This seems like a good place to keep anyone who's interested in how Linus is adapting to our household up to date.

Here's his "ad" from the Flower Mound Humane Society

Linus

Age: 11 months
Breed: Basset Hound
Coat: Short
Color: Tri Color
Housebroken: Yes
Kids: Unsure
Cats: Unsure
Dogs: Yes

Linus came to us with his sister, Lucy. In their previous life, they were kept as outside dogs, and didn't get much socialization. They were shy at first, but after a few weeks in foster care, they have made a lot of progress. They will now gladly come in the house, and are anxious to be part of the family. Linus loves to be showered with love. He's a bit shy with the other foster dogs, however once he knows they won't hurt him, he enjoys their attention. Linus even likes to sneak toys away from the other dogs and play with them on his own. Bassets may be low-riders, but that doesn't keep them from trying to counter-surf, and grab any edibles they can find! Linus is housebroken and knows how to use a dog door. He's also learning to walk on a leash. Whoever is lucky enough to adopt Linus should have patience with him. He's needs extra TLC & reassurance that he'll be OK; once he warms up to you, he'll be your best friend!

I'm not too crazy about the name Linus but he responds to it so we'll keep it. Plus there's Linus Pauling, who was a great scientist, so it fits with Darwin & Einstein.

If you're looking for a basset hound to add to your family, his sister Lucy is still awaiting adoption.

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His foster family brought him by last night at 6pm. He's so afraid of people that he hid in the corner behind his foster dad. Einstein was his usual self & made the foster parents feel less nervous about leaving Linus with us. We're "fostering to adopt" which means we have 2 weeks to see if he & Einstein can get along. Einstein was here first.

So, I had to take off for a church meeting right after Linus arrived so he was left with Chris. Chris sat on the floor with him while reading The Dog Whisperer's book that I had bought on the way home. He took the dogs outside & Linus discovered that the photinia bushes are the best hiding place ever. Chris had to pull him out from under them but he didn't fight or snap or growl.

Chris then hooked both of the boys up to their leashes & they went for a walk. His foster mom had told us that he was still learning to walk on the leash. He did pretty good until he saw people. When Chris took them out there weren't a lot of people on the street. They did come across a couple of people & he freaked. Otherwise, he walked just fine.
When Chris saw me get home they swung back by the house to pick me up. When I threw open the front door, Linus freaked out & ran as far away as his leash would take him. Einstein came trotting in & was happy to see me. So, I took Einstein's leash and off we went. We just walked up & down the street. Linus did really well. He's a bit of a klutz which just proves that he's a Vanderbilt. He & I tried to walk in the same place unsuccessfully but no injuries occurred. He seemed to enjoy sniffing around & tended to walk right beside Chris like dogs are "supposed" to. We stopped a few times and he did let me pet him & even leaned up against my legs at one point. The Dog Whisperer recommends 90 minute daily walks. These are basset hounds in the early TX summer so I'm going to focus on 2 or more walks of short duration.

He didn't eat anything (which his foster mom said to expect) but he did drink when I brought him some water to the corner he was hiding in.

He was thrilled to run into his crate. We had to carry him over to it but he liked being in his little den. I'm going to put some food in water in his crate when I leave today.

This morning Chris couldn't get the leash on him so he let him out into the backyard without one. He ran into the photinias again. When I woke up, I pulled some old clothes and went back behind the photinias to fetch him. It's a great place for dogs - shaded, muddy, places to hide & to bury chewies. After a couple of missed tries, I finally did get ahold of him. Chris passed me the leash & he came inside with us. He was very good & let us clean his paws & belly off. I was almost as muddy as he was.

He stayed in his corner while I went upstairs & got ready for work. He stuck his head out briefly when I came back down but ducked back into "his" corner. I'm going to get a blanket to put there for him. He feels safe but he's in the room where I spend most of my time, he's even right next to the end of the couch where I usually sit & knit. I can reach over and pet him. It seems like a good place to let him be.

I'll put him in his crate when I leave for work. He seems to like it there. I have a list of things to buy on the way home.

I'll set up a Flicker group to post pictures too. That way the blog entries won't be weighed down with too many photos.
Here are a couple from yesterday until then: