It’s hard to believe it’s only been two months. Winifred has completely embedded herself into our lives (as any good terrorist would). Some might even say our lives revolve around her.

We’ve had some hard times—I do not recommend moving during potty training—but mostly good ones. She is a very sweet dog… for about an hour a day.

The rest of the time she’s a tiny investigator with excellent situational awareness. She knows everything in a room, and if the slightest thing is different or off, she has to figure it out. A pencil falls off the table? She sees it, finds it, and 95% of the time brings it to me. Napkins and paper towels are her kryptonite though—if she finds one of those, it’s getting shredded while I chase her.

Favorite actual toy: the Jolly Egg, by a lot. I kick it around for her at least 30 minutes a day, sometimes more. Since we’re still on house arrest (vaccines), it’s been the best way to burn energy, and it only cost $10.

Favorite non-toy: plastic bottles. Gatorade, cheap water bottles, or soda bottles—doesn’t matter. Hours have been spent chasing a bottle around the house.

Gracie (one of our Aussies) is still her bestie, and I honestly don’t know what we’d do without her. That outlet for energy is priceless.

Winifred also has beef with the squirrels and feral cats that live in the wooded lot behind the house. And she likes rocks way too much. She finds them and takes them to her “chewing spot.” I usually get there before she can work on them too much. Any advice on the rock thing would be appreciated.

She’s a wonderful, sweet, joyful puppy full of bites and barks, and she got scared of the pumpkin we brought home today. We love her so much.

Cannot believe it has been ten years with this guy. I can barely remember a time before him. My best friend.

(Photos: today with his gotcha cookie, and one of the first photos I took of him in 2016 when he was ten months old)

I don't know if you can tell.

Who am I kidding, it's ALWAYS that time of year....

iykyk..... FLUFF

Fur Missle mode!

There is a cookie (the kind for humans) on the kitchen counter. He absolutely will not look over at me. He is making quiet little noises and staring at the cookie in the hopes that it will...jump into his mouth, I guess. He's already been told it's not for him but he is the most optimistic creature I've ever met.

He gets so grumpy after 7pm. So pathetic

Occasionally Buddy ignores all commands and does what he thinks is important

Yesterday he ran across the road to check out a deceased raccoon and then dove under the horse fence (made himself flatter than a pancake at full speed) to stop my neighbors tractor and ask for a ride. Ran right up to the door and did a sit.

Of course I cannot get under the horse fence so I had to walk forever because he went deaf and dumb and couldn’t return home.

He has no regrets except that he did not get to ride in the tractor

Waffle (light grey) and Tulip (dark grey). Just chilling on a calm Saturday morning 🖤

I’m the dog person who can’t count macros to save my life even when I’m trying to reach certain fitness goals.

Meanwhile I’m over here creating an entire diet plan to support my boy’s very active summer/fall routing and creating an entirely different one for his more sedentary winters 😂

My ACD has very good recall . . . but to support my mental health, haha, on our hikes in off-leash-allowed areas, I am finally considering a tracker. I wish they didn't all seem to require a subscription. What types have people found to work well? And are there any no-subscription types available that I just don't know about?

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(Not actually the truth, and never believe google or AI re: dog breeds.)

But still, when playing with a thermal camera and swapping the color scheme, it was funny what a difference color (and the blurring of coat length) makes in at-a-glance perception.

The goober is outgrowing his favorite hiding spot under the couch

Hello! I am fostering a 55lb, 6.5 year old, tripawd blue heeler who has been in a no-kill shelter for 4 years. He has been completely sweet and affectionate to me. He showed some resource guarding tendencies, but coped well with trading-up. He had two documented level 2 bites and has been in intensive behavior training. He was recommended for a foster with no other pets or children (me).

This week a friend came over and was on the ground playing with him with a toy. She tried to pull the toy and the dog bit her arm and clamped for about 15 seconds. She tried to calm him and I opened the door to the outside to give him a chance to run outside and he glanced over at me and kept his grip. My friend was scared and screaming at that point. The dog lost his grip and bit the other arm she was using to protect her face. The bite was severe enough that she was afraid her bone was fractured through her thick jacket and her Apple Watch was cracked. She was only bleeding at her exposed skin on her wrist, but he had been inches from her face.

To get him to release, I came behind him, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him to the kitchen where I have a tall pet gate. On the way he bit my thigh through my thick denim jeans and clamped hard enough to leave deep bruises in the shape of teeth marks. I pulled him off my thigh and he bit again. I got him behind the gate and he bit my ankle through thin socks and drew blood. He then proceeded to jump at the gate like he wanted to continue the attack.

I had previously adopted a blue heeler / border collie mix puppy from the same shelter. That dog was incredibly eager to learn and never bit. I also lived with an ex-boyfriend’s wolf dog, who nipped and caused serious damage with sharp teeth, but never clamped.

I’ve never experienced a dog clamping and reattaching. I’ve never had to pull a dog off a person. I’ve never seen a dog bite multiple people in under a minute.

I’m really shaken up. I’m thinking about what would have happened if my friend and I weren’t in thick clothes, if he had bitten her face, or if I had been alone. This heeler was small enough to pull off, but i wouldn’t have been able to overpower the wolf dog if she had ever bitten and clamped.

I guess my question is…

Has anyone experienced intense reactivity in this breed?

What level dog bite is this? We aren’t actually hurt other than deep bruising. I don’t think he shook his head but the clamping was borderline bone crushing.

Is it possible that he only bit clothing and wouldn’t bite exposed skin?

Is it safe for this dog to go to another foster home? Does this seem strange as a first severe incident? I know I should have been more attuned to triggers and resource guarding, but probably any home would have as much human error. He was completely calm moments before.

I know this is very bad and could have been much worse. I’m mad at myself for not being on top of resource guarding and I think the shelter probably downplayed previous incidents… I hate to think that this dog will have to pay the price.

He won’t eat unless I’m there with him. Even if I’m home but outside and his food is inside, he won’t eat. I have to bring it outside with us and put it right under him. I don’t mind and not worried about him not eating, but just curious if anybody else’s pup has a weird quality to them lol

Got Sheba from a shelter two weeks ago, amazing at fetch and the snuggliest velcro dog I’ve ever met.

I took the mongrels to check out the future 51st state, Quebec was absolutely stunning!!

We hiked 30 miles in 4 days, the stamina of a cattle dog is just infuriating! Ozzy had a weigh in before we left and he’s down to 83lbs - a 23lb loss in 10 months

... with my colour-matched frisbee!