Size
(when grown) Large 61-100 lbs (28-45 kg)
Details
Good with kids,
Good with dogs,
Good with cats,
House-trained,
Spayed or Neutered,
Shots are up-to-date,
Story
Odin is a 5-year-old German Shorthair Pointer. He is neutered, weighs 60 lbs, and is liver&white patched and ticked. He has many positive traits and one big negative trait, but he will be an amazing dog for the right home. With the help of our current GSP to help orient him, Odin has had 2 weeks to get settled in.
Odin has not had any accidents in the house (pee or poop). He goes all night without needing to go out (so 8 hours-ish or more). He does squat with one leg lifted slightly to urinate normally. When he wants to urinate on something specific (like a tree), he does a full-leg-up pee.
Odin travels very well in a vehicle. He enjoys sticking his head out of the window at lower speeds. But he is also content with lying down (curled up into a ball). He does stand up every time the vehicle stops quickly or turns quickly, so one would need to drive nicely and/or city driving might be an issue. He jumps up into an SUV with the command of “up”. He does not vomit/pace/pant while traveling.
He is very interested in turkeys and will get excited and charge/jump onto the fence to look at them. He would possibly harm one if he were left unattended. He does respond to the command of “leave it” but might need a tone/vibrate/shock if there are many, and he gets too excited. He does get distracted by smells on the ground and has pointed and even laid down in front of something of particular interest; however, I have not been able to locate anything that he is particularly pointing at. Because of this, there could be some potential hunting ability with him, with some proper training. He does respond to “leave it” and is redirected, and will do that and a “come” command.
He is playful but not destructive. He has a soft mouth with stuffed toys, but does eventually chew a hole and pull the stuffing out (it takes him a couple days, though). He particularly likes stuffed bones and has some pretty impressive dexterity with his front paws to hold them while he licks out the contents. He favors rope toys that involve you pulling, him thrashing them, or him playing with it upside down while holding it above himself with those front paws. He will play fetch, but it only holds his attention for a few throws; he would rather run and smell things. He plays well with the other GSP in our home, although there is some potential for toy stealing. He does occasionally want whatever toy the other dog has. There have been no aggressive issues, so we haven’t had to remove any toys, but any high-value toys/favorite toys from a dog already in the home should be watched or removed, as there is some potential there for stealing. He is not a dominant dog; however, he has stolen the couch spot, and the other GSP in the house will submissively lie on the hardwood floor so as not to challenge him. However, there have not been any obvious dominant altercations.
His go-to is to lie down on a dog bed curled up into a ball or lie on the couch. He is lovable but not obsessed with people. If allowed, he will jump up in bed and lie next to you. He lays nice next to the other dog, back-to-back. If you allow him to be close and love on him, he will lick your face or hand once or so, but he will not lick your face off. He is not a jumper. He does get excited when the people come home, but calms down after a few minutes. When introduced to small children (toddlers), he is interested and smells them, and moves on. If you scratch his butt too long, he will get the wrong idea and attempt to hump anything nearby.
He is currently on Purina Pro Plan Performance kibble dog food. He poops about 2 times a day (morning and evening). He does at times “travel poop” (takes a couple steps while he is pooping, leaving multiple small poop piles) but only occasionally. He has had 2 episodes of loose poop (outside, none inside), but that was situational (when he arrived and a day he received too many treats). He is a grazer of his food. Eats about 2-4 cups a day. He has been caught munching on his roommate’s food and vice versa without a fight, but we do not promote this. He is not super food-driven, which has been a bit challenging to train him in his one bad habit.
Odin's biggest issue is his anxiety. It is an issue when the people leave the house, and he is left out loose with the other dog. He initially paces, whines, and barks. At first, it was 2 hours’ worth; now he settles much quicker, in about 15 minutes. He does occasionally damage items (chews a corner off a rug, will chew a hole in a garbage bag but not eat contents, will shred a paper bag, does pull some stuffing out of a bed. But he does not completely demolish items. He comes with a 41x28 (extra-large) heavy-duty pitched-roof metal dog crate on wheels that are lockable. Because of his history of damage, Odin was placed in his kennel to ensure his safety and the safety of the home he was living in. Odin particularly hates this. He whines, pants, licks the bars, and barks. With a bark collar on, he is better, requiring only a couple of barking corrections from the collar in a few hours. He does not hate his kennel; he just hates going in, and then the people leave. He does voluntarily go into his kennel during the day occasionally to lie down (but prefers the couch or a dog bed outside of his kennel). He willingly goes in at night to go to bed and stays inside with the kennel door closed or open and stays in all night without issue (no whining, no barking, no panting). He sleeps through the entire night in the kennel silently. So, because of this, I believe the anxiety is directly related to the people leaving, and specifically the people leaving and Odin being locked in his kennel. We have been working with a dog trainer to help get him through this. One of the things we are working on is increased exercise. Odin has been out running 3 times a day, approximately 15-30 minutes each time, with a 5lb backpack to help wear him out. Odin is not a typical psycho, zoomie GSP dog. I would consider his energy level to be moderate at baseline. But this has helped the situation because he is more worn out when the people leave and he is either left out or locked up. But it is a work in progress; he is by no means “fixed” and will require an owner with lots of patience, probably a camera, and if there is another animal in the house, it must be resilient.
In terms of commands, Odin is familiar with “sit”, “stay”, “leave it”, “come”, “lay-down” and “sit pretty” (sitting on just his back legs with front paws off the ground; if he were a girl, I would put a tutu on him…ha-ha). Odin does not mind his paws, mouth, or ears being touched. He walks decently on a leash, pulls a little, but responds to “easy” and a little tug of the leash. He does pull on the leash in high-traffic settings (like in stores), but this will take some additional exposure. He does not go psycho in a store. He has not been tested with cats. When being released to run at full speed, he responds to “let's go” as the command.
In terms of placement, Odin would be best placed with a home with someone who works from home (or has a flexible schedule) and has a lot of patience to work with him through this. Not locking him up is not always feasible, so the problem would be best not to avoid it and to work through it.
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