Cleveland, OHADOPTED! October 3, 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.
Foster Home Report:
Wilbur is starting to settle in. He’s been glued to my side the entire time I’m at home and always wants to be near me, and be far enough away from my family to feel safe but still keep an eye on them, but he has recently let them pet him when he’s laying down. He does engage in fear barking towards my family members and I’m trying to work on that and on getting him feeling comfortable – he’s in no way aggressive, just scared. He was additionally barking just from hearing people walking around or in and out of the house, but with some positive conditioning it’s lessened tremendously.
He is essentially housebroken, but did have an accident in the house twice. He naturally wants to go outside.
When he’s outside, he shows no interest in jumping the fence or broaching it whatsoever (he’s a pretty bad at jumping actually – he has had a lot of trouble even making it up onto my decently high bed). He loves to play with the tennis ball and roll around in the grass or sit by me and look up at me. He seems pretty happy to be outside.
Wilbur is a very social dog and doesn’t like to be alone. He doesn’t like being put in the crate. The first time I put him in there, he somehow managed to get out of the crate and was on my bed when I got home. The second time, I watched him secretly and he seemed pretty anxious and was trying hard to get out. I decided not to use the crate with him because he does so well out on his own and mostly just chills out on my bed. So far, he hasn’t had accidents or chewed anything he wasn’t supposed to while alone (he did literally nibble at my book, but redirected easily).
Also, he is GREAT on walks. I’m not sure if it’s because he’s using the halter now, or because he’s in a much calmer suburb, but he barely ever pulls on the leash, and when he does, it’s quite lightly, and he actually seems to really enjoy his walks. He seems like a more confident dog with his tail up and curled, inquisitive and sniffing, and never barks at people or dogs. He does go out of his way to avoid people on walks but doesn’t seem overly scared like he does in the house.
When Wilbur gets past his fear, he is such a gentle soul. No aggression over toys or food, will try to gently play with you, lay near you and on you, and lightly lick your toes or nudge your hand, and takes treats very sweetly. I’ve never met a more gentle dog. He’s such a good pup and would make an excellent companion once bonded and trustful of his owner.
I will keep on with positively condition him so that he accepts my family members, or at least stops feeling the need to bark at them. It’s only been three days but I’m already seeing progress.
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
