Huxley

---

Update 05/14/08:

The “cat” situation in Huxley’s foster home has resolved. Huxley now walks by the resident kitties and sniffs or ignores them. His foster dad has watched their interaction closely and also feels that if the cats ran, Huxley would join in. He has never bitten them and would likely view any chase as a game for all. Huxley is gentle with people, too, and lets his foster dad remove food or a chewie from his mouth with no problem other than a puzzled look. Given his manners, Huxley enjoys the run of the house with the resident dogs and cats and truly deserves his privilege. 

When Huxley gets up, he is ready to start the day with play. He runs at his dog bed, grabs it and shakes it, barking at the same time. He will take his play stance and bark whenever he thinks it is play time. He doesn’t spend very much time chewing toys and would rather be racing in the yard with his 8-year-old ESS buddy. 

When it’s time to go out for relief, Huxley goes to the back door and stands there until one of his humans notices. No accidents in the house with this gentleman. He is very curious and if he hears any out-of-the-ordinary sounds, like the UPS truck, he and another ESS have to investigate. He does not get on the furniture, except for an occasional nap on his foster dad’s old recliner or the bed. He has no problems with thunderstorms – good boy! 

Huxley attaches to one person, knows several commands and needs some work on his leash manners. He is the smartest dog his foster family has, (their proclamation, not Huxley’s) and that’s saying quite a bit. He might like agility classes with his new family to continue learning new things and keep active. He likes to give kisses. When Huxley is adopted, someone will be getting an outstanding dog. To sum him up, his foster family says “Huxley is a trip and a half!”

Original:

When Huxley’s owner became very ill and could no longer care for him, he lived for a time with relatives. Huxley needed more time than this family was able to give since their attention needed to be focused on their sick loved one. They turned to MAESSR for help in finding the best home for Huxley. 

Huxley is a beautiful, energetic, field-bred Springer who is housetrained and crate-trained. He has nice house manners and does not counter-surf or trash dive. In his original home, he was only crated occasionally when his people were out of the house, and then for only three or four hours at a time. Once out of his crate, he would get overwhelmed and fret at their departure. He has not exhibited this behavior in his foster home where he has the company of the resident dogs and where his foster parents are home much of the time. Huxley will be allowed full run of the house as the resident dogs enjoy when their people go out. Ideally, his forever home should have another dog and people who will be around most of the day. 

Very responsive to adults, Huxley allows a bone to be taken from him with no complaints. He eagerly turns over for belly rubs and gives a lot of kisses. With his enthusiasm Huxley would have the potential to knock over small children, but he has not met any in his foster home. At night he sleeps on his dog bed in his foster parents’ bedroom. When it comes to walks, Huxley will pull on the leash and would benefit from further training. He knows the commands sit, shake, down, and “schuss”– to quiet down. He loves to ride in the car and just sits nicely in the back seat. He even has his learner’s permit! He’s ready to go cruisin’ with his forever family.

Huxley enjoys the company of the resident dogs, but has had mixed reactions to the elderly resident cats. He licks the sixteen-year-old cat until her back is completely wet; yet, Huxley chases the fourteen-year-old cat. Huxley just doesn’t seem to know what a cat is. He grooms them, he chases them, and sometimes he just jumps away from them. So, the jury is still out on Huxley and cats. 

Huxley’s wish list for his forever home includes another dog or dogs, people who will be home with him most of the time, and especially, people who will play with him and give him belly rubs. Does this happy boy meet your specifications, too?