dog beach or the dog park... or just lazing around with him on the couch while we watched TV.
He turned into my calm little cuddle bug. I honestly believe that it just took time and once you pass that mark that he hit before, you're good to go.
Luke (that's his name!) is so wonderful now. He still "tells" me about his day when I get home by whimpering and bringing me his toys. (Lots of A-WHooOoO-WooO!'s) I couldn't ask for a better dog. He's recently been certified as a therapy dog and works with small children. He's on a permanent sniff hunt for cheerios! =)
Bio:
Check out Creature Teachers for behavioral tips!
Forums Motto:
Neer ner neener neer ner neener FAT BOY!
The Groups I'm In:
Labradanes Rock!!!
I've Been On Dogster Since:
| October 20th 2005 |
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More than 6 years! |
Rosette, Star and Special Gift History
Dogster Id:
209032
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