Category Archives: Successes

Molson is a an energetic mutt who arrived in our care this past August after being found stray in the City of Cleveland. During his time with us he has transitioned through foster provider homes while patiently awaiting to find his forever home. As we’ve gotten to know him through the foster provider observations it’s allowed us to figure out the best match forever home for his needs. We feel the best matched home for Molson would be one where he has a dog companion to learn from and exercise with and dog owners who are dedicated and willing to learn along side him. We believe Molson would do best in a home with another dog as a playmate and a fully fenced-in yard. 

Our dedication to Molson through funds raised from The Extra Mile program are to provide him and his committed future adopter with a training package provided by The Extra Mile: Teach Me The Way program. The program allows for sponsorship of dogs like Molson and his future owners to provide all parties with the guidance to set him up for a successful adoption. We work with skilled trainers in many areas including opportunities for out of state adopters. 

Molson is house trained and quickly picked up basic commands and even a few tricks along the way. He has had exposure to children as young as 2 years old and enjoyed the company of school aged children with homes filled with activity.  He is prey driven and is not eligible to live in a home with cats, chickens or other small animals who ware free range in the home or property. Molson is up to date on vaccines, microchipped and neutered.

The home we are seeking for Molson will mimic the current foster provider home he has been in for the last month which is providing him with activity, exercise, structure, devotion and the patience. We are seeking a person or family that has the patience, devotion to exercise and willingness to follow through with the training that he needs.  Help us find Molson a match and support our cause to go The Extra Mile and always respect the dog. 

Click here to support our fundraising efforts specifically for Molson’s adoptive family. 

Typically our dogs stay in a foster home where we can learn as much about them as possible to assist with our efforts for making the best match with a new home. The adjustment period for every dog is different while they are transitioning into a foster home as well as a forever home. Our foster providers send us their foster reports and the information received is updated on our website throughout the dogs time with us.

Our Foster Provider Program is an integral part of our mission to Respect the Dog. Without fosters, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. We are always actively screening individuals and families to provide our dogs with a safe, structured, foster home to give each dog the time, love and respect they deserve while they are in search of landing their forever home. For more information click here. 

Foster Provider Dog Report

Molson is responding really well on walks with the pinch collar. He hardly pulls with it on. When he does get distracted (by other dogs, squirrels, blowing leaves, etc), a quick tug on the pinch collar and he immediately snaps back to attention and quickly sits. He is slowly becoming a pleasure to walk. My husband even went for a run with him today and said he did well with the usual distractions. 

 

We have experienced a bit of Molson’s separation anxiety. We left him alone in the crate one evening for about 3 hours. We secured the crate with carabiners (per Becca’s suggestion) to ensure he would not escape and gave him a Kong filled with peanut butter to occupy him.  We came home to him still in the crate but he managed to separate the plastic tray from the bottom that allowed him to get a hold of the rug. He then was able to use the rug as leverage to pull himself closer to the bed where he got a hold of our comforter – both the rug and comforter were shredded. Thankfully, he didn’t hurt himself. 

 

We have since left him alone one other time (for about an hour, this time not in the crate) and he broke into our dog’s food container. He ate too much food and might have a belly ache, but otherwise, no damage done. He does show signs of stress when we leave him alone in the house (with our dog) for even a moment to step outside. 

 

He sleeps in the crate fine with no issues but it is probably because the crate is in our bedroom and we are there as well. He also happily eats all his meals in his crate and will often wait in the crate until meal time. But if he’s in the crate on his own for more than a few minutes he starts to get upset.

 

Luckily, we both work from home so it is rare that he is left alone but it might require a bit more training to make him more comfortable being left alone. At the same time, us always being around might make it harder for him to get over his separation anxiety.

Foster Report (2.15.21): Home Provided by Shane and Brittany

Molson is a super sweet and energetic boy. He is a great playmate for our 3 year old German Shepherd and also an affectionate snuggler with the humans in the house. Molson knows all of his basic commands and is house trained. He is food motivated and learns very quickly. He is learning the rules of the house like sitting and waiting for permission before eating and going outside.

Just to give a quick update on what our training has looked like so far; The first week my only goal was to get him consistently excited about getting to work and to make sure he knows the clicker sound is a happy sound, so I stuck with things he mostly seemed to already know, like the name game (saying his name randomly through the day and giving him a treat if he looks at us), sit, down, leave it, and stay. He’s pretty reliable on all of those indoors. We also worked on “touch” and “go to your mat” and he picked them up quickly (either that or he already knew them just not my cues!). Going forward, my plan is to keep working these commands but start adding in distractions and also start working more on loose leash walking.

 

He’s so food motivated that it’s really easy to teach him new things. You can just watch the wheels turning in his head as he’s trying to figure out what he needs to do to win a treat. The only times he “misbehaves” is when he gets distracted by something else and forgets all his manners. That’s part of why I’m hopeful working in more distracting environments will teach him to always pay attention.

