Look at those beautiful almond shaped eyes, when you look deep into them can you see how much love he has to give? Winston is a very handsome, 2-3 year old, orange Belton, neutered male. He is not a "velcro" dog but he does love to be touched - actually he LIVES to be touched. If you could wrap your arms around him 24/7, he would still want more. This boy is like a sponge, he will just keep soaking it in.

Winston is very skinny, he weighs 43# but you couldn't tell that by looking at him. He did test positive for hook worms so we are treating him for this, and, as that could be a contributing factor towards his skinniness, I'm sure that neglect played a big role also. This boy is ALL muscle, when he stands on his back legs (to give hugs) you can see every muscle ripple on his long, lean body. He is strong and can be high energy sometimes.

We are working on his behavior and social issues. He does great with other dogs, but sometimes plays a little rough. Winston has just started climbing our fence, so I would have to suggest he be adopted by a family with underground fencing. He is a quick learner, but will need a family with a gentle hand, strong rules and be willing to stand their ground even when sad puppy eyes melt their hearts. He gets so excited to see people that he jumps at you, but we are working on that. Winston has been at our house since November 2008, and I think he suffers a little from separation anxiety, but this has improved a lot. He has finally made the connection that when we leave we ARE coming back.

Verbal commands don't seem to phase - we often wonder if his previous owner was a yeller. I even tested him for deafness, but he passed that test with no problem. He responds to "sit" very nicely (verbal with and hand signal of index finger pointing at his butt) and we are working on "down" (I usually pull my knee up so it hits him in the chest along with a verbal). BUT just the sight of a squirt bottle filled with water will drop him to a lay position and he will listen intently to you. A little squirt on his butt will stop whatever action he is doing - playing to rough, nose in the trash, running throw the house, etc.

Another issue we have stumbled upon has to do with smoke and fire. We have no idea what his past was like, but we have our suspicion, based on his behavior, that he might have been kenneled near a fire/flame or perhaps was involved in a house fire???? He is fine when I burn candles and when we cook on the grill, he is on the other side of the fence - so that hasn't caused a problem. What alerted us to the problem was when something got spilled on my stove burner and it caught fire and smoked. Winston did not freak out; he just hid and was very scared. I held him very close and after the smoke cleared he was fine.

Socially he is a pretty good boy. He was pretty timid at first, but is blossoming very nicely. When we have company, he does bark and back away, but after awhile he is fine. He loves our 7 year old and I think he would do great with any age child provided we get his "jumps" under control. He is learning "wake up duty" (going in and waking up our 7 yr old with kisses) and has proven himself to be very gentle and caring.

If you are looking for a constant companion, and someone that will love you forever, Winston is your boy. He is a very loving dog and all he wants is someone to love him back.