It sounds like he had a rough go before we got to him. From what ARF gathered, he was owned by an older person who probably loved him, but didn't take care of him, then either died or had to give the dog up. So he ended up in a shelter, then eventually on the kill list. ARF picked him up, where he received much needed medical treatment. It just breaks our hearts(my girlfriend has cried several times talking about it) to think this little angel would have been put down. He is just an incredible part of the family now. And the second we brought him home, we couldn't believe we have lived without him. The best part of all, when we went to ARF looking to adopt, he totally picked us. I looked at him online the day before we went down there and he totally caught me eye. When we saw him and he just stared at us I told them we HAD to have him.
We were attributing his behavior to being in a shelter, and because he is older it might be hard to break some bad habits. This is my first dog(I am 28, I know I was deprived lol) and my girlfriends 4th dog. This is her first adoption as well so we are in the learning process.
Here is our little Teddy:
The day we brought him home
http://i51.tinypic.com/28lrh5f.jpg
Him asleep with a mini tennis ball in his mouth
http://i51.tinypic.com/2qk2vqc.jpg
He loves his mini tennis balls
http://i56.tinypic.com/8y94r8.jpg
Yesterday after his first trip under our care to the groomers
http://i56.tinypic.com/1z5mb5z.jpg
On the grooming note. It seemed like yesterday really scared him. He was an angel for the groomers, but that evening he became really territorial, and started becoming really aggressive to people on the couch and trying to bite. We figured he just had a big day, and it took a lot out of him, other than that we cannot figure it out. Right now he is asleep on my leg and is a dollbaby, and has been all day.