Cleveland, OHADOPTED! September 7, 2015
Wilbur and Orville are estimated to be around 1.5 years old. They are Shepherd/Lab mixes.
Wilbur and Orville arrived in mid-October from a southern Ohio shelter. They were originally taken in as a neglect case from a hoarding home where dozens of dogs were confiscated and taken to the local animal control facility. These boys along with two others were the last 4 at the shelter after a long, four month wait to move to a home or rescue. The other two dogs were also sent to rescues. Orville and Wilbur are quite attached as a result of their former living conditions. We are working hard to get them comfortable in a real world setting by easing them into life as they will come to know it. They spent their first two weeks decompressing in our quarantine space with one another and had visiting dogs come spend time with them. After the two week period we could tell the boys were ready to slowly be introduced to our daycare floor and then eventually go on walks with volunteers.
Former Shelter Photo
The boys have now been acclimated to being around a large group of dogs and are learning to be less scared. Their biggest hurdle will be overcoming their fear (not to be mixed up with aggression) of humans. These are young dogs that have had very limited positive experiences with humans, human contact or any outside life experience. We have had a few volunteers take them out on walks individually and are struggling but getting better walk by walk. They react to simple things we take for granted like leaves dancing across a sidewalk, or a car zooming by. It will take someone with extreme patience, love and positive guidance to get these boys to a better mental place.
We believe in Wilbur and Orville and will see it through they get what they need out of their new lease on life. We can’t guauge just yet what sort of home will be the best home for them long term but for now we are focused on a quiet home with an adult or two and older children would be ok. They crave attention and want to trust. A home with another dog for either of the boys would be great too so they have another dog to look up to if we separate them.
We are not a traditional shelter, we are a cage-free facility. All dogs are temperament tested and must get along with other dogs to stay here. Appointments must be made in advance to meet our Secondhand Mutts. Please call 216-664-9660 or email rescue@secondhandmutts.org to set up a time. We prefer to adopt to local families but will consider long distance adoptions.
Adoption Fee $200 – Adopt the pair $300
