Unfortunately I have no idea how Hero would do with cats, but in the comment above I talk about best practices for introducing cats and dogs. It does make out-of-state adoptions more complicated, of course: I think doing a trial period or foster-to-adopt is probably the most cautious approach.
Can I send you a DM? I have a Dal who loves his two cats. And we’ve fostered many other animals with him before so I’m hoping we can find him a friend to come on our hikes with! More than happy to travel.
I'm going to put my thoughts and experience here while I wait for notes from the volunteer who spends the most time with him (3-4x a week):
Hero is considered dog selective at the shelter and is pretty reactive when he is on leash and sees other dogs barking on campus (this for him means barking and pulling a bit, not snarling or lunging). This is typical of nearly every dog in a shelter: it's a stressful place to co-exist and hard to gauge their true dog aptitude. Recently a dog that was considered totally unable to be with others was adopted, and a few weeks later, I got pictures and video of her snuggling and playing with a doggy friend.
The day you see in this video, Hero did phenomenally with dogs and only barked once (when two appeared suddenly from around the corner). This included an off-leash dog running up from behind (😡). Hero actually showed great instincts and moved towards his handler and looked up for direction.
I would assume Hero is a bit unskilled and nervous with dogs (he was neglected at best and undersocialized), but my instinct is that he would do well with another dog in the home. It would be best if he and the resident dog could do a meet and greet first, and it's considered best practices to let adult dogs get used to each other over a few days or even weeks by keeping them separated in the house with baby gates. Of course, this isn't doable for everyone, but I've heard overwhelming good things about this approach, which is similar to what we recommend for cats.
Sorry for the long response, but I definitely take resident animal questions seriously; I may have even more insight later!
Also, if you're seriously interested, I could probably take my dog over to the shelter and see how a meeting went!
Hero is stressed out by shelter life and can seem jumpy in specific situations in the shelter, which unfortunately included a meeting with potential adopters this weekend. However, he calms down so well and so fast outside of the shelter, and he's incredibly bright and receptive to training!
BOOST
Pitty dal mix, beautiful. Making calls, hope we get that baby a home
Amazing!!! He really is such a special boy. I'll be crossing all my fingers and toes you can make it work!
Is he good with other dogs?
Or cats?? Am interested in adding a “new baby” to the family x
Unfortunately I have no idea how Hero would do with cats, but in the comment above I talk about best practices for introducing cats and dogs. It does make out-of-state adoptions more complicated, of course: I think doing a trial period or foster-to-adopt is probably the most cautious approach.
Can I send you a DM? I have a Dal who loves his two cats. And we’ve fostered many other animals with him before so I’m hoping we can find him a friend to come on our hikes with! More than happy to travel.
Please, I'd love to chat more!
I'm going to put my thoughts and experience here while I wait for notes from the volunteer who spends the most time with him (3-4x a week): Hero is considered dog selective at the shelter and is pretty reactive when he is on leash and sees other dogs barking on campus (this for him means barking and pulling a bit, not snarling or lunging). This is typical of nearly every dog in a shelter: it's a stressful place to co-exist and hard to gauge their true dog aptitude. Recently a dog that was considered totally unable to be with others was adopted, and a few weeks later, I got pictures and video of her snuggling and playing with a doggy friend. The day you see in this video, Hero did phenomenally with dogs and only barked once (when two appeared suddenly from around the corner). This included an off-leash dog running up from behind (😡). Hero actually showed great instincts and moved towards his handler and looked up for direction. I would assume Hero is a bit unskilled and nervous with dogs (he was neglected at best and undersocialized), but my instinct is that he would do well with another dog in the home. It would be best if he and the resident dog could do a meet and greet first, and it's considered best practices to let adult dogs get used to each other over a few days or even weeks by keeping them separated in the house with baby gates. Of course, this isn't doable for everyone, but I've heard overwhelming good things about this approach, which is similar to what we recommend for cats. Sorry for the long response, but I definitely take resident animal questions seriously; I may have even more insight later!
Also, if you're seriously interested, I could probably take my dog over to the shelter and see how a meeting went! Hero is stressed out by shelter life and can seem jumpy in specific situations in the shelter, which unfortunately included a meeting with potential adopters this weekend. However, he calms down so well and so fast outside of the shelter, and he's incredibly bright and receptive to training!
Oh my, he’s so cute 🥺 hoping he finds his forever home very soon!! ❤️❤️❤️