Entered: 06/22/2013
Status: Adopted
Age: 10
Color: Black/White
Weight: 38 lbs.
Gender: Altered Male
Location: Washington, DC
Health: UTD, HW-, anaplasma+ but asymptomatic, treatment for ear infection complete, overall good health
Temperament: Good with adults, good with children as young as four, good with dogs, good with cats
Update 08/07/2013: “He shamelessly uses the technique of resting his head on or near his person while glancing up with soulful eyes to his total advantage.”
Clyde’s quirky personality has certainly unfolded in his foster home during the past month. This boy is 100% Velcro to anyone in his little universe. He shamelessly uses the technique of resting his head on or near his person while glancing up with soulful eyes to his total advantage. In the morning, his foster mom is awoken to Clyde ’s attempt to rest his head on the side of the bed. Given that the bed is rather high, and Clyde is somewhat short, the result is just a tip of a nose visible on the bed. Very cute!
It seems that anything with a friendly face might get Clyde to beg for attention. A large stuffed caterpillar with big eyes and a smile on its face was resting on a chair in his foster home. Silly Clyde walked up to the chair, rested his chin on it, and looked up expectantly at the caterpillar as he does with people. What a funny guy!
At the dog park Clyde will venture out to sniff new areas and check out other dogs briefly, but he runs right back to his foster mom every couple of minutes. While he does sniff other dogs, he never wants to play. He is far more interested in the other people who are there, as they are new candidates to give him ear scratches. His regular visits to the park will help him socialize more and become more independent.
Clyde was recently introduced to kitties. He did VERY well when he met a neighbor’s cats, including three tiny foster kittens. So very gentle, Clyde let the kittens sniff around his feet, and he just sat there like nothing was going on.
On leash, Clyde is fantastic. He goes to the bathroom immediately once outside, never pulls on the leash, and, when passing other dogs, he just keeps going if his foster mom gives him a little tug. When a dog barks, his ears perk up and he looks in that direction, but doesn’t take any action. If he walks a bit ahead his mom, every few paces he’ll quickly glance over his shoulder to make sure she’s still there.
Clyde has been left at home alone for 8 – 9 hours at a time while his people are at work, and he does just fine roaming freely. He has a crate, which he will sometimes lie down in on his own, but he has never been confined to it. When he lies down, he crosses his front legs daintily and looks quite sophisticated!
Toys are now on Clyde ’s radar and when he’s really excited, particularly when someone has come home, he’ll pick up a toy and carry it around proudly. He also enjoys fetching tossed balls and rope toys when he’s in the mood.
An interesting discovery was made about Clyde ’s food preference. A family friend’s dog frequently visits Clyde ’s home and the dog eats vegan food. Clyde would always go for her food instead of his own. Eventually his foster mom bought him the vegan food, and he eats his meals more quickly now. While still not a fast eater, Clyde no longer picks at his food or leaves some to eat much later.
Overall, Clyde ’s foster mom finds him to be an awesome dog, albeit very silly. His primary goal in life is for people to pay attention to him and shower him with love and affection. Ready for some giggles? Ask about Clyde . He’ll keep you laughing!
Original: “Clyde is such a sweet dog who just loves to keep his foster mom company in whatever she’s doing.”
When his owners in Pennsylvania could no longer care for him, Clyde was relinquished to a shelter. Fortunately for him, MAESSR stepped in to find him a new home.
His first few days in his foster home were a little bumpy since Clyde had been bounced around quite a bit in the previous week. After being left at the shelter, he spent two days in a MAESSR volunteer’s home before reaching his current destination. Poor Clyde was very out of sorts and extremely anxious, resulting in several accidents in the house. Now that he’s much more comfortable and confident, the accidents have ceased. His foster parents have not noticed a strong signal for Clyde when he wants to go out, so they just take him out a few times each day. He appears to be one of those dogs that doesn’t need to potty very often.
Clyde very strongly prefers having people around, but his foster family is able to leave him at home without any worries. In fact, he is often given free roam of the house. His foster mom describes him as a loving (actually, “adoring”) canine companion! He is eager to be with her all of the time. If she leaves and another family member is still home, he whines for a minute and then goes to sit by the other person. When he’s left home alone, he is given a Kong toy stuffed with a bit of peanut butter. He’ll whimper for about ten seconds; he then promptly returns to the challenge of getting the peanut butter out. The crate has not been introduced yet, as his foster mom wants to take baby steps with Clyde before introducing him to new situations. At night he sleeps on the floor next to his foster mom’s bed.
If Clyde feels that he isn’t receiving the proper amount of attention, he reinforces the suggestion by resting his head on his human’s leg or the couch, or by placing one dainty paw in a lap. Often, however, he is happy just to sit calmly next to his human companion. Clyde is such a sweet dog who just loves to keep his foster mom company in whatever she’s doing. She sometimes finds it quite distracting having him next to her if she’s trying to get something done; when he looks up at her with his enormous dark brown eyes that just beg for love and attention, it’s hard to resist!
Now that he’s feeling more confident in his foster home, Clyde has started to show some healthy curiosity about the world by sniffing things out more on walks and hopping up on a window bench to investigate the scene outdoors. He is good on a leash and does well on walks. For the most part, he just wants to be right next to the person walking him, so he never pulls. Clyde has met children as young as four on walks, and he is fine with them. Sometimes he gets a bit nervous meeting new people, but other times he’ll want to stop and sniff someone who walks by. His foster mom hasn’t been able to figure out if there’s a certain preference, or if it’s just random. Clyde is pretty good riding in a car. The biggest problem for him is that he must sit in the back seat, not up with his foster mom. He whines a bit off and on, but his foster mom thinks he’s just reminding her that he’s back there and doesn’t like being so far away. He would much rather be in the co-pilot’s seat!
Clyde shows zero aggression around food. He’s a dog who eats very leisurely throughout the day, which is a new experience for his foster mom. He’ll eat one or two pieces of food at a time and, oddly, he often prefers not to eat out of his bowl. If it’s getting toward the end of the day and he hasn’t had much food, his foster mom will put some on a paper plate on the floor. He is more likely to eat it from there, even though the paper plate is right next to his bowl.
When it comes to having his paws touched, Clyde has no problems. He wasn’t crazy about ear cleanings and the medication he endured while his ear infection was being cleared up, but now he’s much better.
One of Clyde’s foster mom’s favorite things about him is how he acts when he gets excited. He sneezes and paws at the ground like a bull ready to charge! When he gets REALLY excited and paws a lot, sometimes he ends up jumping off the ground because he is pawing all four paws at once. Combined with the sneezing, it’s very funny and quite a sight!
With such wonderful manners, Clyde would make a good fit just about anywhere. This sweet, silly senior is looking for his forever family to adore. Are you ready to have Clyde gaze at you with those big, brown eyes? Be prepared to fall in love.