We’re excited to share an update about a cute little pup named  Charley who was adopted by  Lary and Linda.

Here’s how Lary and Linda say Charley is doing:

“You know him as Sputnik, but that wasn’t really something we could stay with. He’s now renamed Charley, and he hasn’t just blossomed… he’s transformed. When we took him home he would hardly meet our eyes, and his fur was just beginning to regrow. He didn’t want to even go for a walk with my husband when we got home, but when I picked up the leash he changed his mind and led me past the carport, past the patio, past the wood-workshop, and stopped just short of the tree line that’s at the corner of the chicken coop. He’s obviously a city raised doggie, and the change from sunlight to deep shadow had him concerned. Bit the strange sounds from the chicken dome just behind the coop had him interested. He poked his head around the coop and caught sight of the strange critters and went cautiously to check them out. Jean-Luc (our Rooster) saw Charley and herded his hens back into the coop.

Inside the house, Charley saw a couch that looked just like what he’d like to sit on. Then up to the back of the couch where there was a comfy afghan. And imagine his surprise when the couch backed up to a picture window that gave him a view of our back acreage and a close-up view of our back deck feeding station for the critters. He was enthralled! Not three feet away were two types of squirrels and about six types of birds, all ignoring him and just happily feeding.

He decided that I was the human to sleep with, and burrowing under the coverlet and comforter are his favorite evening spots. By the way, he’s a bed hog — he wants to sleep crosswise on the bed and take up a lot of room for a pup that only weighs in at 18 lbs.

We’re still working on our vocabulary. There’s a subtle difference between I WANT to go outside and nose around, and I NEED to go outside and piddle/poo. We’re still working on that one, but most of the time we don’t get an accident.

It took him over a week to finally decide that he trusted his new male human enough to jump up into his lap for a snooze. I personally think it was the afghan in the lap that made him decide it was OK. He now has two afghans of his own and perching rights on the rest of the ones in the house.

He loves car rides, but his tummy is easily upset, so we try to time rides to before he’s had breakfast or very short ones after his feeding. He sits in a doggie bed in the front passenger seat (although he will accept the full backseat as his spot if we have a passenger) on his bum with his front feet on the armrest and his nose against the window. Window licking is a preferred activity too.

Most of the time he’s quite mellow, but everyone in a while he goes crazy and races around and play growls until he exhausts himself. His fur is growing back in nicely but will need a few months to fully fill in. In the meantime, he loves his new sweaters, vest, jackets, and sooner or later his raincoat with visor. All in all, I think we’ve all made a great decision in selecting this particular pup. Thank you all for the work you did making him adoptable. We’re definitely a fur-ever family!”