- Sex: Male
- Weight: 80 lbs
- Current Age 6 years
- Good with Men: Yes
- Good with Women: Yes
- Good with kids: Unsure about small children
- Good with dogs: Yes gets along with Pyrenees
- Good with cats: Unknown
- House Trained: Unknown
- Neuter/Spay: Yes
- Current vaccinations: Yes
- Location: Lexington OK
Medical Issues: Physically speaking he is big but underweight. I noticed his backbone on the 2nd visit. I see his ribs. His muscle tone on legs looks good. His teeth though not terribly covered in tartar do speak of age. Eating raw meat and bones of goat and chicken may have helped clean his teeth.
His coat does not have a vibrant healthy shine. Shedding. He has a bare spot on his back. Mange of some sort? He is scratching. There might be a lot of dander, flakiness, but it could also be grass or dirt. I am not hearing any wheezing, coughing or what might be thought of as shortness of breath. I do not see a discharge from the nose. Or runny eyes. The ears have hair in them but it did not look like there was a lot of dirt or blood in them from mites. is at a kill shelter. No deadline yet but its coming.
Characteristics: Chance has a hard luck story. Somehow, he ended up homeless in the countryside. No shelter, no food, no support. I have no doubt he ran into unkindness. This is a good dog that has fallen on hard times. At one time someone cared for him. He wants to connect. He wants to believe in people again. The Dad wanted to shoot him because they didn’t know what to do with him.
He showed up around May of 2021. In the beginning the family tried to make friends with him. He was suspicious and ran away. He lived in the woods adjacent to the farm. At some point he began to kill the farm’s goats, chickens and ducks. This took place over a four month period. The man of the house wanted to shoot him. His daughter advocated for the dog.
Chance was starving and killed to eat. It was not a killing spree. The father did shoot at the ground hoping to scare the dog. It did. Chance ran away but returned because that is where the food was.
It turned out Chance is afraid of thunderstorms and took shelter in the family’s garage. They took note of this. On one of those occasions, mom got some food, made sure Chance could smell it and placed it in the pen. She waited for him to go into the pen then closed the gate. The dog was penned sometime in September. They fed him, talked to him but did not handle him. They did not know if it was safe. For the most part he is sedate, whines a little. He is not demanding. I think he is lonely.
They called the sheriff and shelters but there was no offer of help. No solutions. They were on their own. They tried to find someone that might take the dog. No success. Dad was once again thinking maybe the best thing to do is shoot the dog. His daughter once again advocated for the dog. They didn’t want to shoot the dog but were at a loss of what to do.
On my first visit Chance looked at the family, back at me back at them and barked at me. I don’t think he was sure of what to do. We just hung out and spoke where he could hear us and smell us. Then, I gave him treats. He liked that. I told him to sit and he did. He did not sit automatically but when he knew a treat would be given, he sat
Then I went in pen and put collar and leash on. He seems reserved, quiet, waiting. He never resisted, growled or did anything that I would call threatening. Once out of the pen and walking on leash he was interested in his surroundings but more interested in me and the treats. He responded well to my lead. Cooperative. Responding to my movements and my voice. He demonstrates a will to please.
He saw the goats on the other side of the fence. Barely gave them any thought. The chickens are free range and came walking into the area I have Chance on leash. He looked, was interested, but did not bark, lunge or pull towards them. Just watched.
On my 2nd visit my husband and grandson went with me. Chance did well with them too. He also demonstrated more energy at seeing me. He knew he was going to get to walk outside the pen. He really enjoyed this. Both times getting in a good stretch and roll in the grass. At the end of each visit when I had to put him up, he did not want to go. But when I directed what was needed he cooperated. He did not fight with me, he went into the pen. My heart goes out to him.
He has not been around small children. The youngest age is preteen. But several of them would visit him on occasion. Some of the kids let him smell them and touch his face. He was always gentle with everyone on every visit.
I do think his personality and energy is subdued right now. I do not think he is an overly submissive Rottie. Once he finds his new family and makes that connection , I think he will demonstrate a normal sense of desire to protect his family, hearth and home. I think he wants to be included and does desire to please but he is not a pushover. He watches, thinks but does not appear overreactive to me.
Chance has had plenty of uncertainty in his life. I am impressed at how well behaved and gentle he is considering that. Chance needs a new chance in life!