Cleveland, OH
| Arrival Date: | August 7, 2019 |
| Breed: | Pitbull Terrier Mix |
| Gender: | Male |
| Age: | 7 months |
| Weight: | 44# |
| Personality: | Timid / Shy |
| Fully Vaccinated: | Yes |
| Microchipped: | Yes |
| Spayed/Neutered: | Yes |
| In foster Home: | Yes |
| Dog Social: | Very much a yes! |
| Crate Trained: | Yes |
| House Trained: | Yes |
| Kid-Friendly: | |
| Cat-Friendly: | Yes |
| Origin: | Cleveland APL Transfer |
| Adoption Fee: | $200.00 |
We welcomed Mingus shortly after meeting him through his foster mom (she was previously fostering him while he was with the Cleveland Animal Protective League prior to his transfer to us). Our founder is friends with Mingus’ foster mom and she saw a post from her on social media reaching out for assistance with Mingus:
“I have had a few foster dogs with behavioral issues. This is my first dog that is completely shutdown and afraid of people. He has imprinted on Ellie so that is helpful. I basically use Ellie to emulate the behavior I want from him. To my dog rescue people, I may need your guidance on this one.”
Ellie is her resident dog and this was the photo accompanying her plea for help:
We reached out to offer help to Mingus and our neighboring rescue to provide socialization with other dogs and “safe” humans Mingus could get to know by visiting The Mutt Hutt. It was just a week or so later Mingus came in for his first day of “school” meeting lots of new dog friends, avoiding a few doors and showing us a smidge of the difficulties he’s been struggling with at home. On his way out of the facility is where we saw Mingus shut down and pancake to the floor. He was pretty much immobilizing himself but not exhibiting any sort of aggression or any verbal or other behavioral issues of serious concern. This lad was just scared and not sure of himself or the big outside world. The same goes for his trips to the car which started off with requiring lots of praise and eventually a carry by his human best friend.
As you can see he’s quite cozy at home, gets lots of attention and snuggles and enjoys nap time like no other dog on the planet.
While Mingus is making great strides he is a dog that will need someone with time, compassion, patience and another dog at home. We truly believe with continued socialization, positive reinforcement, dog friends, exposure to new things (all in time) he will maneuver through this hurdle and become the champion we see deep down inside.
We believe in you Mingus. We will help you venture out in life and feel comfortable. We will find you a forever home.
Many thanks to our friends at the Cleveland Animal Protective League for working together. Respect the dog™.
To Your Teach Me The Way donation helps us help Mingus and dogs like him who arrive at our facility with behavioral issues. We have a special fund set aside through The Extra Mile program and you can make your contribution by clicking the graphic below:
Mingus is up to date on vaccines, neutered and microchipped. If you are interested in any one of our dogs please fill out our online adoption application.
FOSTER HOME REPORT:
Please continue to check in for updates as we expect there to be a progression of reports for Mingus.8/12/19: He has started to bark at things that scare him – which seems like progress given where he was when he arrived at my house. He still pancakes if I try to walk him outside of my front yard. His paw licking is definitely behavioral. He likes to do it at bedtime and at about 4am and any time he is bored. He now acknowledges me when I call his name. He doesn’t always come, but he looks at me. He is pretty much house trained. He wants to play and I try to play with him, but he isn’t sure what to do. Sometimes I can get him to pull on the tug of war rope for a second or two. He did a half second zoomie the other day which was a big deal. He sometimes gallops towards the door when it is time to go outside and he will prance around and act silly – but only for a second. This is all very good progress since he wouldn’t allow himself to relax or be playful at all when I got him.
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 our dogs or adoption process please email us at adoption@secondhandmutts.org.
