Ruby is an incredibly adorable, short legged, 1 year old, 12lb Dachshund / Chihuahua mix. She was rescued from a dog hoarding situation in New Mexico where she lived with 30+ dogs and sadly never (until now) got treated right, loved, or shown what it means to be someone’s cherished pet. Because of that, Ruby is still learning how to be a dog — and what it feels like to be safe and loved.
Ruby must go to a home with at least one other small, social / confident dog. Ruby feels comforted, confident, and grounded when she is around other dogs, and they will be essential in helping her learn how to live in a loving home. She will not thrive as an only dog. She is more confident and happy with doggy friends around her and we want to do what is in Ruby's best interest when finding her a forever home!
Ruby's adopter should expect a bit of a slow transition as she settles into a new home and learns that she is safe and loved. Dogs like Ruby don’t forget the people who give them their first real experiences of love!
From Ruby's foster:
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"(At the time of writing this, I have been fostering Ruby for 2 weeks).
Ruby is an incredibly sweet girl with so much potential. I can see her personality coming out more and more each day. She's gaining confidence and learning to trust me (and my husband!) more and more.
Ruby will need an adopter who can be patient with her as she decompresses and learns to trust in her new home. She is shy and a bit fearful when it comes to human touch, but otherwise she’s actually quite confident. She plays with toys, relaxes on the couch, plays with my dogs, jumps into bed at night, gets the zoomies around the living room, and will even crawl all over us if we’re eating in front of her (she has no shame there, haha). She LOVES food!
She was nervous of us when she first came home, and still likes to hide behind or under our couch when she is uncomfortable, but after about a week and a half she started really warming up and even coming over to sit on our laps! While she still isn’t totally comfortable being pet all of the time (sometimes she tolerates a few scritches, but we try not to do that because she clearly gets uncomfortable and respecting her is key in earning her trust!) she clearly enjoys being close and choosing contact on her own terms. Right now, she prefers affection to be her idea. She’s happy to touch us, sit on our laps, and even cuddles us at night. But sometimes will still run from me if I try to pet or pick her up.
Clearly some [bad word] person treated her wrong and it breaks my heart!
I know that not petting or snuggling or taking out your new dog right away isn’t ideal, but it’s a small price to pay to make sure that she feels safe, loved, comfortable, and can learn to trust you.
Ruby needs someone who will not push her boundaries. You cannot build trust with a timid dog if you do not respect their boundaries!
I’ve fostered many fearful dogs, and most of them will try to nip when they’re scared, but thankfully Ruby has never done that. If I’m able to catch her (she usually runs and hides behind the couch when I try), she’ll just freeze in my arms rather than flail or nip. That’s actually a really good sign. I try not to grab her and just am letting her settle in and learn to trust without stressing her out.
On a positive note, she did great at the vet! She allowed the doctor to examine her, listen to her heart, and check her teeth without any issues. She was clearly uncomfortable with all the handling, but she tolerated it well and remained calm throughout the exam!
Food is absolutely the way to her heart. She is VERY food motivated.
As for crate training: I tried once on the first night, and she cried. Given that she came from a dog hoarding situation and has likely never been alone, I felt bad and chose not to continue crating her. When we leave the house, she stays loose in the living room with my dogs and does perfectly fine. She doesn’t chew or get into anything (though we do have a pretty dog-proof house. If there is food where she can reach, she will get it!). I check the camera when I leave her, and she just hangs out on the couches with the other dogs.
She also sleeps in bed at night with us and our dogs. I truly think this has helped her bond with us. By night 3 she was already cuddling against us, and now every morning I wake up with her cuddled against me. These sweet moments really show that she is making progress.
Since she is still cautious if I try to pick her up, or reach towards her too fast, I haven’t tried to take her out in the yard to potty. I don’t plan on doing that until she is fully comfortable with me, because I don’t want her to run under the deck or not follow me back inside or come when I call her. So I am waiting until she she totally trusts me and I can trust that she will not run away from me. When she is adopted, I highly suggest (or maybe more of a must do than a suggestion) not to attempt to take her outside (in your yard or on a leash walk) for at least a few weeks, until she fully trusts you. And when that time comes, she should start by going out even in a fully fenced yard on a harness and leash, just for extra precaution! A dog like her could be a flight risk if she doesn’t fully trust you yet.
So in the beginning, just lay down a potty pad inside and let her warm up on her own terms. Luckily, she is a potty pad PRO and only potties on the potty pads! (We have one in the living room and one in the bedroom).
I'd love to see Ruby be adopted by someone who is dog-savvy; either someone with rescue dog experience like fostering, or having adopted a similar dog in the past would be great.
Most importantly, she needs someone patient who understands that bonding and earning trust takes time. Giving her the space she needs now will allow her to feel safe and eventually blossom. And when she does, it will be incredibly rewarding."
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We'd like to place Ruby in a home where she'll get the training and stability that she needs. Positive reinforcement training promotes great behavior, bonding and confidence for a young girl whose self-esteem will fly high while she masters her 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.
Ruby has been fully vetted, and she is in great health and up to date on her vaccines. She is spayed 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/ .
