My name is Sammy!

Sammy was adopted but has been returned due to no fault of his own. He is a young adult, mid-sized dog weighing approximately 35 lbs. We have included his original posting information but added comments here from his previous adopter:

Sammy is a sweet dog. He loves to give kisses and to snuggle with you on the couch. He was anxious when I first brought him home but was starting to relax after a few days. He knows several tricks and loves being rewarded with a treat. He knows how to shake a paw, sit and speak. He loved playing with toys. He would really be a delight for an active person. Overall he is a wonderful dog who has been through a lot of change. Once he feels safe he’ll be very happy. He does need to have an outlet for his energy and would do best in a home with a fenced yard. He appears to have a squirrel obsession and needs someone who is willing to work on his leash training to keep him walking nicely when you encounter squirrels. He would be a great candidate for obedience training or agility as we believe he would excel due to his eagerness to please his people. He really likes to play and would do best with another dog his size or larger to play with and to learn from.

Here is what Sammy’s foster family had to say:

Sammy is a sweet dog who has bonded quickly with everyone in the house – two and four legged. He loves nothing more than to be near you – to lie at your feet, wait for you on the shower mat or – if you let him – cuddle up on the couch or in bed next to you. In fact, he sometimes likes to take up the “cat position” and drapes himself across the back of the couch. [We have yet to correct this because it’s cute and doesn’t really interfere with anything]. He loves to show affection with kisses when prompted, and will greet your return home with enthusiasm and doggie smiles. Sammy has been very eager to learn about his environment, socialize, and please his people – he’d rather work for your love than treats. Sammy doesn’t shed much, and he feels much softer than he looks! Sammy’s energy is moderate – he’ll run around and play outside and loves a good game of tug, but quickly settles in close to you when inside.

We haven’t had Sammy around children directly but he was friendly and indifferent to them when passing children on our walks and we don’t believe there would be any issues with children in the home. He hasn’t had any reactions [fear, aggression] towards people in the home, out walking, in social situations, in body handling or when food handling. He’s been a really excellent dog this way.

Sammy has been great with other dogs – out on walks leashed, in social situations, and in the home. He’s living with two other medium sized dogs, but has been around dogs of all sizes and has shown no fear reactions, and responds well to their social cues to stop or back off. He hasn’t been possessive of any toys or food – and hasn’t reacted in brief moments when our dogs showed possessive behaviour [around a treat or toy]. We do have a cat in the home, but she’s skittish and shy so Sammy hasn’t seen much of her but was curious to smell her; he has listened to our verbal corrections [to stay away and not chase] whenever they’ve crossed paths and hasn’t chased her.

Sammy hasn’t tried to counter surf – or even coffee-table surf the couple times we’ve forgotten to put stuff away. He hasn’t shown any interest in chewing shoes or anything he’s not supposed to. He’s also really good about waiting to be invited onto the couch or beds. He knows “sit”, “paw” and we’re working on recall and lie down. He is fully house trained. Sammy is in the process of learning good leash manners and for the most part walks fine on a loose leash. He will pull at times however especially when you first set out so he will need some additional training with this. Sammy has gotten much better in not trying to follow us out the door when we’re leaving without him or answering the door. On the odd occasion he has gotten out, he doesn’t run away – he just wants to come with us. Sammy is crate trained but will bark when you initially leave the home but does settle pretty quickly. However, we’ve been starting to let him stay out on his own if we’ll be gone less than an hour and so far he’s been really good un-crated. Sammy rides well in cars – no barking, anxiety or sickness. He settles in and sleeps after a good hike or outing. Sometimes he likes to try and hop into the front seat if it’s unoccupied, and we’re careful with the windows because he likes to stick his head out them.

As Sammy came from a rural background he is still a bit skittish when we’re walking along busy and noisy streets – in particular with loud trucks or buses passing – but we’ve been working on that through exposure and encouraging him to move forward/keep walking with us. He has been really quiet most of the time. He’ll answer knocks on the door with some barking, but not charging. He is really just getting used to his new environment and the city sounds and gets surprised sometimes.

Sammy is a lover, and will thrive with positive attention and love from his new family. In fact – in all of our training/socialization so far he’s been more responsive to affection than treats. Since he bonds quickly and thrives on attention, we feel he’ll overcome any challenges he’s facing [leash walking, skittishness around loud noises] fast through building trust in his people and the confidence of them and any other dogs.

We feel Sammy would do well in most home situations, but probably best in a home that’s not too chaotic or noisy since he’s not a high energy dog and needs some good grounded affection to thrive. We’re positive Sammy would love to have a doggie brother or sister or at the very least plenty of opportunities to socialize. Any cats in the home should be dog-savvy and ready to put him in his place the first day. (Do to his squirrel obsession we think he may be best in a home without cats).

If you think Sammy would be a good fit for your situation, please go to our main website at uglymuttsdogrescue.com and submit an application for consideration.