My name is Kenzie!

This friendly and playful girl is named Kenzi. She is an adorable Bulldog/Pug cross and has the soft fur of a Pug and adoring eyes of a Bulldog. She is an incredibly sweet two-year-old who loves playing and affection. She is a small/medium dog. She weighs in at 16.5 kgs (36 lbs) which is kind of surprising when you see her in person because she seems more petite than that. She has the stocky Bulldog body but is just a bit taller than a Pug would be.

Kenzi is a very happy girl who just loves life! She is content to play by herself, in fact, she can take any toy and play with it until she is ready to collapse for a nap. She throws her toys up into the air, chases them, shakes them, and throws them again. She is so entertaining to watch. We think she was an “only dog” so would do well as an only dog because she thrives on the attention of people. Kenzi will also do well with other well behaved dogs. She has learned to play very well with her foster sister and they can play for long periods of time - with or without toys. Kenzi would do fine with another playful, submissive dog, but she would butt heads with a dominant dog as Kenzi likes to be the leader of her pack. She is great meeting dogs out on walks and is a very social girl.

Kenzi is a fast learner, very attentive, and eager to please. She is such an easy dog if she is shown simple and consistent boundaries. She is easy to control in that she doesn’t need harsh commands, just a firm voice. She will need a leader who can be clear with rules and boundaries, followed by praise and affection.

It was obvious that she was new to leash walking down the sidewalk, but after being fostered for only one week she was heeling nicely on leash with the aid of a Gentle Leader head halter. She only needs mild and consistent corrections to bring her back to heeling position. After only a few days I started taking Kenzi on pack walks with my other two dogs and she was amazingly good. Also, she sits well for food and treats, and can even shake a paw!! She is learning “off” which is hard for her around people because she loves meeting friends. If Kenzi was on Facebook she would hold the record for highest number of friends. She loves everyone! She will need to be constantly reminded that jumping up is not acceptable greeting behaviour. We are working on that.

Kenzi knows “go to your bed” and will settle down in her dog bed and play with a chew toy. She became perfectly crate trained in just a few days – she goes in happily and sits down to wait for her treat – once the door is closed she is quiet – and when I return she comes out calmly and quietly (sometimes I have to coax her out!). I have allowed her to roam the house while I am away for short periods of time and she has been well behaved. Kenzi is also doing well in obedience training classes. She is picking up on new commands after just a few repetitions. As a Bulldog she loves to work and it would be a huge benefit for her new family to continue obedience training to help build a bond with her and perfect her obedience skills.

She loves chasing balls! She is getting pretty good at fetch and is learning the “drop it” command. Kenzi would definitely excel at dog sports like agility because she’s very athletic, fast and loves to learn. Kenzi is gifted with both intelligence and athleticism and it would be an advantage for Kenzi if her new family would enroll her in training programs and polish her abilities. The Bulldog and Pug in Kenzi comes out in her tendency to be willful and a teensy bit stubborn. As a smart and confident dog she will need an owner who is calm and assertive, firm and very consistent with rules. She loves treats as rewards and she loves praise – but treats are a huge motivator for her. And of course, she wants and deserves a lot of love.

She is a curious dog and seems to be fearless. While other dogs might be afraid of big, loud trucks, Kenzi just wants to see what all the noise is about – and if it’s the garbage truck she just wants to say hello to the garbage men! She was also completely oblivious to the loud bang of fireworks just three houses down!

Kenzi is a high energy dog and needs her brisk, daily walks as well as lots of play time. Her limitless energy is not the obnoxious kind, she is quite adorable as she plays and is well behaved (unless she focuses on one of the really loud squeaky toys!).

When Kenzi came to us her skin was red and itchy. She had lost fur in her throat/chest area due to scratching because her condition was not treated in her previous home. Her skin was quite bad when Kenzi was surrendered to a Toronto pound, but it has improved immensely in a short period of time in our care. We have consulted with our vet and monitored her closely and we are confident it is a result of food allergies. We believe this is why Kenzi was abandoned by her previous owner as it certainly wasn’t due to her amazing temperament. Kenzi will always need to be on hypo-allergenic food and treats for the rest of her life. The good news is that she is happy having baby carrots as treats, so if you’re whipping up a salad for yourself she will be right there waiting for hand outs! It is also possible that Kenzi was allergic to something in her home environment, so to be safe would like to see Kenzi go to a home without a lot of carpets and where there is regular vacuuming and dusting.

More good stuff about Kenzi … she is quiet. I’ve heard her bark a few times during play time to get the attention of her foster-sister (she has barked when someone comes to the door but she quiets down quickly). She is also quiet in the car and loves to look out the window. She was perfectly behaved during her first bath and didn’t resist at all when I trimmed her nails for the first time. She is perfectly housetrained and has not had a single accident. She is extremely affectionate and loves to snuggle. She would love to jump up to lie with me on the sofa, but she doesn’t know how to jump onto furniture! So she just puts her front feet up on my knee and stretches out as tall as she can and looks at me with those big, adorable eyes that just melt my heart so I pick her up and she snuggles right in with me. Unfortunately Kenzi will not make a good guard dog. She is so friendly when meeting people. She is learning “off” but her joy at meeting someone overcomes her and she forgets. If you bend down to greet her she will immediately lie down on her back and expose her belly to you. She does this with complete strangers all the time. Kenzi would also do extremely well as a therapy dog – she could provide a lot of people with a lot of joy because of her friendly and kind demeanor. She is also great in the car and travels well, and with her compact size is a dog that can accompany you to all kinds of places and adventures.

Kenzi was obviously an apartment dog – she didn’t understand how to do stairs at first. And it took her a few days to realize she could look out the big window in my living room to see the world outside – when she realized this she was quietly mesmerized for a full hour by the activities going past our house. Kenzi is obviously joyful running through the back yard – she loves to play in the yard followed by a nap in the grass (full sun for this girl). Even though Kenzi would do ok in an apartment, I see the complete bliss in her while outdoors and I would love to see Kenzi going to a home with a fenced in yard where she is happiest.

Kenzi is not being fostered with children but she has interacted with them and no surprise, she was amazing with them. We are confident that because of her incredibly gentle nature she will do well in a family with children over 8 years of age who can understand and respect the needs of a dog and treat her kindly. Kenzi is not being fostered with cats and has had no interaction with cats yet so we cannot comment on how she would react around cats but we feel she would do fine with a calm cat who is used to dogs and won’t attack her.

Kenzi has been such a delight to foster. And everyone she meets comments on how kind and sweet she is. She needs an active family who will put the time and effort into continuing the training we have started with her and will take her to dog school. She loves school and excels there and we want the best for this little girl. Will you give this wonderful girl the loving “furever” home she deserves?

All Pound Dog Rescue dogs are spayed/neutered, vaccinated, heartworm tested, de-wormed (if required), and micro-chipped prior to adoption. The adoption donation of $400 is applied to assist in the costs of veterinary care and the overall care of the dog. For more information and adoption applications please consult our website at www.pounddog.ca.