Entered: 01/22/2022
Status: Adopted
Age: 8; born 11/08/2013
Color: Liver/White
Weight: 50 lbs.
Gender: Altered Female
Location: Goochland, VA
Health: UTD, HW-, treatment complete for anaplasmosis, overall good health
Temperament: Good with people as young as 12, good with male dogs, not good with cats
Update 03/24/2022:
Cleo is such a sweet loving girl. She wants to be close to her people to get love and attention–the closer the better. The time she has spent inside has just increased her desire to be in with her family more.
She has wonderful house manners. She does not counter-surf, have accidents in the house or bark excessively.
Cleo is getting along with the other dogs in her foster home. Her foster mom believes that she was overwhelmed by so many dogs when she initially came into foster care. Now that she has been around them awhile, she does very well with them.
Cleo’s foster mom would like to clarify Cleo’s behavior with small children. Cleo was not actively looking for a child to bite. She just did not like the little ones getting in her space. That type of situation can be overwhelming to a dog as they do not know how to make this scary little person go away. Ideally adults in the situation need to control where the children are and their interactions with the dog. When Cleo was left to handle the little ones getting too close, she would gently nip at them (she never hurt a child) to get them to go away. The owners were just afraid that this behavior could escalate. For this reason MAESSR will not place her with young children. Cleo has never bitten or nipped an adult. She is truly a good girl….she just does not care for small children in her space.
And, so, Miss Cleopatra is looking to spend this spring, summer and the rest of her life in her very own home. She’d like a fence, please, as she is definitely high energy and does not walk well on a leash. Having her very own people would make her a very happy dog—and she will add her love to a very lucky family.
Original: “Housetrained and used to a doggie door, Cleo spends much of her time in her foster family’s fenced yard, running and playing.”
Cleo (short for Cleopatra) lived with her Pennsylvania family for the past five years. They adopted her when she was three years old from a breeder who had four litters of puppies with her. Ever the mama dog, Cleo gently nips at small, unruly children like she is correcting a puppy. She has started this behavior as she’d gotten older and the family is concerned that Cleo could accidentally nip at a child’s face as they lean over her. With grandchildren and other small children visiting, the family reluctantly decided to re-home her. She’s never bitten or nipped at any adults, though.
Cleo barks at strangers who come in the yard but once the person gives her a treat, they are best friends. She is okay with male dogs but female dogs cause her to be jealous. Quite the hunter, she has occasionally caught small birds. Because of her high prey drive, she would not be good with cats.
Housetrained and used to a doggie door, Cleo spends much of her time in her foster family’s fenced yard, running and playing just as she used to do in her original family’s five acre property where she was mainly an outside dog. She loves to play tug and chase a ball but has never been swimming. In the house Cleo really enjoys sitting beside her people so that she can be petted. At night she sleeps contentedly and quietly on a dog bed beside her foster parents’ bed.
Even though Cleo hasn’t had any formal obedience training, she knows “sit,” “stay,” “come,” “down,” and “quiet.” She is not crate trained nor leash trained and doesn’t walk well on the leash. Car rides make her nervous as does the sound of gun shots. She wants to be inside if someone is shooting. She is not afraid of thunderstorms, though.
Cleo has never been to the groomers and doesn’t like being brushed; however, her foster mom groomed her without any problems. She must be held while her toenails are trimmed but is fine with having her ears cleaned. Since she does still have her dewclaws, her new family will need to make sure the nails in them are kept clipped or they grow around and are very painful.
Cleo would make a great family member in a home with older children that she would not feel she needed to discipline. Only male dogs, please, to make this queen happy. An active, healthy gal, Cleo would love to play tug with her new family members!