Thank you so much for all of your hard work

Posted on February 15, 2009 by David Couillard

Hello to everyone at Animatch!

Ronin continues to be an incredible addition to our family. He wrestles with our orange tabby neutered male named Riddick, and he kisses our calico spayed female named Adara. He gets along famously with his dog sister Akiva, although she occasionally has to get cross with him if she needs to be left alone. At this point he normally becomes very respectful and finds another activity to keep him busy. He LOVES sleeping in the bedroom at night: we often find him on his back with his legs straight in the air in the morning. He is SUCH a character. He knows how to ask to go outside now. We think that he uses “the force,” as he’ll stare at us until we ask him if he needs to go outside. He normally responds with one brief, loud bark and then trundles to the door. He still sleeps in his crate when we leave him alone, but it seems to be a refuge for him as well (which is great!). If the door is left open we’ll often find him in there during the day. Ronin, Akiva and I try to run daily, an activity that Ronin absolutely loves because he gets to go off-leash and explore the trails. He also gets to chase Akiva through the trees. If we’re not running, then we have to go out to the field and wander around for 60 minutes. Ronin LOVES water and is an excellent swimmer. He’ll even dive under to get sticks! He is a wonderful dog. He is learning to heel off leash, and he gets better every day. We went for a walk at the Arboretum in Ottawa with Bark & Fitz this past weekend, and he had a blast. He got to be off-leash with a whole pack of other dogs and he completely took it in stride. He loved being out with the other dogs, but he still focused most of his atttention on Akiva: he loves her.

His coat has changed so much since coming home. He no longer has his lion mane, and his coat is SO soft. It’s like cuddling with a GUND teddy bear. He’s great for nail trimming and loves to have his teeth brushed. He counter-surfed when he first came home, but quickly realized that Simon and I don’t ever leave food out (we clean our plates!), so he no longer does that. He doesn’t like to share his toys with Akiva: he’ll always steal what she’s playing with. He’s never been aggressive though. He normally just waits until she takes a break and then he steals whatever she has. If she tries to steal something from him he gets ridiculously excited and tries to get her to chase him. He’s a good boy for bathing and knows, “bath time,” at which point he jumps in the tub. Summer has been a blessing because he can have outdoor baths, which seems to keep the house cleaner! The veterinary clinic staff love him: he’s a great ambassador. When he comes to work he’s very quiet and well-behaved, other than he really wants to say “hello” to people. He is fascinated by children. He loves to have them touch him. He doesn’t lick them, or jump on them, but he just wants to be near them. He’s amazing. He’s getting ready to fly out to Victoria for our wedding in August. He and Akiva will be part of the ceremony, so we’ll be sure to send pictures your way. Our families are very excited to meet him.

Thank you so much for all of your hard work and for giving dogs like Ronin another chance!

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