Friday, July 8, 2011

About Monty

Where did you get Monty?
We were searching Petfinder.com when we first saw Monty's profile. He came all the way up to the bay area from LA during one of his rescue's bi-monthly adoption days. We brought him home the same day we met him in March 2011. It was love at first sight! Thankfully, the rescue organization saved him from a high kill shelter. I don't even want to imagine what his fate would be had the volunteers not found him there.

What kind of dog is he?
Monty is a 1 year old chihuahua/terrier mix (aka a cherrier). What kind of terrier he is mixed with we are unsure exactly. He has longer legs and a longer snout than pure bred chihuahuas and his ears are ginormous!

Being a rescue dog, did Monty have any behavior issues?
I could tell right away when we got Monty that he had never been properly walked on a leash before. He would zig-zag under our feet and would bark at any living thing (human & dog alike) that he saw while on the leash. I think because he is so small and cute that he was carried everywhere and he never learned how to walk properly on leash. It took a lot of treats and positive reinforcement to get him to stop barking at people while walking on leash around our apartment complex, so that issue is under control now. And he got much better walking on leash from consistent practice by going outside numerous times a day. Currently, we are working on getting him not to bark and lunge when he sees another dog walking by. It's called leash reactiveness. While he is off leash, he is perfectly fine and polite.

What are some of the things he loves?
He made it clear right away that belly rubs were his number 1 favorite thing. He also loves playing fetch and not bringing the ball back and playing tug-of-war with his stuffed toys. And much to our amusement, he likes to hide his rawhide bones in couch cushions!

What are some of the things he dislikes?
He doesn't like meeting new dogs while he's on leash. And he hates being left alone even for 5 minutes! He is getting better with that though since my husband and I both work and have to leave him during the day.

I want to get a rescue dog. Do you have any advice?
Be consistent. Be understanding. And give your new dog lots of time to settle in to their surroundings. In my research on rescue dogs I learned that the behavior of your new dog will change as they become comfortable in their new environment...in our case, things changed for the better! And most importantly, don't give up on them! Also, I know everyone wants a puppy, but getting an older dog is great because you can (sometimes) bypass the potty training issue like we did ;)

Does Monty crate train?
Yes! It was such a great thing that Monty came to us crate trained already. And he actually likes going in his crate on his own when he is tired. It's like his own little bedroom. It makes him and us feel safer to leave him in his crate if we have to go out. Otherwise, he'll whine and scratch at the door and who knows what else he'd get into!

Have a question? Send me an email!
Since my blog is new, you can see more pics and posts
about me on mom's blog!

4 comments:

  1. I love Petfinder- I wish I could rescue every dog! Adopting a dog, and in your case saving him, is such a wonderful and kind thing! He is a major cutie pie and I'm happy he has such a great home!

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  2. It' nice to meet you, Monty. We used to have a big brother names The Full Monty. He was a really big (85 pound) brown dog, a Chow - Doberman mix. Our Mom misses him a lot because he was her special helper.
    Morgan, Tsar and the Porties

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  3. I'm a rescue too! My mom used to have a blog, but I take up all her time. He, He, He!

    Opie

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  4. Monty looks a lot like our little Nellie, except she's a shipperke/shepherd mix. What a cutie! Nellie is doing the zig-zag thing right now, this post gives me hope she'll "straighten" out haha.

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