Entered: 11/11/2013
Status: Adopted
Age: 4
Color: Black/White
Weight: 52 lbs.
Gender: Altered Male
Location: Colombia, MD
Health: UTD, HW-, treatment for ear infection complete, benefiting from a supplement to assist with anxiety
Temperament: Good with adults and teens, not comfortable with younger children, good with female dogs but not males, not good with cats
Update 12/15/13: “As his trust in his humans increases, his “bad” behaviors decrease and he is returning to his good-natured, loving, funny, adoring Springer self.”
Mikie is blossoming! The more time his foster mom spends with him, the clearer it becomes that his grumbling was mostly caused by fear. As his trust in his humans increases, his “bad” behaviors decrease and he is returning to his good-natured, loving, funny, adoring Springer self. His foster mom says that his future owners will be very, very happy with him, as he is well behaved within the home and absolutely trustworthy. Car rides? Piece of cake. Groomers? Ha! Why not! Going for walks? Loving it. Smooching with his foster parents? PRICELESS!
Mikie is hoping to have a home of his own by Christmas. Will you be the person that makes his dreams come true?
Update 11/27/13: “He is utterly trainable, a quick study, and willing to please.“
Mikie continues to improve as he settles in his foster parents’ home. He does well with their routine. This gives him structure and thereby ease of mind, which is bolstered with his daily supplements.
His family can see that Mikie has some dominant tendencies. However, with the right leadership and continued training, this should be no problem. He is utterly trainable, a quick study, and willing to please. Of course it helps that he is quite food-driven and will do about anything for a treat!
Given that Mikie has exhibited a dislike of smaller children, he will need to be placed in a home with no children or possibly one with teenagers. It is equally inadvisable to ask him to coexist with a cat; he has a strong prey drive and wants to go after everything that is low to the ground and moves. This could be only normal behavior for a dog bred to hunt, but it will be safer for both cat and dog not to try.
Overall, however, Mikie is a joy. All he wants from life is to be close to his people. He craves getting petted, fed, walked, petted and fed some more, and then perhaps finding a nice cushy place to have a nap. In between all that petting, he also likes to play ball, which he will fetch and bring back, but then he wiggles around so you can’t get it; he thinks that’s the best part of the game! His foster mom however insists on teaching him “drop it” and “give”, which he does more consistently every day. Of course, she has a treat to give him if he drops the ball, or she has another ball to let fly. That foster mom! Doesn’t she know anything? The “try and take it” game is soooo much more fun!
Mikie is a lover, not a fighter. His goal in life is to just kiss and touch you and look adoringly at your face. He is quite charming and knows how to make himself look irresistible in his pursuit of his dreams ……..perhaps a butt scratch or belly rub?
Here are some examples of his achievements:
- He now lies down at a respectful distance from any person eating.
- He waits for his own food and only approaches once released.
- He respects (mostly) his foster sister’s food bowl, but keeps a close eye on it so he can snatch up any leftovers.
- He waits at the door for his name to be called before stepping outside. All of you who have had to get out the front door while holding the screen door open and maneuvering leashed dogs know how helpful that is!
- He waits at the front door until he is released to enter back into the house.
- He tries to make his treats levitate from the floor and into his mouth if he is told to “leave it”, but otherwise just salivates until released.
- He now waits his turn to be petted, rather than shouldering his foster sister aside for attention.
- He has accepted the “line in the sand” drawn in the kitchen and watches from there while food preparation is under way. If he forgets (okay, that still happens occasionally), a simple finger point and “out” is sufficient.
- On his walks, he has earned greater freedom in the form of a flexi leash. Nevertheless, continued training with a regular leash to reinforce his “heel” is under way.
- He knows the commands: “come, “sit”, “down”, “stay”, “wait”, “heel”, “release”, “out”, and “leave it.”
- He is working on “on your bed” which is almost there with some help from his foster mom.
Is he a good boy, or what? If he is able to learn all of the above in 3 weeks, imagine what he would do for you if you were to become his forever family!
