Maverick
Maverick came into foster care on January 9th. He’s a 9 yo, 45 lb black lab.
January 9th
Well Maverick is in his new foster home & we are excited to have our first foster. The trip home from KOP was very uneventful, he settled down on the back seat on a towel and my eldest daughter stroked his head, chatted with him and sang songs to him. He seemed to lap it up. The owner mentioned he may whine in the car as he usually does but he seemed fine and not a peep.
On arriving home, he was glad to be out of the car. Wandered around our yard sniffing at everything and relieved himself. We brought him inside and walked around our downstairs area with him on his leash so he could sniff and find his way around. He had a good explore.
He found his bag of treats and after performing a few commands, sit, lay down, speak, he was given a few treats. He took them well & one of my girls even gave him one which he took very gently from her. He asked to go out and nuzzled his leash that was hanging by the back door. We put his leash on and walked him to the park. He pulls a little on his leash, but we had him sit to cross the road and he obeyed very obediently.
He loved wandering in the park. My daughter held his leash and ran across the park and back with him and walked most of the way round the park with him and he was very happy and energetic. Loved sniffing everything. He eyed a few squirrels but we managed to distract him!.
When my other daughter came home from her play date he met her with great enthusiasm and then settled. He had a cup of food, which we put in his bowl, he sat and waited until it was in and then ate. Had some water.
We have a bed in the corner of our big dining kitchen that came with him and we also put one in the living room where we are. He has actually settled for a while on both of them & when told to go lay down because the rustling of the Rice Krispie treats for my girls which made him think he was getting a treat, it took a few tries of ” Mav go lay down” but he did eventually go to his bed and lay down. He seems to be very obedient, loves attention and a good eater.
He is a little chubby around the middle, not that a few more walks will probably put paid to that and my girls want to walk him all the time ( it is only the first day!). He has not whined once since he has been in the house but has sat at the back door a couple times.
January 13th
Maverick here, I received my care package today. I watched curiously as my peeps opened my package. The girls helped me get everything out and see what I had. We tried on my new bandana which as you can see looks awfully cool!
I am still working on playtime with toys been a little afraid to take anything from anyone, but I did take my fleece toy for a few minutes and have a little tug of war with my new daddy! It was fun and I am sure once I have learned to play more I am totally going to dig this toy!
I think Brookline and my new foster parents are just the coolest. Thanks for taking such good care of me. Here are a couple pictures
1. Me and my stuff
2. Me with the new bowl that my big girl Emily made for me, it is a little small for all my food, but we think it will be great for my green beans!
3. My little girl reading stories to me. I love listening to stories and it means she doesn’t have to wait to read to a dog a the library any more! 
January 15th
I am so proud of Maverick. He is such an awesome dog, so obedient and loving.
Today we had a houseful of friends who are attending the Haiti mission trip with my husband in May and this was Mavericks first time with us and a houseful of people. He barked as our guests came to the door as he should protecting his peeps, then settled down until the next guest arrived and the same pattern. He did not go crazy at people.
Once everyone had arrived he actually settled down, loved all the attention he got. Laid down on his bed when told, did not try to nab any of our human food off the table and was such a good boy. He loved having the company once he was used to having a houseful and went form one petting to another very willingly!.
Mav is also very proud of his new skill in Hide and seek. He loves to sit and stay while the girls go hide, then takes great pride in finding them, sometimes it seems he sniffs them out, other times he has now figured out where they hid previously and checks all those sites first. He is a very smart dog.
Also adding to his list of things accomplished. Mav has actually completed 5 geocaches with us, he loves sniffing thru the woods and helping us find the caches. So much fun. He is walking better on the leash now and doesn’t pull as much.
He really is a keeper for the right family!
February 20th
I have been with my foster family for 6 weeks now & I love them but I wish I had a home to call my own!
I love to go for walks and every weekend they take me on long hikes that I just love. We Geocache and find lots of new, fun and exciting places to walk. I anticipate the girls coming home each day from school and I just know they will play with me and that it is feeding time! They love to feed me and take care of me and in return I give them many hugs and kisses. Yesterday My foster mom had a big 40th birthday party and there were about 60 people in our house. I barked to welcome people but then I settled down and loved all the attention I received all day. It was kind of my party too, cause I just turned 9 years old this week. We are going to celebrate with a doggie cake tomorrow and I can’t wait for my treats! 60 people in the house was a lot of people. Half of them were children and they just loved me, we played ball in the garden and ran around the house, and who needs a vacuum cleaner when you have me around the house???
I still pull a little on my leash but I like to be in the lead all the time. I don’t really like it when people get in front of me. My job is to be the leader right? Once we have walked a way I seem to slow down and not tug on my leash quite as much, once I have done all my sniffing I like to just enjoy the walk. I like to bark at passers by but it is my way of protecting my humans. I think I like other dogs but I am still adjusting to that. I have been a loner for a very long time and it is taking me a little time to get used to seeing other dogs and spending time with them. I think I would like to have my family all to myself, I am a little selfish about sharing !
I love to go outside to do my duty but for the most part like to sit wherever you are. Of course if you go out with me I will happily play. I think when the weather gets a little nicer I will like to go sit out in the sunny spots in the yard, but right now I am nice and comfy inside in the warm house. I am looking forward to celebrating my birthday tomorrow with my girls.
Love, Maverick
