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Entered: 12/17/2022
Status: Adopted
Age: 3
Color: Liver/White
Weight: 60 lbs.
Gender: Altered Male
Location: Woodbridge, VA
Health: UTD, HW-, receiving an inexpensive daily supplement to help with separation anxiety, watching left eyelid for potential inflammation issues, receiving low dose of Apoquel for itching/possible allergies
Temperament: Good with adults, fine with children older than 12, good with most dogs, not good with cat
Original: “Besides being strong and watchful, Archie is a total love-bug who is sometimes a little pushy to get loving.”
Archie came into MAESSR care when his female owner died. This poor New Jersey boy was living in the owner’s unheated trailer home and being fed by a volunteer from another rescue. Because of the lack of heat and due to local shelters being full, the volunteer contacted MAESSR and got him into foster care.
This little boy is full of muscles– an absolute tank. He’s not very tall nor is he short either; he is solid muscle. He is very alert and smart, constantly looking into his person’s eyes in full communication mode. Besides being strong and watchful, Archie is a total love-bug who is sometimes a little pushy to get loving. He might compete with another dog if the other dog wants his owners’ complete attention too. Archie loves to have his chest and belly rubbed!
Archie is the most CHILL 3-year- old Springer his foster mom has known; she sometimes forgets he is even there! He does occasionally jump up on her if he is excited, but he is correctable and responds to “no jumping!” Occasionally, he is a the little mouthy which gives away that he is still young, but he will stop and is generally chill.
This young Springer has no strong affinity for toys at this point and he does not destroy them. He tends to run around with them when he is very happy or excited. He is not toy-possessive with humans either. Archie enjoys playing with a ball, chasing it and sometimes bringing it back. He needs work on retrieving it for the next throw. He loves being in the yard, chasing the squirrels and he would chase cats if given the chance.
Completely housetrained, Archie lets his people know about his need to go out by scratching at the door or jumping up in a lap to get one’s attention. He will go to the door getting more excited as his person follows. He doesn’t even seem to mind going out in the rain! Archie holds his urine really well and wouldn’t think of going in the house. Good boy!
In the kitchen, Archie would try to counter-surf more if he could. His foster mom caught him once in the act, but an “ENH!” or “No!” from her got him down immediately. She is not giving him any human food at present until she and the vet figure out if he really has allergies or not. Archie is interested in human food at meal time, but when he sees his begging will get him nowhere, he eventually lies down. He is not particular about meal time for himself and is not food possessive.
At bed time, Archie sleeps primarily on his foster mom’s bed, but will get off and sleep on a rug on the floor. Later, he might get back up on the big bed. With his doggie beds, he likes to scratch around and make a dog-nest, but not on the big bed! Good boy!!
As for other dogs, Archie is rather selective. He got along fine with a female Springer at his first foster home, but was not so great with an older male there. He barks at the neighbor’s yappy Yorkie and occasionally at certain dogs he meets on walks. Others he ignores.
On leash walks, Archie pulls a little, especially on the steps going outdoors. He walks much better with a gentle leader; however, he was able to slip it off his nose, so his foster mom uses a backup leash with his martingale collar. He seems to know “sit” and “down” but is not very good with “stay.” His foster mom is working with him on that to keep him more controllable at door openings so he won’t bolt. He also knows “crate.” Archie takes correction well with a “NO!” or “ENH!” Clicker training is in his future too.
Archie was initially pretty nervous when he went for his vet visit but did not freak out. Peanut butter distractions helped. When the tech flipped him on his back for suture removal, he just went into a happy-limp-for-belly-rub mode. She even went hands free and he just lay there! The techs had no problem with trimming nails and handling his ears and feet. Good boy!
When his foster mom had surgery recently, Archie did well being kenneled for five days while she was hospitalized. After all he has been through with his owner dying and having to live alone in her trailer, this is significant. He probably thought he was being abandoned again, so it took a little time for him to warm up to the kennel workers and other dogs. They reported that he was friendly and good the whole time, though.
Archie is reactive to new sounds. He gets upset at the sound of the garage door opening but always stays by his foster mom’s side. He doesn’t mind an acoustic guitar but does not like the sound of a saxophone. A hair dryer is not his favorite either but he didn’t react to local fireworks over New Years. As he becomes more familiar with household sounds like the water flosser and the garbage disposal, he is non-reactive.
Although Archie seems eager to go on car rides, he whines the whole time. He must be tethered in the back seat or he would be bouncing all over. When he traveled to the kennel, one trazadone calmed him down. As he is taken on more outings, his car-riding behavior hopefully will improve.
Archie is not keen on being crated when his foster mom is away from the house. He barks and howls a bit when crated and scratches to get out. He does not soil in the crate, though. When foster mom returns, Archie is obviously stressed and panting. She tested him with the word “crate” and a valued treat and he went back into the crate with zero hesitation! A previous foster parent reported he was better with a plastic crate but escaped thin wire ones. To get him acclimated to a plastic crate, his foster mom keeps a doorless plastic folding crate in the kitchen and he is going in there freely. Feeding him in his crate is working well for desensitizing him, too. If Archie’s foster mom has to leave the house for any amount of time, a neighbor comes to be with him. He once chewed an unplugged extension cord while his foster mom was on the phone so his uncrated behavior is not perfect.
Because of this crating issue, Archie is still a little bit of a work in progress. Stay tuned for updates on this adorable, lovable little tank!