Size
(when grown) Small 25 lbs (11 kg) or less
Details
Not good with dogs,
Good with cats,
House-trained,
Spayed or Neutered,
Shots are up-to-date,
Story
**IF THIS LISTING IS STILL POSTED THIS DOG IS STILL AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION. NO NEED TO EMAIL ASKING IF THE DOG IS AVAILABLE. PLEASE READ THROUGH THIS BIO THOROUGHLY AS INFORMATION ON HOW TO APPLY IS CONTAINED IN THIS LISTING**
For Adoption: Nimona!
Please read our dog bios carefully to be sure that the dog you are applying for suits your family and lifestyle.
We at PDR believe in the benefits of post-adoption training for our dogs and their families. This allows for continued socialization, learning and helps to create a well-mannered and balanced dog. Post-adoption training is a requirement in our adoption process.
To apply for adoption and for more information on our process and requirements, visit our website at https://pounddog.ca/adoption-info/.
Assistant to the super villain? Shapeshifter from another realm? Sidekick supreme? Meet Nimona! She is a 2 year old female spayed Boston Terrier who is looking for her forever castle/hideout/lair/home. She is up to date on her veterinary care. She is about 15 lbs and a smaller stature Boston.
Nimona entered rescue after she was pulled from a rural pound. A creature of mystery, she does not have an extensive history and we have limited knowledge of what her life was before rescue. However, she has definitely lived in a home before as she has no issues with stairs, doorways, thresholds and indoor machinery, and can jump onto couches and beds in a single bound. She also seems to be past any sort of puppy-destructiveness in the home, and is generally respectful of her surroundings (single bounds aside). Housetraining has been progressing well for Nimona, although she will need to be monitored closely on a modified puppy schedule in her new home, as she is just learning how to alert she needs to go out by heading to the back door and giving one small, defeated whine.
Coming from an overstimulating pound, Nimona took some time to decompress and was quite shutdown initially. She did display fear in regards to her neck/collar area being handled, and was very nervous of hands reaching over her head. Given space and time, Nimona quickly gained confidence and we have no issues handling her. We are always respectful of handling her, telling her “Up” when we need to pick her up, and slowly reaching for her paws to dress her in an assortment of cute sweaters. Having introduced her to several strangers now she does seem a bit more reserved initially with males, but does trust them in short time with some positive reinforcement. She is very good for body handling, and we have no issues with things like baths and nail trims. With strangers in the home she does tend to police some of the noises they make, such as squeaking the stairs too loudly or scraping their chairs too offensively. She likes to bounce at and bark at them when this happens, but is easily redirected, and once she is more familiar with the new person she is more accepting of their noises.
Nimona’s true calling is spending time with her people. She loves to snuggle on the couch or stand around nearby to see what you are doing, and sometimes offer behaviours you have taught her for praise and engagement. She loves to steam under blankets, and snuggles in nice and tight for movie night, snoring away. She enjoys physical affection but can become overstimulated with too much patting, and can be a little head-shy. We give her breaks from pats to allow her to choose to re-engage with us, which builds confidence in her interactions.
While Nimona enjoys offering to go into her crate and making a nest in there, she does not always believe in being left alone in her crate with the door closed. She did come from a rural pound where she spent weeks in a confined space with limited interactions from people due to limited funding, and she likely has some residual barrier frustration and separation anxiety as she is decompressing into home life. She will produce a wide array of vocalizations from enraged dinosaur to sad chicken, and may rattle the bars a bit. After a short tantrum, we give her one final bathroom break and then she does settle well and sleep through the night, but she will require ongoing practice to truly acclimate to being in her crate alone for extended periods of time. She is always crated with an edible chew or toy, and her social, mental and physical needs are taken care of before crating. Nimona currently spends varied amounts of time in her crate, and happily eats her meals in there, and is practicing her independence skills and is improving in her time in foster care. Her forever home must be committed to teaching Nimona how to be independent as it is a very valuable life skill, and it will help her with everything from travel to veterinary stays where she may be crated. Due to the extravagance of her vocal range, apartments are not suitable for Nimona. She is also an alert barker and will let you know if there is a strange noise outside. She would prefer a home where she does not have to be home alone for extended periods of time, especially while she builds the duration of time that she is happily alone in her crate. If she gets very worked up she has displayed signs of confinement anxiety so this is something that her forever home will need to be prepared to work on.
Nimona is currently fostered with two medium-sized female dogs. She is quite interested in other dogs, but seems overall inexperienced in her interactions. She can be a bit forward with other dogs, and often tries to mount them to interact with them at first. This behaviour seems to come from overstimulation for her, and simply not knowing what else to do. Nimona is learning an alternate behaviour (she is redirected into offering a sit) instead of mountiing, and because our dogs are not reactive to her behaviours she usually progresses to an actual playbow to try to engage with them. For her forever home Nimona would be best as a solo dog as she is still learning proper dog interaction etiquette and her confidence is not affected by the presence of other dogs so she will fair well on her own. Outdoors, Nimona is offended if strange dogs bark at her or in her earshot and she feels she must retort, otherwise she is mostly quiet when she observes other dogs on the other side of the street, though she does like to pierce them with her gaze on occasion. We have been proactively teaching her to check in with us for a treat whenever she sees another dog to build positive associations with seeing them in the neighbourhood, and avoid building frustration and reactivity. We also do not let our fosters greet strange dogs on leash. Indoors, Nimona shares her space and resources very well with our dogs, and we have not observed resource guarding in her time with us. She does prefer to have a visual barrier between other dogs and her crate at times, and will bark to correct another dog she feels is passing her kennel too closely if she has accepted it is time for rest.
Nimona is also fostered with two dog-savvy cats. She is very respectful of cats, and had a quick sniff then left them alone. She is more interested in them if they are on the couch with her, but our cats have tolerated her higher interest just fine. She does not seem to have a strong prey drive, and is not excited by them running around and doing their own cat things. We expect Nimona to co-exist well with cats should her forever home have them.
In terms of physical activity, Nimona is currently walked about 30 mins to 45 mins daily, and is considered a medium energy dog with bursts of higher activity at this time. She does best with a combination of physical activity and mental stimulation. She is not the biggest fan of the cold and damp but will stomp along in her snow coat behind you without much reservation. As she is tiny and short-coated, she needs a jacket and must be monitored for signs of becoming too cold in the winter. Being a brachycephalic breed, she will need special consideration in the warmer weather as well to ensure she does not overheat. Beyond her perfect weather requests, Nimona walks very well on a martingale collar and rarely pulls. You may have noticed that she only walks on three of her front toes, but this limb difference does not slow her down or cause any pain–honestly the universe knew she'd be too powerful if she used all her toes. Nimona is distracted if she is passing people directly and is sometimes offended if men are walking directly towards her. She will bark defensively if she is unsure, but can be redirected easily. Although we have not passed dogs directly we do expect she would pull towards another dog if she had the opportunity. Nimona has not been reactive to squirrels or other wildlife outdoors.
Nimona’s foster home is in a semi-urban area, and she handles foot and car traffic around her very well. She was initially very curious and nosey when it came to things like construction and people walking about, but with practice she is learning these things are just part of the landscape. She has seen trains go by at a distance and larger vehicles are just fine too, although she’d prefer if the bus did not “breathe” so loudly in her direction. Nimona will be fine in a suburban to semi-urban area, although a fully urban area like a downtown core will be too overstimulating for her.
Being a young dog, Nimona does enjoy playtime. She will play with humans but can get overstimulated, so she is learning a “settle” cue to help her understand when playtime is over. Nimona enjoys squeaky plush toys and has not been destructive with any toys during her time in foster care. Due to her tendency to become overstimulated with too much excitement and her difficulty with allowing herself to rest, we do not recommend children younger than teens in her forever home.
Full of exuberance and charm if not always manners, Nimona is generally inexperienced with being a pet dog, and is working on some general boundaries in her time in foster care. She is very much a “teenage” dog. She understands luring and has learned how to sit, and is very eager to work especially for food rewards. If she thinks there is an opportunity to work for a reward she will work for an extended period of time with a surprising amount of focus. She really just wants to be the sidekick extraordinaire she is meant to be, and loves to have direction and structure. She is learning to ask before soaring onto the sofa, and maybe your leg does not want to be humped right now thank you very much. Channelling her energy into appropriate tasks is important to her, and for this reason we do not recommend her for a first-time dog owner. We have introduced her to clicker training and she is trained exclusively with positive reinforcement. Nimona would likely thrive with some advanced level training.
Nimona travels quite well in the car. She is always crated in the car for safety, and since she is always ready to enter a crate we usually just place it on the floor before placing the crate in the car. She has not been nauseous in the car, and handles short drives around the city and longer highway commutes well. She is quiet and generally sleeps on the ride.
Are you ready to enter your super villain era? Think: complex, nuanced, sophisticated, never boring and forever intriguing. Nimona is ready to be your ultimate sidekick! You can find some of her adventures in foster care on Instagram @twiceluckyfosters. Thank you for considering a rescue dog.
Name: Nimona
ID # PDR1439
Age: 2yrs
Gender: female
Spayed: yes
UTD vaccines: yes
Breed: Boston Terrier
Colours: black and white
Coat length: short
House trained: yes
Special needs: no
OK with kids: teens
OK with cats: yes
Ok with dogs: no
Status: adoptable
Microchip: yes
Size: small
Location: Hamilton
Adoption fee: $800
