Spaz Magoo

monkeys23

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#1
I had another possible home fall through for Spaz, aka Spaz Magoo or Spazzy. Poor guy just isn't having any luck in finding a forever home! That was like the sixth or seventh possible that has fallen through. I'm not sure if I ever posted him here... can't remember. Can't hurt though right?!

I'm in the Boise area and it would make sense to place him locally since I'm requiring a home check. I'm out sorta near McCall area nearly every weekend, so probably should include that area as well. I am probably making a road trip to Yakima to visit family sometime later in May, so that area is a possibility too.

He is doing awesome and making great progress on basic training. So if you run into anyone looking for a nice freestyle, rally, or just active buddy dog feel free to pass this along. I do not have any current pics, but he looks the same as he did two months ago so I'll just use some of those. Sorry for the novel, just wanted to make sure I covered all the bases about him!

Aproximately 1yr old male, red tri color, mini Aussie. Neutered, utd on vaccine, crate trained, house trained.

Very drivey, tries to herd stuff including me and my big dogs. He's real interested in shadows and light, which I've tried to squelch, but people I live with encourage it unfortunately. He needs to be doing something to work his little sharp mind!

He is very, very well behaved and friendly with most people and is very good in high stimulus environments. At least for me anyway. Like a lot of herding dogs he is pretty aloof to most strangers and is not keen on pushy, rude people. He's not aggressive, just very vocal about his opinions which is great that he is such a good communicator.

He was not impressed by my neices and nephew, so I believe he should go to a child free home. He politely ignored them, but he is small and cute so they kept bugging him and I had to keep reminding the kids he wasn't interested in interacting.

He is extremely loving and devoted to his people. He bonded to my roommate and I very, very quickly. He likes to snuggle up and be with you wherever you go. But doesn't fuss when he's left at home in the crate either. He sleeps loose in the bedroom and sleeps soundly on the bed the whole night. He is very aware of what is going on outside the house and is a nice little watchdog for letting you know when someone is outside.

He is very pushy and rude with other dogs. I believe a home with a very mellow female (though still willing to play!) companion or no other dogs would be best. He bullies other dogs and just flat out doesn't like other males at all. He tries to pick fights with my parent's male border collie, who is luckily the most tolerant dog in the world. Obviously taking this boy to dog parks is something I would advise against. He does really well with my girls, but they are very mellow and very into always being fair so its really helped his doggie interpersonal skills.

For all his rudeness, he isn't reactive at all and does a really good job of ignoring other dogs while training and stuff. At least with me. He's kind of a jerk with my roommate, but he knows he's the one in charge when she's holding the leash. ;)

No cats, birds, or small fluffy things. He isn't sure if he wants to herd them or eat them. Maybe both. I can control him by vocal command around my cat, but I would not feel comfortable placing him in a home with any cats.

Commands/Skills he has learned and is working on:
Sit
Down
Wait
Leave it
Let's go (heel... still working on that. Letting my roommate help walk him is slowing it down, but due to time constraints I need her help with exercising him.)
Okay (release word)
Watch me (just added the cue... mostly do eye contact as part of the game in leave it exercises)
Touch (we've done a lot of targeting, mostly hand targeting but some target stick stuff too)
Place (for matwork, which he got very quickly)
Stand (just started learning this!)
Settle in (means he needs to stop circling and chill out. He usually comes and lays to the left of my chair)
Off (get off an object or person)
Out (leave the kitchen)
Go potty
The Phone Book Game for working on positioning/hind end awareness

He works for food or his tug toy!

And he has very nice recall to both his name and when I whistle. I've worked extensively on that when I'm out at my parent's for the weekend and have a large pasture to run the dogs in. He also takes directional signals very nicely when out there, usually I just say which way I want them to go.

Wow! having written that all out, I hadn't realized how much he's learned in the five and a half months he has been here! This little guy is sharp as a tack, very sweet, and will make someone a wonderful companion.

Someone dumped him and I took him in because my neighbor's were being very mean in their attempt to chase the poor confused guy off. I didn't have the heart to have AC pick him up, not when he's clearly got so much potential, so I've just been feeding him good food and training him up. He's doing pretty amazing considering he wasn't even potty trained when I took him in.

There is an adoption fee of $200, just to cover basic vet costs and such, and I am requiring a home check and basic adoption agreement.

He comes with a nice collar/leash set I got him, the leather collar he was wearing when he showed up, his cone of shame, and his tug toy.



 

monkeys23

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Woohoo, guess who found his forever home!!!!! I'm so happy for him! I could not have thought of a more perfect home for the little guy. He's going to live with a very nice family that has a nearly 9yr old female BC and he will start training to be an agility dog. They've even taken him running a few times already, feed great food, and are more than up to the task of continuing his socialization and training. His new name will be Zack, as it would just be awkward to yell Spaz on the agility field. I think its a great new name. Super happy for the little dude!
 

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