My dog freeked at the bit not collar. It imobilizes the neck. For a long nosed dog it might be better but my boxer paniced and di much better in the cone. I do like the look of the donut.

Just a quick update on Rocket. He started using the doggy door last night and is running full speed through it today. House training is about 90% with him pooping outside 100% of the time. He understands sit and will mostly stay in a sit until you release him although he doesn't understand the release word yet. He just knows that when he gets the food he's done. He also really started to play today and was doing laps around the back yard. He also got wormed today to see if that's holding up his weight gain. He is also starting to play with people although he's a little too rough with us. He likes to jump and do body slams. He's a real soft dog though. A firm "No!" gets him to stop. We are still working on counter surfing and staying out of the trash. We have a dog proof trash can except when it gets overfilled. The mixer is just background noise now. He's learned a lot in three days. I just can't imagine why his former owners didn't train such an easily trainable dog.

I have found that people want the dog to train itself. No matter how easily trainable it is, they don't want to put the effort. Sad.

Boxers can be so adorable and cuddly when pups and the body slams and rough play so fun to watch - and then the pup grows and no one wants to work with it. Not so much fun when the dog is older and still frantically doing the same things simply to get attention. I hate hearing about rescues that are this good - it's heartbreaking. I'm so glad that you got him! Does he run figure 8's in the backyard?

Yes he does. We call them boxer burns . We have gotten several foster dogs that are just this good. It is sad but at least they will find a good home through the rescue.

Rocket is still with us due to the sheer volume of dogs that need homes right now. Since he is doing well in our house the priority goes to dogs that are sitting in kennels. Unfortunately more and more people are discovering that they no longer have the money to keep their dogs. So the rescues are getting more dogs turned in but less people willing to adopt. Valley fever test came back negative but he had a little bit of kennel cough earlier this week. Rocket is eating 1 cup of dry food and 1/2 can of wet food 4 times a day. So 4 cups of dry and 2 cans of wet total everyday. He's finally starting to put on some weight. This is the most energetic foster we have had so far. He even beats out the 5 month old and the foster who would jump an 8 foot wall to go play with the neighbors dog. He has a system now. He plays with Ali until he's worn out and then he goes to play with Xena until she's worn out. By that time Ali is ready to play again. It even wears them out more than day camp! We had a minor spat between Xena(2nd of the dogs) and Elvis(alpha of the dogs) and he just wandered over wondering what was going on. He didn't try to get involved at all. He's also only had one accident in the house over the last week or so. He's just been REALLY GOOD for a ten month old Boxer. His only problem is a little bit of counter surfing but that's mostly a management issue. His sit is very solid and he now understands the word instead of just copying the other dogs.

This is why I love Boxers. Give them a chance to burn up some energy daily, spend a little time with OB work, and they are amazing! It's sad about the economy causing more homeless dogs, but I have found that to be true as well.