Dear Staff-
Just over 1 year ago my boys and I adopted a beautiful yellow lab that you had named Tanner. My sister stopped in with her dog Cooper (formerly Bocephus) and she suggested that I send you an update on this lovely dog.
Gibson was a name chosen by my oldest son, as he loves guitars and Gibson just fit. His full name is Gibson Fender Koepke, but we call him Gibson, Gibbs, Gibby, or, my favorite, you little devil.
He has grown quite a bit since we took him home, getting about 3-4 inches taller and gaining about 25-30 pounds. He goes on walks almost every day, he plays fetch in the back yard, he tears things up, steals things off the counters, dumps my trash, eats my shoes, and does everything else that a loving dog would do. I wouldn’t change him for the world.
He has been to obedience school for older beginners, and he would’ve placed top dog if Libby’s owners wouldn’t have called her during the down stay (he got up at 2.58…..2 seconds early)
Gibson is honestly the love of my life. Sure, he has chewed up at least 5 pair of my shoes in the past 12 months, yes, he’s eaten a whole row of oreos because someone forgot to put them away before we left the house, and of course I have had to call the Animal Emergency Room because he ingested my sons ADHD medication when I turned my back for ONE SECOND to get a glass of water, but I wouldn’t change a single moment.
He spent the first 8 months of home alone time in the kennel, and although he resists getting in TO THIS DAY, he is absolutely fine once you get him in. It’s a game to him now. Chase me around the house and put treats in there….then I’ll go in. Over the summer, he spent very little time in the kennel because he is getting so much better, but now that school has started and his boy (my oldest) has to work, he’s only home long enough to get Gibson excited, then when he leaves Gibson gets destructive. So, until he is in the swing of things with that, he will have to be kenneled for the 2 hours between Logan leaving and me arriving home.
We have a pool in our backyard and Gibson LOVES it. I left the water in until last week because he just couldn’t stay out of it. It took him only minutes to figure out how to climb the ladder to get in, and even taking the ladder out, he found that if he jumped on the shelving unit next to the pool, he could still get in and swim. Getting out was another story.
The first few months were very difficult as he never listened and was quite a naughty boy. Many nights I threatened to find him a new home, but then he would show me those sad brown eyes and I would melt. Now that he is a normal, moderately well behaved dog (and even before that) I can’t imagine not having him around. He has even trained our neighbor (no dogs) to bring him treats. He runs right to the fence by her back door, checks to make sure it’s open, then barks his special….Hey….I’m waiting….bark until she comes out, says hello, and gives him a treat.
He plays with our little poodle ever so gently, they roll around on the floor or in the back yard, they chase each other, and they spent plenty of time in the pool together, although Chewy is not a swimmer.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you for allowing us to bring Gibson home with us. Still trying to figure out how I can manage a third dog….because I have enough room in my heart for another, especially one as loving, gentle, and beautiful as Gibson.
Darice, Logan and Joey