It’s hard to believe that we’ve let Buster live this long. He turned two today. While he is 100 times better than he used to be, he is still one high maintenance dog.
That said, he’s doing so much better than before that we’re going to try to take him off the medication we put him on last year. Hopefully the training we have done with him has taken effect permanently and he’ll be ok off the meds. If not, we can always keep going with it. We’re going to wean him off slowly because even if we can’t get him off them completely, he might get along fine on a smaller dose.
Buster has finally gotten to the point where we can leave him loose when we leave the house for a little bit. I still don’t trust him enough to leave him loose all day while we’re at work (or elsewhere). I barely trust him when we’re only gone for an hour or two (we just got a new couch last spring and I always picture it ripped to shreds whenever we return home from anywhere and Buster has been left in the living room). However, I have to say he does much better upon our return when he is left loose rather than when we lock him up in the hall (less hysterical barking).
Brian takes care of Buster’s exercise needs, which are also less than they used to be. The two of them go jogging a few days a week. I guess it helps keep both of them in shape.
Buster is definitely done with the puppy craziness. Two is a magical time. I can only hope that he keeps improving with age.