Love For Tennis Balls

The owner wrote, “First, he loves tennis balls, and he loves to hoard them. He usually always has two in his mouth, and he tries to get a third in there too.” A tiny smile appeared on Anthony’s face. He continued reading, “It doesn’t matter where you throw them; he’ll jump right after, so be careful- really don’t do it by any roads. I nearly made that mistake once.”

Commands

The owner spoke highly of how Reggie can follow commands and gestures easily, he said, “Reggie knows the obvious commands- sit, stay, come. He knows hand signals: ‘back’ to turn around and go back when you put your hand straight up; and ‘over’ if you put your hand out right or left. ‘Shake’ for shaking the water off and ‘paw’ for a high- five.”

Trained Pupper

The owner continued, “He does ‘down’ when he feels like lying down…He knows ball and food and bone and treats like nobody’s business. I trained Reggie with small food treats. Nothing opens his ears like little pieces of hot dogs.” So it was clear to Anthony that Reggie was trained by his previous owner.

No Vets

The previous owner also warned Anthony about something which didn’t come as a surprise, he wrote, “Be forewarned: Reggie doesn’t like the vet. Good luck getting him in the car – I don’t know exactly how he knows when it’s time for him to go to the vet, but he can somehow sense it.”

Keep Him Involved

The owner suggested how Reggie should be showered with lots of attention, “Finally, be patient with him. I have never been married, so it’s only been me in his whole life. He’s used to going everywhere with me, so please take him on your daily car rides if you can. He loved to be around people, especially me. Which means this transition is going to be hard with him going to live with someone new.”

Things Began To Make Sense

This letter was slowly helping Anthony in understanding Reggie better. His fear, his lack of interest, his mood to be left alone, it all made sense to him. He lived with one man his whole life so of course, it was difficult for him to live with a new owner.