ebonypearl | The Rubber Puppy

Rafferty has discovered he can jump off my desk onto the marble floors and it doesn't seem to hurt or scare him. So he did this every time I set him on my desk, like it was a fun game.

I, of course, had a panic attack every time he leaped and landed, convinced he'd killed himself or broken a bone.

But he'd bounce off to beg to come up again so he could leap off again.

I really will be glad when he goes to his new home. I don't think I could handle a rambunctious rubber puppy at work.

His new peeps are supposed to pick him up Thursday. I've transfered his vet records,toys, bed, and kibble to work, bringing home only his supper. I put together a CD of his baby pictures and wrote a brief bio of all the things he did and places he went, along with a personality profile and his training.

He reliably sits with both hand and voice command without treats. He's mostly housebroken - having accidents only if we don't respond fast enough. He obeys "drop" and understands "leave it" but he's still puppy enough to want NOW and he'll shake just before he breaks. I've started giving him the "take it" command later and later. In 2 more weeks, he'd be completely obedient to it.

He walks well on a leash now and he rides well in the car so long as he's buckled into Itzl's car seat.

He gets along with dogs of all sizes and likes kitties.

He's not jealous of his food and water and waits his turn for treats.

If his new peeps keep up his training, he'll be a wonderful and fun companion.

He's not either service dog or therapy dog material. He'll be too small for mobility assistance or guide dog, He doesn't respond to sounds well (he'd be gun-shy if he were a hunting dog). He's too interested in other dogs; we had to work really hard to get him comfortable around people. He's too aggressive to be a reliable therapy dog, besides not being very people-oriented.That could change with some seriously dedicated training but with so many other animals already pre-disposed to being people-friendly- why?

If his new peps are interested, I think he's got what it takes to be a competing agility dog. He has no problems with Itzl's few agility toys - the tunnels, the ramps, the zipline, and he;s shown how fearless he is to leap off tall things.

He'll be a great pet for a mom who's child is moving off to college. He'll be pampered and loved and he has enough people-clinginess to make her happy and enough independence to make her comfortable leaving him home alone when she shops or visits friends.

And that's a mighty fine life for a little dog who almost starved to death.