Entered: 06/22/2009
Status: adopted
Age: 2
Color: Black/White
Weight:
Gender: Altered Male
Location: Richmond, VA
Health: UTD, HW-, treatment for hookworms complete, gaining weight
Temperament: Good with adults, unknown with children, good with other dogs, unknown with cats
Original: When Baxter, and his brother Thor, were surrendered by their owners who had to move from their Pennsylvania home, these two brothers came into MAESSR’s care.
An intelligent, energetic dog, Baxter likes to take walks and run around the back yard. He is learning to wait to be asked into the house after being outside. He has trouble waiting to be invited to go outside because he gets excited about chasing squirrels and birds with his brother! Mostly, Baxter likes to be with people inside or out. He has squeezed through doors left open only a few inches to reach the people on the other side.
This smart dog has learned to sit and lie down away from the table when his foster family eats dinner. He is not aggressive when he eats his food or his snack. His foster family is also teaching him to be relaxed and to sit before being served his food. Baxter requires his foster family to be firm with him, so he knows that they are in charge and not him. He has a minor problem of jumping up on people and needs additional training in this area. He will bark at noises outside but probably can be trained to keep this to a minimum.
Baxter is housebroken, but his foster family has not left him in the house alone for more than four hours at a time. He sleeps in his crate at night and stays there during the day when no one is at home, but he can probably be left to roam the house if no food is left out. He is not allowed on furniture. Although he will try to counter surf if they do not keep an eye on him, this good boy has yet to try to get into trash cans. He will try to get in the front seat when taken for a ride in the car, so he needs to be tethered during car rides.
Chasing tennis balls is one of Baxter’s favorite pastimes, but he is still learning the finer points of the game fetch and retrieving is a new skill he is working on. Baxter likes to take walks, but his exuberance at seeing a squirrel sometimes makes him hard to handle. He will require more training in this area, and he is currently learning to use a training collar. Obedience classes would be a great way for his new family to bond with him and to help him grow into the well-behaved dog that he wants to be.
Because he is brimful with youthful energy, Baxter is looking for a family with time to play with him outside and take him for walks every day. In return, this young gentleman will become a loyal and well-behaved member of the family.