Hello everyone; my name is Chino and my foster Dad suggested that I should share my story; I had with everyone, so here it is. Even though I am not even a year and a half yet, I have been through a lot. Life started out not too bad free run of the house and I got to go for walks and I was a pretty happy puppy. Then one day Mom and Dad decided to get a divorce (I still do not understand exactly what a divorce is, but the end result was that I ended up at a shelter even though I had done absolutely nothing wrong. It does not seem fair that I ended up there because Mom and Dad were getting a divorce.) Then a woman came to "evaluate" me and I passed the evaluation. Everyone seemed happy about that because I was going to be taken in by a "rescue". Although, the path to the "rescue" was not all that great. The first thing that happened was that I was neutered (and let me tell you that that was no fun at all). Then, I went to a kennel for a few weeks; I was told that another dog was already at my foster home and that I needed to stay at the kennel until he moved into his forever home. I was scared and confused about everything that was going on; after all, I had gone from my home to a shelter to a kennel (and there was that whole surgery thing).

Then, one morning a guy and a woman came out to the kennel and I was put on a leash and taken for a short walk. I did not know these people and was scared, so I tried to act tough (it was a tough act because it really is not like me at all). Especially the woman seemed concerned about how I was behaving, so my act was fooling them, but when she had to help me get into the crate in the van and I did not object, she appeared to feel a little better about me.  (The one nice thing was that they gave me treats to get into the crate and food is the greatest thing in the world; I will do anything for food.) Eventually we got to the foster home and I was put into another crate. I am not happy about being in a crate when I should be out with my people, but being in such an unknown place with all of these strange things around, it was a little comforting to be protected on all sides. Shortly after I was put into the crate, another dog came running up to meet me. Her name is E.V. and she is the resident dog. She kept asking me to come out and play, but my foster Dad kept telling her that I needed time to settle in first.

After awhile, I let it be known that I did not want to be in the crate when people are home and I started to get very anxious. One small problem that I have is that when I get anxious, I tend to not have as much bladder control as I would like which only makes things worse when you are in a crate. It took me a few days to settle in, but then I made sure that everyone knew that a dog's rightful place was with his people and not in a crate. Unfortunately, it took my foster Dad a little longer than I would have liked to figure that out. There were a number of instances where I thought that I had made myself clear, but then he just put me into a different crate. (I was like, "Hello, it is not that particular crate, but all crates that I have issues with".) Once I managed to pull a few bars free and almost make an opening big enough to get through, I thought that he would catch on. All that that actually led to was him leaving me in the room all by myself at night; he even tried to put on a CD of calming music for me, but none of that stuff worked because all that I really needed was to be with people when they are home. I am okay in the crate when they are not there.  Finally, when I started to shred the door he figured it out. By the way, I absolutely love to shred things be it pieces of paper or stuffed toys or a door that is keeping me from my people although I have not yet shredded any furniture or walls. (According to the previous owner, Chino had free run of the house with no damage or destruction.) Now, I get to sleep in the bedroom with my foster dad and we both seem a lot happier. (I have someone with me at night and he does not have to get up multiple times during the night to let me outside; I mentioned my issues with anxiety before.)

Now things are pretty good for me. I always thought that I was a young, energetic puppy, but that E.V. has even more energy than I do. Needless to say, I get to play with her as much as I want to and then we usually end up playing a little more because she can be quite insistent about me playing with her. My foster Dad has been working with me on commands and I already know sit and down.

I am initially wary with strangers, but I am working on that.  Lately, I have been warming up to people I don't know much more quickly, and my foster Dad tells me that I have made tremendous progress. After everything that I have been through, you can understand why I might not trust people right off the bat. However, I am quite susceptible to food bribes; if you give me a treat, I will be your friend for life. I get along well with other dogs as E.V. can vouch for. I love going for walks, being petted, shredding things, and most of the normal puppy things. My absolute favorite thing to do is to eat. I keep getting told that I should not jump when I get excited, but it is hard not to when I am excited.

It would be really nice to find my forever home. All that I ask is that you understand that if people are home, then I should be with people. If you give me the love and attention that I crave, then you will have a devoted friend forever.