Rambunctious Giuseppe

by Elena
(Lincoln, MA)

Our Giuseppe is now 10 months old. It's hard to believe how much he's grown since we adopted him at 10 weeks old. He came to us with a bad case of Ringworm from a breeder whom started out trustworthy but then was sneaky about his 'patches.' We took him anyways and went straight to the vet. After nursing him through this itchy ordeal for two months he was finally Ringworm free right before Christmas.

He and I share a birthday (July 13!) and when I heard that was when he was born, it made me want him even more. He is feisty, loving, grumpy, boisterous and so playful. He comes with many personality traits! While he was a breeze to house train and crate train, his behaviors have been harder to deal with...but we're on to our second trainer and we hope he can help us manage his resource guarding, leash-pulling and high-strung personality. He can be a fearful and anxious little guy which I think makes him rather challenging to train. However, we are slowly but surely getting there with him but it's hard because his is in his 'teenage' years. This is even hard on me because I have two kids who are just starting puberty! Aaargh!!!

Giuseppe loves dogs and people but can be tough on his family sometimes. He challenges us at times but we know that we have to be in control at all times! We have to stay one step ahead of him always!

His anxiety can give him a nervous stomach so after playing with digestive enzymes, probiotics, (he's raw-fed..Primal Pet diet) we broke down via the vet's suggestion and started him on Pepcid 2 months ago because his appetite dropped.

He's now a heavy 13+ pounds, hates the heat but loves the New England cold ( why, I don't know??), I'm assuming he's almost full-grown. He can be a pain-in-the-butt picky eater except with treats (hhhmmmmmm), and thinks he is a Rottweiler. He prefers large dogs over small ones, flips on his back whenever he sees us, and jumps so high we can almost see face to face. It's nice to be here!

Best,
Elena
Lincoln, MA