The techs wondered if they should muzzle him...

May the road rise to meet you, my friend!

I hope you enjoyed a good piece of corned beef and cabbage yesterday.

Jay and I attended mass and then walked the dogs on a beautiful warm spring Sunday.

As you know if you’ve been with us for a time, we rehomed Monstro (aka: Shiloh) about six weeks ago.

He is around a year old.

Shiloh’s new owner has been sharing daily updates of his transition progress on the secret, invitation-only American Dirus Owners Facebook group.

He has been doing well, but Friday was the first time Shiloh’s new owner took him to the vet’s office.

Shiloh’s story is such an amazing testament to the power of strongbred™ breeding and early standardized temperament testing.

We are so happy for Shiloh and his new family.

It couldn’t have been a more perfect match!

Here’s how it went:

“What an interesting an exciting Saga for tonight. What a day it has been! This morning was our normal routine. Wake up, get dressed etc. take Shiloh out for him to do his business. Yes, I have noticed with the slip lead a little tighter and held up higher on the neck was eliminating some of the problems I was having. Then it was the waiting time. waiting to get ready to take Shiloh to the vet. It seemed like the time was going so slowly then all of a sudden it was time to go.

“Shiloh now gets in the car with little difficulty, just gotta get that one hind foot up on the seat then ta da he is in the car. He rides fairly well in the car still just a tad bit of stress but the more we go the more he will settle. He does have a problem deciding which window to look out of and when he can't decide he will take a break and lay down for a few minutes then start looking again especially out the back window looking at the people that are looking at him.

“When we got to the vets I had him wait a minute or two before letting him come out of the car. We walked up to the door which was one of those automatic doors that you push a button to have it open. He waited with me for the door to open and we walked through the doorway with no hesitation. Shiloh was great as we went up to the counter to talk to the vet tech. She makes copies of the paperwork I brought with for his records there.  Several of the tech came out to see him. The only time we had a slight problem was getting him on the scale and I think it was mainly because he was not sure of what we wanted him to do. Once on the scale he weighed 136.2 pounds. They said he looked fantastic neither to skinny nor certainly not overweight.

“They asked if it would be alright if they took him to do the blood work and I said it would be fine. I had to laugh one of the techs was trying to sweet talk him into moving as he stood solid as a rock, while the other one held his slip lead. I then mentioned to them to say, ’Let's go.’ When the one said that to him, he happily walked with them. When they came back, they told me they had muzzled him just for safety's sake since they really did not know him. They said he was such a sweetheart, but he did let them know when he had enough. No, Shiloh did not get nasty he just simply laid down. They took blood from his leg since he preferred not out of his neck, letting them know that by bending his head when they would try but out of the leg was no problem. They came back gushing about his wonderful temperament they had a difficult time believing we had only been together a little over 6 weeks.

“The techs wondered if they should muzzle him, wanting to protect the pregnant vet. She started to laugh; they did not realize she was standing behind them. She said a muzzle was not needed; he did not show even one little sign of misbehaving. The vet did ask me if he was neutered, and I told her no and currently have no plans on doing so. She did a pretty through physical on him including checking his testicles, and teeth. They all said what a fantastic temperament Shiloh had and would love to have him come back and visit. I did mention that he would be my future Service Dog and they all agreed he was a very good candidate to become one. He showed no shyness only curiosity. He was not to sure about leaving me but I told him it was alright. The automatic door was a good test for him.

“Before we left, I wanted to meet the groomer there. So, the one tech asked the groomer if she had a few minutes to talk to me. She said yes and the tech went and held the dog she was working on.  I talked to her a bit and decided to make an appointment with her for Shiloh. He would be the only one there at his appointment time and she would not use a crate dryer on him but the blow dryer while he was on the table. She said that way she could concentrate on him. I had originally planned on using a mobile groomer but that did not pan out. So, I am happy with my decision and will see how it goes. Shiloh's grooming appointment is for the 27th.  Again, when we left there was no problem with the automatic door.

“I was so excited and happy how the trip to the vet went. I had to call Jen and let her know. Yes, I was concerned, [my previous dog] really disliked any vet appointment he may have had, so it was not a pleasant experience. Every day I am more thankful that Monstro/Shiloh had not been chosen by anyone else. People have no idea of what a wonderful boy they missed out on. Yikes this has gotten long so now will say good night.”

I couldn’t be prouder of that amazing boy.

Not many dogs have that calm, gentle demeanor a lot of our dogs possess.

I wouldn’t have any other giant breed.

And while every one of our dogs is an individual, Shiloh really represents the best of our American Dirus dogs.

Don’t overlook our adult dogs still hoping for their forever homes.

Just like Shiloh, the puppy phase has passed, and a certain maturity takes its place.

While we look toward the “Luck of the Irish” litter arriving into the world soon, take a moment to ponder giving an older dog a chance to embrace the family life.

You might be surprised by how nice it is to have a calm, gentle dog in the home.

https://direwolfdogs.com/dogs-for-sale/adults/

Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.