Category: dogs

Bandit is a three and half year old, twenty-seven pound Boston Terrier who has had a bit of a rough start to life. His first family dumped him in the backyard and paid very little attention to him for a couple of years before surrendering him to his second family. His second family didn’t have him long before he damaged his left eye, which became badly infected. They couldn’t afford to have it treated and surrendered him to a Boston Terrier rescue group. They paid to have the eye (which could not be salvaged) removed, treated him for tape worms, and made sure he had all of his vaccinations up to date.

A friend of mine was fostering him for the rescue group and decided that he would be the perfect dog for us. He has been living with us since Tuesday. Rion is starting to grudgingly come around on the topic, especially since we have been working to convince Rion that Bandit is JACK’s dog, and not MY dog.

It is hard to get a good photo of Bandit, since he nearly always flattens his ears as soon as he makes eye contact. He is also quite active, and starts moving towards me any time he thinks I am paying attention to him.  We are working on “sit”, “stay”, “come”, “wait” and “off”.  He is very quick to learn and willing to please.

Although he is quite deferential to Rion his deference seems to be more a matter of good nature than submissiveness or fear.  He is very good about being crated, which is invaluable when anyone in the household (including Bandit) needs a time out.  In this photo, he is wearing his harness as well as a collar because evidently a harness is recommended in this breed so they won’t damage themselves pulling. Loose leash walking is going to be a real challenge with this guy.

Despite his lack of one eye, I am hoping to do agility with him. He has the energy levels, and is as agile as a cat. The first day he was here I watched him jump from the floor to the dining room table from a standstill.

When I think it’s cold, I wrap Rion in a blanket. He doesn’t seem to mind.

For a short while the sun broke through this morning, allowing Rion to do his favorite morning activity (besides eating) of basking in the sunlight. We have all been sulking a bit because there has been so little sunshine recently. According to the weather station at the Air Force Academy, which closely resembles our micro-clime, we have had 9.7 inches of rain this May. The average amount to date is 0.32 inches.