That's how he's listed in his vet records for now. Xoco was "Puppy 6" for 3 months before we named her.
The vet thinks he's part boxer, part bull dog, part terrier. Other than a cut on his head, and the usual puppy worms, and an infestation of ticks and fleas, the puppy is healthy. The cut, the vet thinks, comes from the puppy crawling in and out of the fence where he used to live and not abuse, as the puppy exhibits no signs of abuse at all.
I thought about buying him his own monkeybed, but he'll outgrow it rather quickly, so I bought him an orange tabby bed which is slightly larger that he can use as a toy or pillow when he's larger.
Xoco does not like him getting near the monkeybeds, but she's OK with him in the tabby bed.
She also does not like him near her rawhides or treats but she's OK with him playing with the soft, fuzzy toys.
Sometimes she forgets he's there and when she sees him it surprises a bark out of her.
I don't know how she will feel as he grows. He is supposed to grow to be about 40 pounds.
He likes his tabby bed and is happy to spend time in it. I brought him to work today for numerous reasons - he can be socialized by all my co-workers and the other people here, not to mention the visitors. I can spend more time training him (he's already getting a clue about potty pads and "sit" and "bed" and he's learning to walk on a leash). He's still on his de-wormer and stuff, so I'm keeping him semi-isolated so he doesn't give anything to my dogs or get something from them. He is still a puppy, however big and bumbling he is. Even though he's not as body large as Itzl and Xoco, he weighs about the same as they do. And Xoco still gets to keep her routine where Itzl and I leave her home alone all day while we go to work. She likes being alone in the house and I'm not sure just how she will take the puppy sharing it with her.
Itzl has re-discovered the joy of being able to jump, and for now, that means he can jump up on things and peer down at Puppy 7. He was particularly pleased to be able to jump into this chair at work and watch Puppy 7 from a distance.
Not that he keeps his distance all the time. Here, he's sprawledon the floor, watching Puppy 7 bumble about.
And he's showing Puppy 7 some of his favorite spots outside.
Puppy 7 does not like grass. This is going to have to change. I understand it's because he was raised on concrete, tarmac, and bare dirt, but I don't have a lot of that available for him.
He is going to be a mostly outdoor dog, since he will be so big, so he's going to have to learn to love the outdoors. I know he's spent his entire life to date outside, so that shouldn't be such a hardship. Itzl and Xoco love grass and plants and flowers. Puppy 7 will have to learn to at least like those things.
I haven't decided if I'm going to keep him or flip him to someone else. He doesn't seem too attached to people, and that, no doubt, is the fault of his upbringing so far. It may also be innate in him or ingrained enough that I won't be able to train it out of him. We'll see. If I can't get him to respond to me as a person (he responds outstandingly well to treats, but ignores praise and signing completely), I will find someone he will respond to and flip him their way.
If I do keep him, based on the vet's prediction of his adult size, the dog house I have out back will fit him just fine. I am going to repaint it and probably move it to a different part of the yard, a more protected area. And I am going to repaint the storage shed outside, which can also double as another dog house if he wants. I have to haul all the stuff out of it and clean the dead leaves out that have blown in, and put a nice dog pillow out there. And clean up and set the patio back up for summer time use. He is definitely going to have to learn to like grass.