Bentley - Adopted January, 2008
Bentley sent an update in July 2009:
Hi everybody! Happy summer!
I’ve decided that I still like snowy winters more than warm summers, but there are some benefits that come with warmer weather… I can stick my head out of the car window all of the time, there’s no “bad time” to go to the airport dog park, and there are tons of people and dogs to bark at as they walk by the house!
My mom and my Uncle David built a fence around the back yard a few weeks ago, so now I get to hang out with them in the yard without having to be on the leash! Some of my favorite activities in the back yard are chewing sticks into mulch and helping myself to the strawberries on the plants when I think no one is looking, but mostly I just like hanging out with Mom and Uncle David. Mom has promised to get a chaise lounge for the patio so I can sit in someone’s lap when we’re out there; once we have that, everything will be perfect! Mom took a picture of me last weekend while we were out relaxing – when there isn’t a good breeze outside they bring a portable fan outside for us, and I was patiently waiting for someone with opposable thumbs to turn it on. (Note the conspicuously empty dog bed on the right…)
Mom has us signed up for some more obedience classes – something about not pulling on the leash when we’re walking and not jumping up on people when I want to say hi… I’ll go along and support her desire to further her education, as long as she brings pieces of Beggin’ Strips or some chicken hot dogs again! Yummmmm!
Hope to see you all the next time we drop by to pick up treats when you’re at the store for an adoption day! Enjoy the rest of the summer!
Love,
Bentley
P.S. I had some DNA testing done with the test that you have linked on your website. They can’t tell what my primary breed is, but my secondary breed is German Shepherd, and it turns out that I also have some Chesapeake Bay Retriever and Boxer in the mix!
Bentley sent a holiday greeting in December, 2008:
Dear All Dog Rescue,
Happy Holidays!
It’s hard to believe that it’s almost a year since I was adopted, but that anniversary is just a few weeks away!
Mom says that I’m now so grown up that I don't have to sleep in the kennel at night anymore – I even get to sleep on the big bed when I want! I love being able to cuddle up next to Mom at bedtime, although I usually move to the cool floor or my own bed during the night. I'm not as big as Mom thought I'd be (I'm a petite 80 pounds, rather than the 100 that was originally estimated), so I only take up about half of the bed. Mom says that the only real problem with having me outside of the kennel at night occurs when she’s ready for bed and I’m not... Apparently she doesn’t find the sound of squeaky toys as soothing as I do.
I still nap in the kennel if I'm home alone during the day, but I still go to Downtown Dogs once or twice a week. My two-legged friends at daycare talk about how gentle I am with the small dogs, so most of the time I spend the day with the little guys and a few other gentle big dogs. Mom thinks it's a great idea because I come home really tired at the end of the day (those little guys never seem to slow down – they just keep going and going and going…).
I love to ride in the car, although it's disappointing that Mom keeps the windows rolled up when it's cold outside. Last summer we discovered the dog park by the Minneapolis Airport Commission, and this is our new favorite place to play. I always go around and say hi to all the people, and everyone always gives me pats and tells me how handsome I am! I love to chase tennis balls, but I get really excited when there is snow on the ground that I can play and roll around in. I LOVE THE SNOW! Love the snow, love the snow, love the snow!!! My uncle David took the picture attached this past weekend during a trip to the park, right before we went to see Santa. I even have my own Christmas stocking shaped like a paw (even though Mom moved it from it's original place to a higher spot so that I couldn't personally check to see if anything was in it yet).
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love, Bentley
Bentley sent us an update in April 2008 on his life in his wonderful new forever home:
Hi All Dogs and Kathryn!
I just wanted to send an update to let you know how great I'm doing!
I am a really good boy - no accidents in the house since early in the second week I was here, and that was almost three months ago! I have really settled in and know the routine now; I go right into my kennel at bedtime (or for the occasional nap, although I like that less), and I listen to my mom really well... Unless I'm sniffing out something important, like one of the cats hiding under the bed. They still don't want to play with me, which is really disappointing. But they have taught me that it's really important that I don't even THINK about getting into the cat food; now I don't even look at it when I walk by it to go outside. And generally speaking, I've stopped chewing on things I'm not supposed to... Except for when Mom is busy and not paying attention to me... Then I start chewing on something, but only something that's in the room where she's working which seems to her attention pretty quickly (I told you she'd be trainable). But usually I'm really gentle and don't even rip the stuffing out of my soft toys (the fuzzy ones are my favorites). Tags on things are a different story though; they're dangerous, and must be destroyed.
I still go to Downtown Dogs for daycare every day while Mom is at work; I like playing with my two- and four-legged pals and getting drooled on all day. Mom says she likes that I come home really tired... And if I'm too tired to play with my toys after I eat dinner, I just take one or two of them into my favorite chair or into the sofa and doze...
I'm officially spoiled (as proven by the photos attached). Life is good!
Love, Bentley
Me before daycare…
Me after daycare…
Are you SURE can’t I bark at EVERYTHING that goes by???
Daydreaming about barking at everything that goes by…
Max taught me that cat food isn’t good for dogs… Especially me…
Meeka always seems to look like this when I’m in the room.
Here is Bentley's first letter back to All Dog Rescue after he was adopted by his new family:
Dear All Dog Rescue,
Thanks so much for taking such good care of me until I found my "forever home". I've started to settle in (I've started giving my new mom kisses, and rolling over to ask for belly rubs), and my new mom seems pretty trainable: She knows that I like to sleep on the sofa, which toys and bones I like, and which dog parks are the best. Now if only I could train her to put away those gates that keep me out of the areas of the house reserved for the cats... I know they'd like me if they could spend more time with me! Just because I'm big and bouncy and roughly nine times their size doesn't mean we can't be friends; they just need more play time to convince them.
I still get to go to Downtown Dogs for daycare most days when Mom goes to work; once I figured out that she always comes back for me, I was OK with the idea. And it means that I get to see my pals - my two-legged friends there (who gave me lots of cuddles when I was being fostered there) are really glad that they get to keep getting my bear hugs! Mom says she figures that being there will help me burn off energy since I'm still just a pup, but I have her convinced that a daily trip to the dog park afterward is a better guarantee that I'll stay out of mischief when we get home. If I'm tired enough, I don't even whine when I go in my kennel at night, which I now do on command, with a few motivational treats! (Sometimes when I hear the lid on the cookie jar I start to head that way!) Mom says that in a couple of weeks we'll start going to something called "obedience class"; that's probably a good thing - she could use a little more training, but I think she's smart enough to figure things out.
Thanks again for taking such great care of me, and for helping me and my mom find each other!
Love,
Bentley
Hi. I’m Bentley. These are my favorite new toys.
Really. I like these best.
My favorite spot on the couch.
Tired after a long walk on Sunday morning.