u/Dry-Actuator6203

Hi hi!

Basically what it says on the tin. I've got a little rescue terrier with insane focus and drive. He's thirteen pounds and mix primarily between Boston Terrier, Chihuahua, Rat Terrier, and APBT. His favorite things in the world are chasing and tug. I think sports would be really beneficial for him overall because he's still young with lots of energy, and he can be fearful so I'm hoping it would help build confidence and give him the right outlet for his energy.

This is where the issue lies: he has a luxating patella. This was identified by 2 different vets when we rescued him, estimated to be around grade 2. Because he's young and part Boston, the vets guess its congenital. Right now surgery isn't on the table because he lives a very normal and fulfilling life. Instances of the knee cap actually popping out have gone from a few times a week to only once in a few months too.

Are there any sport reccomendations for a little guy like him? Something like fastCAT seems like it would be a perfect fit, but I'm nervous about the patella of it all. I've started to introduce some scentwork stuff at home, and he's had a very tepid reception. It's okay to him, but nothing like tug or chasing something. We're still going to continue down the scentwork trail until he really just shows no interest, but I'm looking for other suggestions too!

Keep in mind, this would be my first entrance into the world of dog sports, but I'm not looking to compete on any large scale.

My dog is a rescue, so age is hard to know, but Embark says 7 months and shelter estimated 2 years. I'm thinking the truth is somewhere in the middle. My partner and I left for the week on a vacation, and we couldn't bring the dogs. Unfortunately, this means they had to stay with a sitter.

The sitter seemed great, but it was only on arrival that I learned she boarded four dogs at a time. I should've asked, rookie mistake, I know. It was too late to change anything, unfortunately, and there were three other dogs (2 not counting my second dog) around at all times, and the other dogs I met were quite pushy with personal space. Now, coming home, he's growling when he chews a toy and our other dog walks up. Thankfully, our other dog has no interest in toys and walks right by so nothing escalates.

In addition to the resource guarding, he's much more skittish a reserved than usual. He's quite like how he was when we first got him from the shelter. What should our next steps be to modify this habit and bring him back to his usual self?

Our current game plan is as follows:

- Trades whenever removing something of value from him

- Feeding time in crate (we already do this)

- No leaving out high value toys, only used with supervision (we do usually leave his favorite toys out all the time because our other dog does not care for toys, but better safe than sorry?)

- Low stimulation but positive environment for the next several days to allow decompression (i.e. no big outings right now, no dog park, walks in quieter part of neighborhood, positive training sessions only right now, etc.)

- Crate sleeping at night (we usually do this about 50% of the time)

- Sticking to our usual routine with more diligence

Anything else we should do or something we plan to do that might hurt the situation? Our older dog came back completely normal, but he's much older and we've had him much longer (had him almost 3 years, around 8 - 9 years old).

Also very important to know: We have another vacation coming up in a month. Both vacations were gifted to us in a complicate family situation, so cancelling isn't an option. We are looking for a different sitter who would only board our dogs during the time we are away. What other things should we do to prepare our pup for the time away?