Such a sweetheart

Ok it's been 6 days...and he's still lazy! I guess I should still give it more time in case he is still coping with stress by sleeping...but there is no way the dog that I know right now is high energy! On a scale of 1-10 (10 being a working dog who can go for 24 hours a day and who would be happiest with a job to do all the time), I'd put Mia at an 8, Abby at a 7...and Baz, well, he's about a 5 right now! When we go to the field, he'll run around the whole time, but without any of the intensity that Abby and Mia have. I don't think he'd turn down a walk, but he definitely isn't pacing around asking for one. Half the time he'd rather rest on the bed than do training for treats! Maybe he was described as high energy because he was getting either no walks or just a short leash walk, and had no dogs in the house to play with. In this house, though - definitely low energy.

I'm not sure how I feel about that now that I'm used to high energy dogs. In a way, it's great. He's got perfect house manners; when I'm in the kitchen, he goes in the living room and sleeps on his bed. After a walk he settles down instantly and sleeps all day. He doesn't jump on people much, and he's only jumped on the counter once or twice. He's basically the exact second dog that I described. He has loved everyone that he's met, and is great with all dogs. He completely ignores cats, which caught Peppy off guard. Baz ran right by him and Peppy was so shocked at the complete lack of attention that he didn't even bother to attack Baz. It was amazing!

I don't know how well it would work for me to have a dog like Baz permanently, though. Abby is not and will never be a dog park dog. When we are out, she is all business - we play fetch and other dogs are ignored (ideally, since chasing is not an acceptable form of interaction!). Baz is a dog park dog. He wants to romp around and be goofy. He will chase a ball, but isn't really into playing fetch. If I can train him to be really into fetch, I might feel differently about being able to keep him. Right now, though, it's hard for me to imagine how I would manage two dogs that are so different. It's almost impossible for me to pay attention to Abby (ie. throwing the ball every 2 seconds) while also paying attention to Basil (ie. making sure he doesn't cause any trouble or run off the field).

I'm just going to give it time, I guess, and hopefully I'll get some feeling about what I want to do. Another minor detail is that Baz is quite a bit bigger than the dog I had envisioned. He is such a sweetheart!