I Originally Took Basil The Coydog In As A Foster When His Owners Moved To An Urban Apartment In Seattle.

I originally took Basil the coydog in as a foster when his owners moved to an urban apartment in Seattle.

I couldn’t touch him at all for the first few days. We operated on a hands-off basis using a slip lead to get from his kennel, out to potty, and then into the outdoor pen to play with Zephyr. When inside the house, I left drag line on him so I could move him around without contact, but during that time, it was very clear that he was always watching and assessing, trying to figure out who I was and why he was here and how I’d react to him setting a boundary.

On the third day, I was in the outdoor pen with him and Zephyr, working with her on some training and ignoring him, when he came up to me and offered a “sit”, all on his own, the tip of his tail wagging and a look in his eye that told me he’d figured out the game and was ready to play.

On the fourth day, I was tussling with Zephyr and suddenly there was a second dog bumping against my knees and swinging his butt over to ask for attention. He was cautious and would occasionally pause and draw away, at which point I would stop petting him, and after a moment of consideration, he’d lean back in for more attention.

Two years later, Basil is my most reliable dog off leash. He loves to play games such as throwing himself into my arms at top speed so I can shake him around a bit and then toss him away so he can zoom around and jump into my arms again. He’s over most of his car anxiety for travel. He knows countless tricks and cues. During winter, he burrows under the blankets and grumbles and grouches if he’s disturbed, but once I get settled he tucks right up against me and is the best cuddler.

He’s painfully shy of strangers, but underneath it, there’s a deep desire to engage with people and make friends if they’ll give him the time to work through his initial uncertainty. With the company of one of his dog friends for support, a patient stranger can have him standing in their lap giving kisses to their face and presenting his thighs for scratches within ten minutes.

His incredible love for his dog housemates and new canine friends is tempered only by his awkwardly possessive nature — as much as he adores them, he’ll posture and threat gape and act like a big tough guy ready to throw down over a particularly smelly dirty sock.