This is a foster dog diary post. New information about Ilo will be added to the end of this post so all info on this dog is in one place and in chronological order.
Post last updated: April 10, 2017

Ilo arrived March 7th. That name is spelled eye – ell – oh, and pronounced “Ee-low”. Ilo is a white Husky with blue eyes, he is around 1 year old and weighs (guessing here) around 50 pounds. He appears to be in good health.

Ilo’s History

Ilo was adopted locally as a puppy. He spent most of his life on a chain in the yard. He didn’t even have a collar: they just wrapped the chain around his neck and fastened it. As a result he has a gray band around his neck that will be difficult to remove. In time, that hair will shed out, so it will go away. Eventually.

One of our rescue families talked that family into surrendering him. Ilo is here for evaluation and training. His shots are current. He will be heartworm tested when he goes in for neutering on the 17th.
NOTE: That test came back negative, so he is now on a HW preventative to keep him safe.

March 8th, 2017 by Doug

When Ilo arrived, all the dogs went out to make his acquaintance. Everyone but Gator gave him a dew-claws-up right away. Ilo and Gator exchanged words for a while, but once they got that sorted out, they seem to be friendly. Gator even asks to go outside just to run to Ilo’s pen, check on him, then run back to the door to go in again.

Ilo and Valentina are amiable neighbors, and when Val goes in the house Ilo howls mournfully because he misses her.

Blondie Bear has consented to teach Ilo how to play nicely with other dogs. Since we don’t know much about his background, we don’t know if he’s been around other dogs before, so we’ll take it slow.

I did formal introductions with Ilo on a leash and Blondie engaging as she felt comfortable. For a while she hung back, just out of Ilo’s range and assessed him. Some mutual butt sniffing followed, and both were okay with that. Once she had a handle on his behavior she invited him to play. He accepted, and I let them run around the yard while I did a “clean-up” run through the yard.

Play was interrupted by distant gun fire Blondie is scared of gunfire…

March 10, 2017 by Doug

Today I let Ilo and Valentina play together. Yesterday I introduced them and let them play briefly, but Blondie was in the mix too and that was too much for poor Ilo. I also have a special treat for Ilo after play time.

March 17, 2017 by Doug

Temperatures got down into the teens for the past two nights. Ilo would probably have weathered these okay, but I doubt he would have enjoyed it and since we could do something about that, we did.

We set up a crate for Ilo in our laundry room. It stays a bit cooler there (because of the back door) than anywhere else in the house: we were afraid he’d get uncomfortably warm elsewhere.

Ilo did well. Both nights he went into his crate at bedtime without coercion, accepted his chew treat, and happily worked on that as we all settled in for sleep. He slept through the night and was calm and quiet in the morning. I let him out to potty when I got up. He took care of business and came right back to the door. I let him stay in his crate until it warmed up outside. My criteria on this is that he has to be able to have liquid water available.

Huskies will tolerate, even enjoy, colder temperatures than many other breeds but if the water bowl ices over to the point he can’t drink, it’s too cold even for him.

March 23, 2017 by Doug

Ilo went in for neutering this morning. I crated him in the back of the truck because I had Valentina inside the truck with me and had Marie riding along as well so I could drop her off at work.

There is room for two dogs in the extended-cab portion of out pick-up, but Ilo and Val tend to engage in rowdy play whenever they get together. having the two of them thrashing around back there while I’m trying to drive would not be good.

Ilo rode well, but he did throw up a little bit. He hadn’t eaten since dinner yesterday, so it was just a little liquid, but he may tend toward nausea in a vehicle. It might be different if he were free to roam around in the “back seat”. But it might not, so whoever gets him next should be aware of that. Ilo won’t be going anywhere for a few weeks, so I’ll try to get him out for a regular ride in that time and see how he does.

I went two pick up our two surgery patients. Both were awake but neither was able to walk yet, so I carried them each to the truck and then to their “rooms” when we got home.

March 25, 2017 by Doug

For the past coupe of days Ilo has been glaring at me accusingly, but he has bounced back and is past the debilitating soreness of being neutered. Today I asked if he wanted to come out and train, his response was enthusiastic once again. I think he’s forgiven me:

Eager to play, Ilo decided to start without me, but I headed that off while I finished cleaning up the play yard. The we got down to business, just Ilo, me, and a pocket of small, high-value treats.

Ilo had already mastered “in your room” and “down” (as in don’t jump on me), today we continued working on “come” and “sit”. By the end of today’s session he had been able to correctly respond to these several times consecutively. Marie came out to see how he was doing and I asked her to try. He performed flawlessly for her too. Good Boy, Ilo!

The next step will be to begin housebreaking. But I promised Cochise one full weekend with no foster dogs in “his” house so he can un-stress for a bit. He appreciates that!

March 26, 2017 by Doug

Ilo remembered his training and again complied to the “come” and “sit” commands, even when he was clear across the yard, he came galloping over as soon as I called him. That’s the power of high-value treats! We are now working on the “paw” command.

This afternoon during his play time he decided to eat our house. Bad boy! So it was back to his pen. But he and Charlie are to get special treats this afternoon, so I gave those out. Much better to chew on than out corner trim!

March 30, 2017 by Cochise BigDog

As far as any of us know, the only times Ilo has traveled he has been in a crate. Today, HairyFace took Ilo on a long truck ride as he ran errands.

The first stop was the Bear Den, which is at the end of a long gravel road. Ilo was not fond of the rough road. Hairy went inside the store and left Ilo belted into his seat by himself for a few minutes. All was well when he returned.

Then they went way back the other way to Newport. They stopped at the gas station where Hairy puts stinky stuff in the truck, the post office, and the drive-through cookie store.

I love the cookie store! There is a nice lady behind a big glass window. A drawer slides out, hairy puts pieces of paper in the drawer and it slides in. The lady does some stuff inside and when the drawer opens again there are some different pieces of paper and a treat for ME! Or … in this case: Ilo.

Maybe I’ll get to go next time.

April 8, 2017 by Doug

It’s Saturday. More specifically, it is a Saturday that I don’t have to go off to work at 7:00 am, therefore one of those rare days when Marie can sleep in. So she did. I was up at 4:30 as is normal for me. The dogs milled around, went out when they needed, but kept quiet. Even Lego (Ilo’s vocal neighbor) kept quiet.

When I finally came out with their breakfasts, Ilo was giving me the silent treatment. He was still eager to get out for a run and to have his breakfast, just not talking to me about it!

April 10, 2017 by Doug

Ilo found a laundry detergent jug that Marie had set out for recycling and, being Ilo, he decided to turn it into a toy.

At first I was going to take it away from him: we have proper dog toys, but he doesn’t like those. He likes this. So I took it from him just long enough to rinse it out with the hose, then gave it back to him. If it makes him happy …