Met with a friend. Walked the dog. Did stuff.
I have concluded that our dog had lost some of his pack mentality when we got him. Going outside by himself has been a battle we have only just overcome. He expects a walk with a harness and a leash, etc. Even at first when I went with him to the back yard, he would either want to play or just sit and watch or chase birds. He would not do any "business"
It has become apparent that he was raised by an old person who lived alone, never had visitors, lived in an apartment with no back yard, then suddenly died and no one in the family could manage the little guy, because he had become SO protective of ONE person and that person was no longer there.
Anyway, getting the dog out to the back yard was a challenge at first, but he will follow me out and today I spent a lot of time making noise (with my chainsaw) and he seemed to keep busy with his bird aversion. It's like NOTHING that flies can land in his yard.
He must be walked and I insist three times per day, but Making progress on getting him to go out to the back yard has been looking better lately.
To think that four families had tried to adopt him and brought him back to the pound because they were not able to figure out his behaviors has been a really wonderful thing, because, NOW, we have him and we love him and he is an amazing little fellow who only ever needed to be understood and loved.
So, in reality, I have four families to thank for rejecting him and allowing us to find him and save him.
Oh, and living among a pack, his instincts seem to have come back. He checks on everyone of us before he calls it quits for the night. During the day he makes his rounds of the family making sure we are all cool, typical pack mentality. I am so glad to see this.