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My name is Samuel!

Posted over 10 years ago

My basic info

Breed
Maltese/Shih Tzu
Color
White - with Black
Age
Adult
Size
Small 25 lbs (11 kg) or less (when grown)
Weight
Sex
Male
Pet ID
013-0519

My details

Checkmark in teal circle Good with kids
Checkmark in teal circle Good with dogs
Checkmark in teal circle Good with cats
Checkmark in teal circle Shots current
Checkmark in teal circle Spayed / Neutered
Checkmark in teal circle Housetrained

My story

Here's what the humans have to say about me:

Sammy is such a loving little dog. When we first brought him home he was quite afraid of most everything, but by the end of the first hour he was already asleep on my lap. His absolute favourite thing to do is just curl up on the nearest lap and get as many pets as he can. If you stop petting him he stares at you with his big round eyes and paws at your hand, "please, please pet me more!". Sammy is an adult dog approximately 5 years old and weighs 17 lbs.


Here is what else his foster family had to say:


If you are looking for a dog that will ignore you and spend all of it's time playing or sleeping in another room, Sammy is not the dog for you. He follows me from room to room and is always at my feet or on my lap. He could use a bit of work learning about personal space but if you like that in a dog then he's great. He even lays on the bathroom mat while I get ready for work every morning, watching me do my hair and makeup like I'm the most exciting thing in the world! It makes a person feel good about themselves, my ego has definitely gotten bigger with him living here!


Sammy is not overly playful, he'd rather cuddle up than play fetch so if you are looking for an active dog for your young family he is probably not suitable. He does get very excited when you come home though and does somersaults and acrobats and then will bring you a toy and play fetch for about 1 minute. After this you can throw that toy as many times as you like, wave it back and forth forever but it has no appeal to him - he just keeps staring at your face like he doesn't even see the toy. Whenever he gets really excited he wants to play but this really only happens if he hasn't seen you in a while (even 2 minutes after coming in from outside). His activity level is low to moderate; he is happy to sleep all day or go out sniffing the yard for 20 minutes but then will lie down in the grass.


He gets along well with other calm pets, but does not initiate play with dogs. He spent a day with a young 80 lb dog who did not understand that not all dogs want to play and Sammy put up with his pestering like a champ. He growled at him maybe 3 times over the course of the entire day but it was just a quick 'leave me alone' noise, not malicious and was well deserved. If I were Sammy I do not think I would have been as calm with all the nudging and barking as he was able to put up with. Eventually when they got let out in the yard loose together Sammy ended up chasing the larger dog for about 5 minutes and had a fine time of it, both tails wagging and loving it. This again was related to his higher excitement levels and after that initial excitement wore off of being outside he could not be goaded into playing again. He has met a cat while being with us and he was interested in it enough to go up and smell it, before being promptly swatted on the nose. He didn't quite catch on that the cat didn't want to be friends so I think a dog friendly cat would be fine with him. He even did fine relieving himself beside a small wild rabbit! Just looked at it curiously and watched it hop away - definitely very little (if any) prey drive!


Sammy somewhat knows his basic commands and is fairly good in the house, including minimal barking. He will need work on his commands, but not too much as he has a good idea what most things mean. He also knows he is expected to sit when you want to put the leash on, though sometimes struggles to do this if you've just gotten home as he's so excited to see you! He walks very well on the leash too, pulling a bit in his excitement to get outside but once you are going he walks beside you with no tension on the leash. Sammy is house trained, though he has had a few accidents in the house. He is crate trained and goes in to his crate quite willingly if you say 'crate' and point to it. For the first week of fostering him we kept him in the crate any time we left the house. He got so used to it that the first time I decided to leave him loose, he saw me putting my coat and shoes on and he just immediately went into his crate! I do trust him to be left on his own now for a few hours, though we still don't give him free reign of the house when we're gone as we shut all the bedroom and living rooms doors. He does like to chew on the odd undergarment (what dog doesn't?) including socks, as well as tempting tissues! This includes clean tissues still in the box so they will need to be kept out of reach. He is very good at dropping things when you tell him to though. If you are planning to leave home for a full work day (or anything more than 5-6 hours) I would suggest crating him as I don't think he can hold his bathroom waits that long but won't do it in the crate. Overall I think he has great house manners.


The only issue we have had with Sammy is his fear of men. He is fine to be in the same room as them so long as they are ignoring him, but if a man directly calls to him or gives him any attention then he will shy away and try to hide behind the nearest woman. If I am not home, Sammy is happy enough to go up to my partner for pets and cuddles, but as soon as I get home his personality flicks like a light switch and he becomes scared of the same man who was petting him just two minutes previous. I think with some work and bonding experiences that this would improve though, by no means do I think he should only go to a home with women (though he would also be in heaven there). After a week of living together we have seen some improvements with Sammy's attitude towards my partner but it's still not great and I think he will always favour women. While I cannot say for sure, I think he just wasn't properly socialized with men as a puppy.


If you would like this darling little dog to be your new best friend, please submit an application for consideration.

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