Entered: 08/04/2007
Status: Adopted
Age: 1
Color: Liver/White
Weight:
Gender: Altered Male
Location: West Mifflin, PA
Health: UTD, HW-
Temperament: Good with people as young as seven, initially defensive with other dogs but then gets along fine, unknown with cats
Original: Max lived his entire life chained outside and sleeping in a doghouse. When his owner moved, he relinquished Max to a local shelter minutes before it closed for the night. He left him there, in a sun-bleached, matted mess.
It was obvious to his foster mom that Max had not been socialized with other dogs and did not know how to act. Initially told by the shelter that Max was dog aggressive, his foster mom brought her female ESS to the shelter to meet Max. She walked her Springer and a shelter worker walked Max who was barking ferociously and lunging at the resident Springer. As they were slowly brought closer together, Max sniffed her, stopped barking, and wanted to play! There has been no aggression on Max’s part since this noisy introduction. Now, Max follows the resident female Springer around, licking her face and her back, and he constantly brings toys over to her to play. When his foster mom took Max to the vet, once more he growled and barked ferociously at the other dogs in the waiting room. The receptionist made a comment about Max not liking other dogs, but his foster mom really thinks he is just scared. His foster family is working with Max to overcome this initial fear of other dogs.
Max loves to be the center of attention. He will push the resident Springer out of the way if his foster mom is petting her. Even if he is across the room, he will fly over like superman to knock her out of the way! Max will definitely need obedience training as he knows no commands. He will come when he hears his name, though. He jumps up on adults but his foster mom is teaching him to “sit” if he wants to be petted. It is interesting to note that Max does not jump on children! This perfectly loveable boy, wants to be with people so much and he is excellent with children. Max has been very gentle with his foster mom’s seven-year-old nephew even allowing him to take toys from his mouth. Max takes treats very nicely, too. Max is learning not to pull on the leash, but this is hard since going for a walk is so much fun! Max is actually well-behaved in the car and enjoys going for a ride.
Since he was an outside dog, Max still needs work on housetraining. He doesn’t counter-surf at all and he doesn’t pay much attention to trash, either. Poor Max does not like to be left alone and refuses to be crated. If he is crated, he will bark like he is being tortured and run in place clawing at the bottom of the crate. He almost seems as if he is having a panic attack, because he salivates so much in the crate. Max can jump baby gates, too. Therefore, he is left in the laundry room when his foster family is out of the house. Max has done just fine there without chewing or scratching the door. Since the resident Springer sleeps in his mom’s bed at night, this privilege has been extended to Max since he refuses to go in a crate.
Max plays all the time at his foster home, but when his foster mother’s sister was watching him at her house one evening, he wouldn’t play at all. He just wanted to cuddle. After he is used to someone, then he plays. When someone is new though, he likes to make friends first. In the fenced yard, Max likes to follow the resident Springer around and play with her. He is very adept at finding sour apples in the yard that fall from the neighbor’s tree and he willingly lets his foster mom take them right out of his mouth. He allows her to take toys from him, too. Although he has proved his jumping ability in the house, he has not tried to jump the fence. When the gate is opened, however, he will make a dash for it. This escapee goes to visit the nearest neighbor who happens to be outside, so sociable Max is easy to catch.
Max needs a loving family who will help him learn to be an obedient, well-behaved boy. He doesn’t need anyone to teach him how to have fun, though! Attention seeking Max wouldn’t mind having another dog in his forever home, too, according to his foster mom, since he loves to play! Does this describe your family? Max may be the Springer for you!