Name:  Austin
Gender:  Male
Age:  1 to 2 years
Vaccinations:  7-10
Spay/Neuter:  8-31-10
Heartworm Status: Tested positive 8/3/10
Intake: 7/27/10
 
29 September 2010

Update on Austin:  This young boy is growing up. He is getting his adult feathering on his chest and backside.  I am guessing he is about 1 yr old. 

 

Austin has been a pleasant pup to have around.  He plays at appropriate times and is mellow when we need him to be.  He enjoys playing with humans and other dogs.  He gets to spend several days a week at the dog park, City Bark, where he can romp with various dogs.  He loves it.  He loves jumping in the baby pools at the park.  This is definitely a water dog!   

 

When Austin first came to our home he was never left unattended since we didn’t know if he would chew or if he was fully housetrained.  He readily went into his crate but if we were home, he would bark to get out.  We no longer close the crate door as he has had no accidents or showed signs of chewing inappropriate items besides shoes.  We do make sure shoes have been picked up as he will chew those if he gets bored. He still sleeps in his crate but the door stays open. 

 

While Austin was under anesthesia for his neuter, his hips were x-rayed.  The results show bad hips.  He needs to be on glucosamine and when his hips are sore; he’ll need a medicine for that.  Because he runs and plays, sleeps on his back, and jumps with relative ease, surgery is not yet needed but may be as he ages.  It is noticeable if he plays for an extended period of time.  He is hesitant in getting up.

Austin is also mildly heartworm positive and is on a regimen of doxicycline every 3 months and an ivermectin based heartworm preventative 2 times per month.  He will need to be retested in 1 year to see if he is clear of the heartworms.

Because Austin is still “mouthy” when he plays, a family with young children is not the best choice.  We are working on that and we are working on “come”.  This dog will be a terrific companion for the right family.  He is happy and fun.  He is really a great dog.

Austin is a great looking red boy. He is smaller at only about 60 lbs.
He gets along with other dogs and is good around cats. Although he is cat curious, he shows no aggression towards them.  He loves to cuddle and play. I think he may have just discovered squeaky toys, because he loves to squeak. He is a great stuffed toy hunter and will win the "fight". When my dogs have toys that Austin wants, he will just wait until they are finished with it, and swoop in for the steal. Sharing is definitely not a problem for this boy.  He is high energy when playing with my two dogs, but very calm and mild mannered when not, and wants to be around his people, often found lying on my husband's feet.

I have bells on my door for my dogs and when it comes to going out to potty, Austin has rung them several times to let us know he had to go out. He goes out, does his business and comes back in.

A good fence with no holes is a MUST with Austin as he is a bit of an escape artist. The good news is that he does not seem to go far.

Austin enjoys his bath. If you like water everywhere, bath time inside is the way to go, if not outside is better.

Austin enjoys sleeping under out bed.  He just crawls under and curls up. As it gets a little bit later, he does seem to like mulling around. I suspect he is just curious about his surroundings and this will calm down once he is used to them.

We're working on housebreaking, as he has had "mistakes" on a couple of occasions.  He must be watched to make sure he has completed all of his “business” before he is let in the house. When we corrected him, he did get a little scared. I think someone was not so nice to him in his life before the rescue.

All in all, Austin is an AWESOME dog and would love to find his forever home. I have not had him around children, but can't imagine there would be a problem, he has taken all we have exposed him to in stride. He does not jump on people, but does like to jump up on a soft sofa and take a nap; usually right next to one of his people.