Molson would thrive with a very active family that can provide him with a lot of day to day structure. He would also do well in a home with another dog to play with to get some of his excess energy out. We have been doing a lot of training with him inside where he does very well but he does need some work outdoors where there are more distractions (particularly with his recall). We have only left him home alone once so far and he did very well in the crate with a peanut butter filled Kong to keep him occupied. One time he did escape his crate but only to be found taking a nap just outside of it. He sleeps well in the crate without any issues.

Molson would be a great dog in any home with folks willing to give him a bit of stability, training, and belly rubs. 

Foster Report (12.26.20): Home Provided by Alison and Brian

Molson is a sweet boy with a lot of energy.  Outside, he runs around our fenced in yard and plays with our dog. Inside he is usually fairly calm but he does try to play with our dog nonstop in the house which can get a little crazy but we are working on that. When he is not trying to play with our dog, he is super chill and lovable… following us around the house, napping and cuddling next to us and sometimes right on top of us like a lap dog. 

Molson is very smart and already knows a few commands (sit, paw, lay down) and we are working on ‘stay’ which he is getting very good at.  We are also working on his recall which is a slower process in settings where he is more distracted.  On walks Molson is a puller, but not terrible, so we are working on that too.  With more training, repetition and some boundaries, I think Molson could be a very good boy, he certainly has the potential, energy and smarts to learn more! He is also very food motivated which helps with the training.

Molson has been around our 5 year old niece quite a bit and does really with her! Molson seems to have a bit of a prey drive (he chases squirrels around our yard and up trees constantly) so I would not recommend he live in a home with cats.

He does great with toys and bones, he doesn’t get aggressive or possessive with them.  We give him some brain teaser toys and he figures them out quickly but they keep him stimulated and busy, plus they tire him out a bit. 

Molson has not had any accidents in the house, he is fully potty trained.  We crate him at night and he lays right down and goes to sleep.  We’ve only had the opportunity to crate him once during the day when we were not home and he did not do very well. We had a pet camera on him and he did not lay down for about an hour and then somehow escaped from the crate. Luckily he does well outside of the crate, because when we came home he was sleeping on the couch and was not destructive. That being said, all food must be out of his reach because he will find it and if no one is around, reach up on a counter or table to get at treats or food.

Molson has so much potential and love to give. If you have the time and a little patience to work with him, he could be such a fantastic and loyal pet.

Foster Report (8.6.2020): Home Provided by Austin and Christine

Molson is a very sweet boy with a ton of puppy energy. It took him a day or two to settle down in his new foster home, but once he did he has been doing really well. He is easily excitable and can be jumpy/mouthy (working on it) but he’s very smart and is starting to get better at listening and responding. I think he will learn quickly with the right boundaries and structure. Once he’s settled down, he is extremely sweet and loves to be around us whenever he can. He’s constantly following me around and snuggling up to me. 

We’re working on basic commands and so far, he’s picked up “Sit” and “Down”. He loves to play and run around in the yard – I think he would do best in a home that has some space for him to run around and get some of that energy out. Molson does pretty good on a leash, but will need some additional work/guidance with his new owner(s). 

Overall he does well with other dogs. He is still learning to play (and when not to play) with our dog. He does get very excited and mouthy, and sometimes doesn’t know when to quit so would definitely recommend structured playtime as he is getting acquainted to any new dog brothers or sisters. He’s done well when toys were introduced to playtime (not aggressive/possessive). I think he’d do well in a home with another dog but could also be in a home as an only dog. 

Molson is catching on quickly in terms of his house training. We take frequent breaks outside during the day and he does well with that. He has had a couple of accidents here and there, but otherwise pretty good about waiting until we’re outside. He’s able to sleep in his crate at night with no accidents. Molson seems to do pretty well in a crate overall, especially at night. He will sleep in his crate at night without too much fuss and hasn’t had any accidents. He does cry for a little while in his crate when we leave the house but overall does fine (usually gives up and lays down after 5-10 min).

Meet-Our-Mutts

Due to COVID-19 we are currently unable to host public events. 

Private introductions with a volunteer or the dogs foster provider are arranged after we have received an adoption application. 

The Adoption Application Process

Our dogs are not placed on a first-come, first-serve basis. We carefully review the applications we receive and place our dogs in the home that best matches what is needed for each dog individually. We are a 100% volunteer operation and ask for your patience while our volunteers process and respond to applications. Please research the breed or breed mix you are interested in adopting to understand the needs of the breed. Please continue reading to understand our adoption application screening process. If you are interested in adopting any one of our dogs please fill out our online adoption application. Applications are responded to with an auto-response message indicating your application has been received. Please check your Spam folder as our mail sometimes does not make it into inboxes due to spam filters. We are a volunteer run operation and we ask for your patience while processing and responding to applications. Please notify your references when you list them on our application and give your listed veterinarian authorization to release your current or previous animals records to our volunteers. If you have never owned a pet before please research the breed you are interested in adopting to understand the needs of the breed and list the name of the veterinarian you plan to use if you do adopt.

If you need additional information about your application or our adoption process please email us at adoption@secondhandmutts.org.

Ready to adopt? Click here to learn more about adopting a Secondhand Mutt.