HADES => Brady
STATE: ME
AGE: 6 years
WEIGHT: Approx 70 lbs.
SEX: Male
NEUT/UTD: Yes/No
COAT COLOR: Fawn with black mask
DOCKED TAIL
NATURAL EARS
CHILDREN UNDER 4: Unsure
CHILDREN OVER 4: Yes
SEPARATION ANXIETY: No
OTHER DOGS: Yes
CATS: Yes
CRATE TRAINED: Yes
HOUSE TRAINED: Yes
OBEDIENCE TRAINED: Unsure
LEASH TRAINED: Unsure
ATTENDING OBEDIENCE: No
MICROCHIPPED: Unsure
ADOPTION FEE: $250
UPDATED - Well it's starting to feel as if Brady finally realizes he's home. As you can see in the
attached pictures, he's quite comfortable on the living room furniture these days (thank goodness for king
size sheets!). He also seems to be doing much better with his older "brother", Rocky. We still have to
watch them whenever there's food around, but otherwise, Brady seems to be fine sharing our attention
with him.
Brady is also becoming more playful with us - although his stamina comes in short bursts. When we play
fetch, we can count on 3 or 4 runs before he has to stop for a drink of water! When he gets really tired
(his maximum number of runs has been 7 so far), he'll walk right past us, find a good spot and just lay
down!
We recently stumbled across his favorite toy when a friend of mine gave our cat a new toy - a ball that
flashes colored lights when it moves. I tossed the ball to the floor for kitty, but the poor thing never had
a chance to get near it. Brady pounced on it and claimed it as his own right away! We've since
replaced it with a bigger, stronger ball - as long as it flashes he doesn't seem to mind! He's quite the
sight at night - sitting in the picture window with this bright yellow flashing light going off in his mouth!
Thanks to him, it may be a bit early, but we already have the perfect Halloween decoration!!
UPDATE 6/2/05 - When he first arrived, we weren't sure this was going to be a good match.
He was awesome with Richard and I, and has always tolerated our kitten with
no problem - but he wasn't all that fond of our blind, 14 year old cocker
spaniel (Rocky). I've had Rocky since the day he was born, and he's been my
"velcro puppy" for a few years now, so I was really concerned about putting
him in danger. Whenever there was food around or whenever Rocky would try
to get past Brady to come to me, Brady would growl and snap at him. Our
first boxer, Bruno, had NO issue with Rocky, so that's pretty much what we
expected from Brady. After doing a lot of research, though, I realized that
Bruno spoiled us and Brady's reaction was more normal. We all just needed
time, patience and work - so that's what we've been doing ever since.
We enrolled in obiedience training (Brady just got his certificate last
night - he passed with flying colors, by the way!), and just keep giving him
lots of love and attention. Our trainer recommended that we cautiously give
him treats whenever Rocky was around, so he'd start to associate Rocky with
"good things". We'd gate Rocky away from Brady, and give Brady treats over
the gate as long as he wasn't snarling/growling as I'd give Rocky attention.
We just recently reached our 3 month mark, and have definitely seen a big
improvement. We still have to be careful whenever there's food around
(they're fed separately - and only get treats when I know both are safe),
but otherwise, they seem to be doing OK with each other. They're still not
"best buds", so Brady still walks around with a "drag line" when we're home
(which I think has endeared him to kitty, who loves to chase the leash
whenever Brady moves!), and we still keep them separated whenever we're not
with them...but it's more an issue of me wanting to err on the side of
caution...otherwise they're doing fine.
Brady is still awesome with the humans in the house...whenever we come home,
he greats us with all kinds of noise...and runs around the living room and
kitchen until he sees his leash. When it's time to go for his walk, he
likes to take his leash in his mouth and walk himself to the door - it's
pretty funny to watch! He also loves to play tug of war and fetch - but
tires pretty quickly. The most I've seen him do so far is 7 passes at
fetch. When he stops for a drink, walks past us and lays down on the couch,
we know he's done! His best event is "cuddling"...he can do that for
HOURS...maybe even days!! We tell people he's our 70 lb lap dog...and he's
happy to prove that to everyone he meets!
We're SO glad he's become a part of our family, and appreciate everything
everyone at SCBR has done to make us a family!!
Hope this wasn't too long...I'll try to keep it shorter next time! :-)
UPDATE 4/23/05 - Brady is settling in nicely. He's still not overly fond of his Cocker Spaniel brother,
but seems to be tolerating him a bit more these days. He did growl a bit at him just this morning, but
these incidents are fewer and far between now (yeah!). Brady is adapting quite nicely to his feline
brother, though. Kitty has taken a few gentle swipes at him in recent days, but Brady just looks at him
and walks away - with lots of 'Good Boy, Brady's' ringing in his ears! Kitty still arches his back and
hisses at times, but he's also starting to rub up against his 'big brother' more too - a sure sign that he's
becoming an accepted member of the family. Brady still loves his walks with his human Mom and Dad,
and is doing really well with 'heal'. The 'free time' part at the end is especially fun for him, though. He has
a cool move that we call the 'helicopter' whenever he finishes his walk with his Dad. Richard lets go of
the leash when it's time to go in. As Brady runs toward the house, he gets so excited that he spins himself
around in circles, and gets his leash spinning like helicopter blades! So far, he's remained on the ground -
but it wouldn't surprise me to see him achieve lift off one of these days! :-)
UPDATE 4/6/05 - Sorry this is so late - I had problems submitting it via the original form, so I sent this
to Julie and LeAnn via e-mail. Thanks for updating the form!! :-) March 27 Update: Well, things started
off a bit shaky for us. Brady didn't care for Rocky, our blind, 14 year old cocker spaniel. While there
were times when they'd be fine with each other, if Rocky got anywhere near him when we were cooking,
Brady would growl. He'd also growl whenever Rocky would try to get past him to come near me - and
even snapped at Rocky a few times, which really had us concerned. A friend of ours who has lots of
experience with animals also felt that he was exhibiting aggressive behavior toward her, and that had us
worried. Because of this, we set up consultations with 3 differnt trainers within the first week.
Fortunately, everyone basically said the same thing: Brady's a good dog, he just needs time to adjust to
his new family. We hired one of the trainers to work with us on obedience training, and we're all feeling
2/26/05 - Hades has been adopted!
2/21/05 - Hades arrived on Friday thanks to Mike for driving in the snow to pick him up from one of
the shelters. Hades just turned 6 years old January 3rd & is a fawn boy with a black mask, white on his
chest & toes, docked tail & natural ears. He was turned into the shelter as his owner said he was too
protective of his home. So far all I have seen is one BIG mush ball! He is not a tall boy, but boy he did
not miss a meal or a snack in his last home! LOL He lived with a cat, dog & teenager in his last home &
got along with all. Hades is great with my cats & 3 dogs & the birds--no issues at all. He is also crate
trained, housetrained & just a good old couch potato who loves to cuddle on the couch. He is use to
sleeping in the house with free run & in the bedroom & he did great. Hopefully I can get some pictures
this weekend at the BRAD in South Portland so you can see how sweet he is! Stay tuned for more
updates on this Greek God-Hades!