** If you are interested in adopting Theo, please fill out our adoption application at http://farfels.com/farfels-rescue/adoption-form/ **
Meet Theo! Theo is a 2-year-old, 9-pound Chihuahua / Pug mix. This little guy is as adorable as they come — his silly, slightly crossed eyes give him the most endearing, one-of-a-kind expression that melts your heart! (And yes, he can see perfectly well!)
Theo arrived to Colorado on November 5th after being rescued from a shelter in New Mexico, where he ended up after being found as a stray. With all the change and uncertainty he’s experienced, from the shelter environment to the long transport to Colorado, Theo was understandably a bit scared at first. This is truly the strangest and scariest time in his life. But, once we went into a safe warm foster home, his sweet personality came right out after a day or 2! We would expect Theo to be initially a bit shy when he gets adopted and moves into a new home again, but just give him a day and he will show you how sweet he is! His foster has written up a detailed bio for his prospective adopters:
From Theo's foster:
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"Theo is an incredibly sweet, affectionate dog!!! You just need to be patient with him at first as he learns that you are safe and warms up. When I first took Theo home to foster, he was very scared and hesitant. I had taken him home during an extremely scary time in his life, and I don't blame him for being scared! One he warmed up, which only took a day, he became the absolute friendliest, cuddliest, SWEETEST boy! I love him so much!
Theo had just arrived to Colorado from a New Mexico shelter and as if that wasn't scary enough, his original foster had to leave town for thanksgiving so he had to go to a new home all over again. When Theo was with his temporary foster, they took him on a walk but didn't clip his leash onto his harness properly and on their walk an ambulance flew by with its sirens on and spooked Theo and he took off since his leash wasn't properly attached. A neighbor found him almost 20 hours later, hungry and cold and Theo happily followed them home. At this point, I took Theo home to foster him, as my house has a secure yard, and other dogs to help make him feel more comfortable.
Knowing the potential flight risk that Theo could be after this happened, I kept his leash attached to his harness for the first few days he was with me. This way, I didn't have to stress him out by touching him when he was scared, and could grab the leash to lead him outside to potty, into the kitchen for meals, and into the room at bedtime. Luckily, this wasn't needed long at all! I kept his leash on for the first 2 days. After that, he was totally warmed up to me and didn't need it at all, as he wanted to follow me everywhere I went!
I did still take him out in the yard on a leash just to be extra safe because I didn't want to risk taking him out in my yard to potty and have him not want to follow me back inside. So until I was 100% confident he was comfortable with me and would come when I called him, I took him outside on a leash. After 3 maybe 4 days he didn't need the leash in the yard anymore, because he loved me!
I don't want this to scare anyone off; I took extra precautious because of what had happened right before he came to me, but it's always better to be safe than sorry!! He really truly is such a wonderful dog and if someone is just willing to be patient and show him that you are safe and he is safe for the first day, he comes around and is the biggest lover.
I have other dogs and Theo gets along great with all of them! Theo even started playing and cuddling with my dogs after about 6 days! It's such an amazing thing to see a dog go from being scared and shy to playful and outgoing.
Theo is totally potty trained! He definitely had a home at one point because he knows to hold it until we go outside.
Theo sleeps in bed with my husband and I and is a big cuddler. He goes under the blankets and snuggles up close against me.
He is okay in a crate, but doesn't need one. I crated him at first when he first came home with me, and he would whine for about 5 minutes then stop and be silent. After he warmed up, I stopped using the crate and he did totally fine loose.
For the first few days he whined a little bit here and there because he was still feeling anxious with everything going on and going into a new home, but by day 3 or 4 this stopped as he settled in and felt more comfortable.
He loves my husband now!! But he definitely took a few extra days to feel comfortable with him. He bonded with me (female) after really just 1 day, but he took maybe 5 days to be fully comfortable with my husband. So if anyone with a male partner (or someone who is a male) wants to adopt him, just know that he will come around!
The take away of all of this bio is just to be patient and go slow with him for the first day and just know that he will come around fast, and when he does, he becomes the happiest, silliest, and most cuddly dog ever! "
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We'd like to place Theo in a home where he'll get consistent stimulation, exercise and love. A (virtual or in-person) positive reinforcement group training class promotes great behavior, bonding and confidence for a young guy whose self-esteem will fly high while he masters his skills. Training is so important in the future behaviors of every dog. It's for this reason that we're unwilling to adopt to a family that doesn't make this loving choice. Farfel's is happy to provide a list of both in-person and virtual positive reinforcement / force- free trainers in your area.
Theo has been fully vetted, and he is in great health and up to date on his vaccines. He is neutered as well.
Farfel's Rescue is a fully foster based rescue, and offers a one week trial with every adoption. We feel that this is much more beneficial to not only the dog, but the adopter too. We believe that only getting 20-30 minutes with a dog before deciding on a lifetime commitment is not a fair amount of time to the adopter, or the dog. Therefore we give adopters one week with the dog to assure it is the right fit, and offer a full refund of their adoption fee should it not workout within the week trial.
Farfel's Rescue has been doing adoptions this way since 2005 and is thrilled to adopt out ~400 dogs each year.
If you are interested in adopting from us, please be sure to fill out our adoption application at http://farfels.com/farfels-rescue/adoption-form/ .
