June 25, 2022:

Sawyer has been adopted and is living the quiet country life! Sawyer discovered a mulberry tree in the backyard and liked the smell so much that he rolled around in the mulberries. He ended up having blue spots all over and he is rocking the tie dye dog look. It’s great to see him coming out of his shell.

When Sawyer sees his new doggie sister Gracie smelling something in the yard he will run over to check it out. He also loves his squeaky toys but will only squeak them when he thinks no one is looking.

We are all so happy that Sawyer has found his perfect forever home and are looking forward to more updates on his progress from his new family. Thank you to everyone that helped him along the way, and there have been many involved! He has made great progress and seems more settled and happy with his new life.

June 15, 2022:

February 8, 2022:

Sawyer is available and looking for his forever family.
He is from a hoarding house originally, so he missed out on early critical socialization. What does this mean? Mainly that human touch and attention is utterly foreign and not relaxing for him.
His ideal people:
Are patient and understand forcing affection on him will not convince him to “like petting”
Live somewhere more rural – he loves loves loves long hikes on a long line but is phobic of cars. He will bolt and not look back.
Will have at least one other dog – he is dog tolerant, gets along easily but is not interested in play, etc, except if it is snowing. He does prefer female dogs.
Will be happy to provide him comfy areas around the house. As he grows more comfortable he expands his comfort zone and will choose to be quietly nearby.
Are open to the idea of providing a true “rescue” home that is more about meeting his needs than satisfying their own dreams about what a dog can fulfill for a human
Sawyer is:
Quiet
Crate trained
House Trained/Potty Trained
Walks well on leash (if no cars)
Volunteers for his leash to be put on once comfortable
Cat safe and enjoys hanging out with my barn cats when they join us on walks.

December 27, 2021:

Santa Claus was good to Sawyer, he got a new bed for Christmas and he LOVES it! He also loves snow and going on hikes.

He has gained 5 lbs. so is filled out nicely and his fur has come in very thick. His tail is also filling out and he is now looking like a proper dog.

Sawyer is a very easy dog and doesn’t have an aggressive bone in his body! He gets along with cats and other dogs, but he tends to like females dogs more than males. He is terrified of moving cars so he would much prefer living in the quiet countryside! He will also require a physical fence, as he is still a high flight risk.

November 11, 2021:

Sawyer is in his 5th week at board & train. He is settling more and it happened right around the 4 week mark, which is a pretty common time. . He is opening up some and actually smells my hand on purpose, which is very new. He spends a lot more time out of his (open) crate by choice and will walk out to meet me we I pick up his leash. He no longer flinches when I put it on him and he is getting braver to come on longer hikes further from home.

He was very afraid of the crunch of the leaves when they first fell so we had to make a special path to his “poop spot”. His is still doing well with hand feeding and even took some food from me while out walking on a leash.

He has more facial expressions now and I’m excited to see how he continues to change.

October 6, 2021:

Sawyer is taking baby steps in accepting living in a home with people. He will come into the house on his own and usually lays in the bedroom on a dog bed. He will sometimes come out into the living room and lay on that dog bed. He sleeps in the bedroom with all the other dogs. He will not willingly come to a human so when he is outside we cannot get near him. When I go to him when he is on the dog bed he tries to get as far away as possible. I have been working on touching him small increments. He did have a vet check and he is healthy. She stated she has high hopes for him since he let her exam him without incident. It will just take time. Sawyer is afraid on taking walks along our road. The cars scare him and he will shrink back and try to go home. We are taking a pause on walks. I do walk him around the back area of our property if I can get him on a lead. Our biggest challenge is potty training. He will mark in the house when we are not watching him carefully.. He also pees in our enclosed porch when we are not home.

September 7, 2021:

Sawyer is doing fairly well. We have been working on walking on leash around our property. We have also gone up to one whole block on the road for a walk. That to me is progress!!!! He is still not a fan of humans but we see steady progress here too. He has ventured into our house more where we are. He seems to prefer to do it when it is quieter. He even walked up and sniffed my husband. We have had to put him back on a long lead in the fenced in yard in order to get him into the house. He wants to be a free dog which means on his own. I see a lot of Border Collie in him and I say he is basically a blond border collie if there is such a thing. He is smart, energetic and can figure out how to get where he wants. He went over the baby gate to get outside

August 22, 2021:

Sawyer has been doing quite well in his new foster home. After his adventures he was moved to a home with a fence. I had to cut out a lot of burrs and brush him quite a bit just to get an idea of what he looks like. Now he just has a bad hair cut. He is eating and drinking well. He ignores all the other dogs but watches them. In fact, he watches everything when we are outside. He is an observant dog. He has learned the command “leash” when I put a leash on him. He is not allowed free roam of the outside because he is still skittish of humans. He needs to learn that we are safe. I do let him run around with a long lead attached to him so I can get him when it is time to come in. Today we had our first stroll outside of the fence and he did great. He is not house trained and I will begin crate training. I wanted to give him a week to settle in before I did it. He likes to rip apart cloth pee pads more than the paper ones. I have found he likes squeaky toys but will eventually kill the squeaker and rip it apart. More information to come as I get to know him and he gets used to us.

August 13, 2021:

Sawyer has had a tough time since the last update. He had to go to the vet, for dehydration, and found the whole experience so very stressful that he required light sedation. When he got back to his foster home, he bolted. It was rush hour and he held up the traffic as he sprinted down the middle of a busy street. Fortunately, his guardian angels were working fast and furious. The traffic stopped. Sawyer reached the woods. There were sightings that night and then nothing reported for a week. The search area was extended. Trail cameras set up. Then a live trap. Finally, he was safely returned to his previous foster home. Today, Sawyer is going to live in another foster home, where he will have his needs better met. Aside from his anxiety, he is still so gentle and sweet. GRRoW remains committed to helping this guy achieve a good outcome.

July 29, 2021:

Sawyer has been in his foster home for almost a week. He is settling in slowly and has claimed 2 safe spots. Those spots now have comfy beds to lie on and Sawyer is allowing himself the luxury of lying on them. Fear is still strong. But, this is a quiet place to gain trust. Tincture of time is hopefully the answer.

July 25, 2021:

Sawyer is new in foster care. More information will follow.