Rowdy Rebel

So, Rebel. The one that I described as chill and a non-chewer in the last blog? Yep, not the way I'd describe him anymore. In the past few days he has taken a chunk out of our bed frame....our brand new bed frame. He has eaten a strip of E's swim trunks. And he LOVES chewing on empty plastic water bottles. He has an adversity to chewing dog bones unless they're small and can be eaten within a few bites. And chill? Ha! He is only if he can see one of his people. If he can hear us but can't see us queue the howling and whining. After 9 days with us he still whines and howls when we put him in the laundry room at night. Last night we put him in one of the boys' rooms to see how that'd work. It worked great for me because I never heard him. But he kept our son up because he couldn't decide where he wanted to sleep.
This morning I wanted to "sleep in" (ie wake up at 6:15 but lay in bed and read until I had to get up). But, Rebel was up so I fed him and put him in the dog run. We've had a lot of rain this week and the dog run is grassy *insert muddy*. Rebel decided that he wanted to come back inside once he had eaten so he started digging under the fence. He was whining and howling so loud that I finally gave up on staying in bed. When I went to bring him in he was COVERED in mud. He's not supposed to take a bath for another week so I wiped him down the best I could.....and mopped again for the 5th time in 3 days.
One thing about Rebel is that he is SUPER smart! Like, probably the smartest dog I've ever had who hasn't had formal training. I have been working with him on walking on and off a leash. He has quickly learned that he needs to be on my right side and does this a lot without me reminding him. He had me laughing (and frustrated) yesterday because I forgot to bring the dog treats with us on our walk. Somehow he knew I didn't have them and he acted like he couldn't hear his commands. Little stinker! He did come back eventually after he got tired of sniffing the neighbor's yard.
Since we were told he had been thrown out of a car as a puppy, I am working on building his trust in vehicles. It's been super hot here the past couple days. But, if I am not leaving my car (dropping P off at a friends'. going through a drive-thru, etc) I put him in the back. The first time I put him back there, he jumped right back out 3 times. The second time I put him in there, he sat there with his tail between his legs, shaking. But by the third time he knew he was safe. He let me put him in there and sat obediently as I closed the back hatch.
Another big change is he's lost his cone of shame. It came off yesterday and what a difference that made! He isn't scraping up our legs with it and even Fetcha decided she likes Rebel now. They've played a bit and, knock on wood, she hasn't attacked him like she did Charlie when he was a puppy. Eventually I think they'll get along great.
I'm still nervous about him with other people because of how fast Charlie changed on us but so far he has yet to meet a stranger. He likes watching the boys play in the pool but is not high strung like Charlie was. We taught him how to "hug" by putting his front paws up on us. But we decided that probably wasn't a good trick right now because he could easily knock people off balance if they weren't ready for his hug. He has pretty much mastered the "sit" command and does well on walks. Other than yesterday, he comes when called. So, if he continues to be friendly with people and other dogs he'll be the perfect addition to our family. Fingers crossed that's the case....