My name is Twinkie!

Twinkie needs a hero foster/adopter to help him!

We take in a LOT of dogs with some special behavioral and medical needs, but when those intersect it can be especially challenging. Twinkie came to us with the end of his tail severely injured and gruesomely infected, surrendered because family dynamics changed and no one had time for him even if they could have afforded his medical care. There was nerve damage and most of his tail needed to be amputated to remove the dead tissue and source of chronic pain. We had him fully vetted, neutered, a dental, and his tail docked to a little nub in hopes of solving the issue… all healed well and this sweet 8 year old boy should have been a fairy tale ending and an easy adoption… But nothing comes easy for poor little Twinkie…

Sadly, while he’s now medically not in any pain and fully healed, he’s still got his issues that will need some continued management and retraining on top of his “happy and sleepy” behavioral meds 💊. You see, his tail injury didn’t happen overnight, he had been “chasing” and “attacking” it for at least 3 years without proper medical intervention. It was a bit of a chicken and the egg situation and we don’t know which truly happened first but once he started his cycle of self-harm it just continued to spiral and worsen until he came to us at his lowest point.

The story we were told was that the tip was docked wrong as a puppy by the breeder and the end might have had some nerve damage. He was always a bit sensitive in it, and would sometimes growl or react when he felt it moving or wagged it too much. Then one day he was attacked and bitten by a loose dog and it was injured again, and it all snowballed and worsened from there. At first, he would just growl and spin but not actually grab it, but the past several months he had been “catching” it and biting it during his fits. It’s not a seizure disorder, and his spinning is actually pretty predictable and in certain circumstances- when he’s eating, when something else upsets him or makes him anxious like first leaving him alone or crating/gating him, or if people or other dogs try to touch his back end. He’s not a danger to anyone but himself, but in situations that might trigger a “normal” dog to growl or bite a person or other dog, he instead redirects that toward his own personal worst enemy, his phantom tail that he still expects to hurt him. It can be upsetting to watch, and there’s no easy “cure” or fix unfortunately. Most of the time he’s a happy lovable cuddly guy, fine with other dogs in general (although some dogs may get upset by his reactions, or upset him more if they are too in his face so would have to be a very calm chill dog that won’t hurt him or set him off more), does happy greeting dances and asks to be picked up and held on your lap.

The good news is his tail has completely healed from his surgery, and he’s finally been able to be “deconed” and has not actually been making contact or injuring his new shorter tail. With medication he’s improved a lot and he’s easily redirected and “snapped out of it” if you ask him to do something else and then reward him with treats and petting. He has not directed the aggression outwardly at all even if you are holding or petting him, and otherwise he’s in pretty good health and just a middle aged guy who hopefully will have many happier years ahead of him. Though he looks like a perfect little scruffy Benji terrier mix he was purchased from a “breeder” as a miniature pincher/poodle mix (why!? Just why, yet another designer poo 💩 being bred for profit 🤦‍♀️)and he’s about 16lbs full grown. He’s been a pretty easy houseguest otherwise, housebroken and picks up a routine quickly.

Twinkie’s ideal home would be a calmer adult home without too much stimulation, excitement, or stressful situations who can continue to practice showing him alternative behaviors to replace the habits he developed over the years and rewarding him when he’s calm and happy (which is most of the time). We have seen and placed several dogs with similar issues over the years and over time with the right environment, they have improved greatly though still resort to their default behaviors they practiced for years at times especially during times of extreme stress or change.

If you would like to truly make a difference in the life of this special dog who has had one tough break after another, please email us at njwoof@cs.com to meet Twinkie in Northern NJ
Since COVID-19, we are no longer holding our Sunday adoption events until further notice, but we are scheduling meet and greet appointments with a specific dog or dogs at our meeting spots in Northern NJ. To streamline adoptions, all communication before, during, and after the adoption process is done through email only: we have limited volunteers able to return phone calls. Submit an application from our website www.secondchance.petfinder.com to speed up the adoption process and email any questions to us at njwoof@cs.com. Please check your email regularly for next steps. All our dogs reside in foster care in Northern NJ until adoption and we do not have a central shelter location. We are a small all-volunteer organization focused on rescuing local dogs from area shelters, as well as accepting some surrenders and puppy mill rescues.