Bullwinkle's mom was no longer able to keep up with his need for exercise and his energy level so she made the very difficult decision to surrender him to rescue.  

4/23 UPDATE FROM HIS FOSTER MOM:  Bullwinkle is a big, handsome, smart 1 year old brindle and white neutered male Boxer puppy, he is about 70 lbs and is quite tall. He is looking for a home with another dog friendly dog and a fenced-in yard.

He likes going on walks and is polite on the leash.  He loves snuggles and watching sitcoms, (I’m sure he's a Hallmark channel boy).  He likes kids and is polite about playing with them. Bullwinkle likes dogs, but plays a little bit rough because he gets overly excited, our old dogs are not excited about the games he wants to play, which consist mainly of running them over and gut punching them.  He’s pretty reasonable for a 1 year old Boxer puppy and has functional house manners. He is 100% potty trained, but does like to peruse the counter.

He is a good dude in the car and doesn’t seem to mind rides.  He doesn’t trash toys (and he would like me to add that he prefers the crunchy - squeaky ones).  He’s done a nice job learning clicker training, and likes the Bill Jacks treats for training. He also likes fresh apple snacks.  He’s learned crate training like a champ and goes into the crate to ask for “cookies.”  

He’s a morning dude and that is either a good thing or resoundingly not; he’s up and ready to go at 6am eastern on the dot, we’ve been able to talk him into 7am but later than that might need some serious negotiation. He also believes it’s his born right to lay on the couch and bed.  

Bullwinkle is not particularly good at new things.  He is a slow mover and hasn’t had a lot of life experience.  He learned lots of new things at our house; cell phones, computers, stairs, going outside without a leash, going through doors all on his own, it took him a week to go outside to go potty by himself, he was picky about food and very afraid of new people.  The good news in this is that he adapts reasonably quickly to new situations, but he needs time to figure out that it’s safe, so expect some delays in new situations. When he is afraid he reacts by removing himself, which is loads better than getting defensive, but also makes him a little bit of a flight risk (he might run away) and he won't come to people he doesn’t know, he’ll run further.  

He is the epitome of Boxer stubbornness, in the best possible way, he knows what he wants and if I had to give it a really good guess he has been spoiled, badly.  He likes to take instruction “under advisement” and make his own decisions, unless he knows there is something in it for him. He doesn’t know how to play with people, he wants to but that communication hasn’t broken through yet, and he plays toys by himself, I think it's part of the lack of socialization.  He loves to dig, we think he can smell the moles underground. Bullwinkle loves to eat Espoma fertilizer, which will not do damage to him, besides tummy upset, but is obnoxious to me as a gardener.

We think he would like to have a dog buddy to support his anxiety, but daycare might be a suitable substitution, and play age children might also be a suitable substitution.  He could tolerate being bossed around by a Boxer sister or a small opinionated dog. He seems to act out (like a child) when he doesn’t get enough attention, by chewing shoes or getting on the counter or generally seeking negative attention. We have been working on how he deals with separation by using baby gates throughout the house so he has safe and easy separations, he loves to “help” with whatever is going on and follows everywhere around the house, but we would like for him to feel confident and be comfortable on his own.  

In the first weeks we had to wire tie him into his crate, because he would tantrum himself out of the crate, which could very easily progress into a separation issue and/or a destructive behavior issue.  We still do this when we will be gone for an extended amount of time.

Bullwinkle came to our house with a 2 word vocabulary; No and Good Boy.  He now knows sit down, lay down, off, no, good boy, come & ok - (release word here).  We refer to treats as snacks or cookies.  He also has an affinity for whistling. to come and also in music or on movies...it's adorable!!

6/25 UPDATE:  Bullwinkle will be having surgery to have a small cyst removed from the top of his head on 7/9.  His foster mom is still going through approved applications and chatting with potential adopters about him....please be patient with us as we make our way through the large list!  

Good with Dogs, Good with Cats