Timken Has REALLY Big News!

Timken has something he wants to share with all his fan club. He has been waiting for this for almost 9 months! He asked me to help him say............

Timken won't be moving very far to go to his forever home. In fact....he won't be moving at all! He has officially joined our family and we couldn't be happier! Timken stole our hearts and he fits in so well with our home and our other dogs, and our lifestyle fits Tim! We thought about adopting Tim for quite a few months before making our decision. We are so happy to have made that decision now. How awesome it is to know we will be able to keep witnessing his progress as he blossoms into the rattie he was born to be. And in turn Timken will continue teaching us how we can help him the most by going slow and having a lot of patience and thinking outside of the box. Sounds like a win-win to me.

This isn't the end of Tim blog posts so stay tuned for progress reports and see what adventures he will continue to have with our pack. There will be Timken blog posts in July as he will be doing his first official Nosework class! He and his fur brother Skip are all signed up and ready to go. Nosework is a great confidence builder and we plan to continue to help Tim in that department.

Here are some pictures of Tim's last 8 months in foster care. Looking back makes me realize how far this boy has come. He has had to work really hard to be brave and chance trusting us. He had no reason to trust humans as the only humans he knew before he came into rescue did not give him any reasons to trust them, so he had (and still has) a lot of work ahead of him to get to the place where he can fully trust and feel safe in his fur. We are so privileged to be his family and to continue this work with him.

Tim on his first walk with the pack, with that droopy unsure body language he came to foster care exhibiting.

This was the first time Tim curled up to rest in our home. At the time it was such a milestone and looking at it now I realize how uncomfortable he looks compared to today.

Tim's first interest in a toy, wow was he thin. He had no muscle mass and we remember he even had a hard time running.

Tim had a sore on his leg that he would lick and lick and lick, he was not comfortable with this cone, clearly. Our vet said to let him lick it and he felt it would clear up on it's own. That was a relief and exactly what happened!

Tim learning he loves to be outside in the yard with us. One of the places he really shows his confidence is when he is spending his time in the yard with us.

Tim had been attacked and beat up by the dogs in his previous home which was NOT a home but a back yard breeding facility. But here in our home he is safe with all the other dogs, even the visitors, and that is a wonderful thing for Tim.

This is Tim showing how conflicted he was about being near me. He still can be conflicted but nothing like he was. He will crawl all over us now and give us kisses. Sweet boy...

One of our first attempts and debacle when having Tim meet a new person. This is Tim frozen from fear. Too much too fast. We learned more from this experience I think than any other and Tim has come a long way in feeling safe to meet new people, as long as we are advocating for him all along the way.

He got to experience his first snow with us last winter!

First dog park experience, and from the bug eyes I know this was very stimulating for him. There were no other dogs that day but the new environment was plenty much.

Tim is very sweet with our old girl Jenny Boo. She is 14 years old now and Tim and her hang out quite often which warms our hearts.

Tim showing his confidence level is up now! He loves to go for walks and hikes in the woods and is now comfortable jumping rocks, streams, and climbing over downed trees.

Tim can now relax here at our home and he loves to be on the porch in the sun.

Tim has some new friends too, he had such a good time going visiting and being with other people who let him have his own timeline to get to know them.

Tim's rattiness is emerging more every day.

I love this picture of Tim and Jenny

Past foster dog Neon was a big help in bringing Tim even more out of his shell. He and this puppy girl sure had a great three weeks together.

Tim the bee hunter...

Tim getting some reassurance from dad when we were at a public park. Wonderful to know we will be his home-base forever.

Tim when he visited a friendly coffee shop. He was exhausted from all the newness and visiting, but he did really well!

Tim being fun!

Tim is now a great runner and fetcher. He has built muscle and although he is still sleek he is a ratty fetching machine and has lots and lots of moves. He is amazing!

All that fetching makes for a tired boy...

Tim is learning that making eye contact with us is a good thing. He gets treats when he looks at me.

Birdie and Tim play on a fairly regular basis now. Birdie is our fastest dog but with Tim's new physique he can keep up with her bad ass self.

Tim the squirrel hunter

Beautiful Timken, you aren't going anywhere buddy. Congratulations to all of us!