ADOPTED! January 20, 2015
Tonya is a 5 year old red/rust Doberman Pinscher. She was taken to a local shelter in April 2013 and received excellent medical care and the TLC she needed to find a home. She spent months under a microscope to take what was once a bare coat (see picture below) to a now beautiful coat. She was in the shelter from April until October 2013 and then was in foster care learning the ropes of being a house dog. Her history before her shelter life is unknown as is the story for many dogs who end up in shelters. All we know is this gal has an enormous amount of support from many people, including our Executive Director who followed her story last fall, and tons of love to give to whomever is lucky enough to adopt her.
Tonya’s skin issues are related to dog food allergies and for months she was eating a vet prescribed food. Since moving to her foster home this past summer we have played around with different foods and now she is successfully eating Taste of the Wild brand food. As you can see from her before and now photo’s she has really shown great improvement.
With some basic training we know Tonya has the capability to be a great dog on a leash. She is starting basic obedience training at The Mutt Hutt Dog Training Center. Since arriving at our facility she has slowly acclimated to being on the floor with our daycare dogs. Tonya is good with other dogs, can give some warning signs about space. She is good with cats who are dog-friendly and she is your typical velcro Doberman. She is a people dog and loves all people and kids too!
Foster Home Report
Tonya is amazing! I do know her like the back of my hand and she will do ANYTHING you ask of her. It really doesn’t take much work or “training” you just need to let her know your expectations because she is always eager to please. She thrives on praise and would rather get praise then a treat. If she does something undesirable, all you need to do is let her know once that you’re not happy with that behavior and she doesn’t repeat that bad behavior. She LOVES kids, she’s a gentle soul and she has a prey drive for squirrels and such but totally respects the cat in my house that can sometimes be pretty naughty with her. All I have to say it to leave the cat alone and she does. She sits on command, goes into the down position, heals nicely when asked will stay on cue until released. She’s not the type of dog that “begs” for table food, she does love her vittles and knows exactly when it is feeding time. As for kids with food in their hands she might be interested but all you have to do is tell her that is a no and she listens. She is BEYOND intelligent, the most loyal dog that I have ever encountered, loves to be active but she also knows when to chill and have snuggle time.
She’s a happy, good natured, well balanced dog. I’m shocked that she hasn’t been adopted yet. You couldn’t ask for a better dog. Like most Doberman, she is protective of her “home” and her “people”. She doesn’t have an aggressive bone in her body but she bonds with her home and family but not in an obnoxious manner. We were at the Tremont Art and Cultural Festival and a little boy was in LOVE with her. I told that mom that she could put her little boy out in the front yard with Tonya and she could be guaranteed that nothing would happen to her child while Tonya was on “duty” As I said, there isn’t an aggressive bone in her dog body but she is loyal and protective of who she loves. I would LOVE to keep her myself but she is a perfectly healthy dog that can move on to a nice family. The family that adopts her will know nothing but love and loyalty and they would be very lucky to have her as part of their family
I wouldn’t be too concerned about being “strict” with her diet if she gets food from the kids. She does need to stick on her special grain free diet but snacks here and there won’t hurt her She does walk nicely on a leash with me. That is because she knows I’m the boss and she can transfer that direction to anyone. She would make a GREAT running partner. I’m sure over time and some effort she would be able to let the kids take her for a short/supervised walk.
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.
Dog Adoption Fee: $250
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Cleveland, OH
