Benson

So I guess it's about two weeks late, but I'm finally coming around to posting about Benson. He came early Friday morning and left late on Sunday. I think the best part of puppysitting is each time I realize how much I appreciate Quasia.

Benson is a pretty big boy at 11 months (bigger than Quasia, but that doesn't mean much). His raiser had a martingale with him, but that was it - not even a leather leash. His raiser also said that he was a very laid back dog. I don't think I saw that side of him at all.

Anyways, he and Quasia had such a good time together. They wouldn't settle down together though, so I had to eventually separate them, as they were panting very heavily. At first, I was the only one home, so I took him on a walk, after giving him some time to settle in. We walked for about a minute, when he lied down on the ground and refused to move. I kept calling his name, with food in site, but he wouldn't move. Eventually, he walked some and we got to walk. He was pretty good with walking if there weren't any distractions. I think my hands started to blister after that first walk though, with a regular leash. After that I used Quasia's leather leash with him, and it worked a little better.

When my dad got home we took both Quasia and Benson on a walk together. I walked Benson in the street to keep him away from distractions, and midway through the walk he just lied on the ground once again. My dad pointed out that it was probably because the street was too hot for him. Once I moved him to the sidewalk he did better. Sometimes we would have to move him to the street and he just kind of freaked out and lied on the ground. Quasia never acted like the street was too hot for her, so it was just strange.

He was also hard to control because he did not care about food too much. I could say his name five times, and Quasia would look at me, but Benson was focused on something else. At first he was not too good with just general commands (sit, down, come), but eventually he seemed to get/listen better. At one point my dad had Benson and he told him to sit. Quasia sat down that instant, and she seemed to act like she was showing off.

On Saturday we decided to bring them to a tennis court to let them play. That was the best thing for them. It was so funny to see Benson watching exactly what Quasia would do. If she was interested in chasing the ball, so was he. If she started to slow down, so would he. She even started eating sticks (bad habit) at the end and he starting to bring sticks over for her to eat. It was so cute.

Anyways, that was pretty much our weekend with Benson. We didn't really have a chance to take him anywhere special, but he seemed to have a good time with Quasia. Here are some pictures.

When Quasia found out that he wasn't allowed on the bed, she acted like the Queen of England. He even tried to jump up at one point, but she kicked him off.