Original: “Mikie seems to have no fears and reacts appropriately to sudden noises or movements, allows himself to be handled without problems, and doesn’t chew inappropriately. He also does not jump up on people or on furniture. Good boy!!”
Mikie came to MAESSR from Maryland following two incidents with younger children where he was startled and acted inappropriately, grumbling and snapping. His owners were anticipating a first grandchild and had misgivings about that a baby or toddler on the ground may cause Mikie to misbehave. Additionally, his dominant personality was causing unwelcomed behavior within his household.
Due to not having had obedience training or someone to teach him boundaries and limitations, Mikie is quite self-indulgent and used to getting what he wants by whatever means necessary (whining, barking, scratching), all the while looking incredibly cute, which he uses to his advantage. He has shown absolutely no aggression towards his foster parents or the resident female dog, and his foster mom believes that he will become a perfect gentleman with consistent training. However, he consistently growls at other male dogs, which simply could be attributed to the fact that he was freshly neutered (grumbling not necessarily being a show of aggression, but also a “leave me alone” statement). It appears that Mikie is simply an undisciplined teenage Springer but not mean spirited.
Obedience training with a trainer experienced with dominant dogs is what Mikie needs so he will understand that he is the dog and not the master within his new home. Working with a well-qualified, experienced trainer would be good for Mikie’s adopters as well so they do not let this sweet but headstrong boy dominate the household. Mikie and his future owners just need to learn and maintain his boundaries within the family.
After an uneventful car ride to his foster home, Mikie was quite astounded at this new concept of having to obey the house rules, but tries very hard to be a good boy. Mikie is working on his “down,” “stay,” and “wait” and has mastered the “come” and “sit” commands. What a smart boy! He was already walking fairly well on a leash, and he is picking up that crossing over in front is hazardous to one’s health (both his and his handler’s) and that heeling with sniff and potty breaks upon “release” command is the way to go.
Mikie is housetrained and will indicate if he wants to go outside. The crate is not Mikie’s favorite place. His foster parents are working on getting him used to the crate in short increments as well as being separated from them by other means like a baby gate or a leash. However, he has already learned that it is okay for him to sleep downstairs while everyone else including his foster sister sleeps upstairs.
Mikie has obviously heard about being a “Velcro Springer” and is doing his best to live up to this standard, and then some. He prefers to be attached at the hip and gets antsy when his foster mom is out of his line of sight. As with the crate, he will need additional training to overcome his extreme clinginess. He is given an inexpensive homeopathic supplement to help him relax when he cannot be right under foot, which is having a positive impact on his overall well-being.
Amazingly, Mikie does not counter-surf or trash-dive (my, what a good Springer!), but likes to sit really close to someone eating and staring at every morsel moving from the plate to his human’s mouth. His foster parents are not fond of being under the microscope while eating, so they are working on Mikie observing at a respectful distance from the dinner table. Being the truly smart and trainable dog he is, great strides have been made!
The vet and his staff praised Mikie because he was such a good boy during his examination, especially while getting his shots and blood drawn. He didn’t like to have his ears swabbed due to his ear infection but endured it bravely. Having his ears cleaned and treated daily by his foster mom is a task he would like to avoid, but when he realizes his squirming will not have the desired result, he is a champ and gives in without showing any signs of aggression. He loves being brushed and has no problem getting his nails clipped― anything to make him even more handsome and irresistible!
Mikie seems to have no fears and reacts appropriately to sudden noises or movements, allows himself to be handled without problems. He doesn’t chew inappropriately and does not jump up on people or on furniture. Did we mention what a good boy he is?
Are you the one to teach Mikie how to be the happy-go-lucky dog he wants to be? If you do not have young children or cats or male dogs and have time to devote to his exercise and training, please let MAESSR know you are interested in Mikie! He is a wonderful, beautiful, young dog that loves to learn and wants to please you and shower you with kisses in the process!