Coco Catahoula Leopard Dog & Terrier Mix Chiefland, FL

UPDATE 5/11/23: Coco saw the vet today and is a healthy girl. She is still heartworm negative and is on Simparica Trio. She was found to have one hookworm on her fecal so we have given her a drontal. She does need to lose a few pounds but she is a happy girl who would really love to have her forever home. Coco walks well on a leash and rides well (needs some help loading up though). She is good with other dogs and kids but does not like cats. She has been with us for over 2 years now and has become a much calmer dog as she has gotten older. She would make a wonderful family companion!
UPDATE: 11/3/21- COCO WAS ADOPTED BUT WAS RETURNED TO US. SHE (Supposedly)WAS NOT GETTING ALONG WITH THE RESIDENT DOG BUT IT HAD ONLY BEEN ONE DAY SO IT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ENOUGH TIME FOR HER TO DECOMPRESS AND ADJUST OR IT COULD BE THAT COCO DIDNT WANT TO SHARE (THEIR MEET AND GREET WENT WELL HERE AT THE RESCUE THOUGH) .. it may have also been the resident dog who didnt want a sister or to share her home and family. We really don't know what really transpired in her adoptive home.
Coco is approx 1 year old and we think that she is a catahoula/terrier mix weighing 52 pounds, as of 4/7/2021. Coco was surrendered by her owner. They had originally found Coco as a stray by the side of the road when she was about 3 months old and although they had her since she was a puppy, she probably did not get much socialization growing up and became an outside, yard dog basically. Her owner stated that she had become destructive and was chewing up the wood and cable wires on their rented house. Their landlord was very unhappy about this and told them that Coco had to go or they would be evicted so they surrendered her to keep their home. Most likely, Coco had become bored which resulted in the chewing and destructive behavior. We think that she just needs an outlet for her youthful energy and also needs to become an inside dog, which would probably also help to curb the boredom by being a part of her family's everyday life. Coco can be standoffish at first when meeting new people so she would not be a dog to be run up on and immediately be your friend although she does warm up pretty quickly. It took her a couple of days to decompress once she arrived at the rescue but she is starting to settle in and learn that we mean her no harm. Coco can also be protective so it is advised that she get into an obedience training program and get exposed to different situations and people as often as possible to make her more comfortable in new situations and around new faces. Coco was raised with kids and other dogs and her owner said she did great with both however, we recommend no small children and only kids who can give her her space initially until she becomes comfortable with them and her new home. Her owner stated that Coco hates cats and will prey upon them so absolutely no cats in the home. She will need frequent walks or a fenced in yard where she can expend her energy. She is still very young, at only about 1 year old, so she has time to grow into a well rounded dog. She is not housebroken, considering that she was pretty much an outside only dog so you will need to work with her on that and just be patient with her as she discovers what being a part of the family really means. Often, we see very different dogs once they get settled into their new home and become a part of something instead of being left to their own devices and we believe that this will be true for Coco, as well. We will be working with her as much as we can but we don't get a lot of outside visitors so, although we will win her trust, it will be difficult to expose her to a variety of different situations like she would get with an adoptive family. Coco's adoption fee will be $175 and will help to cover her vetting and cost of daily care while with us. If interested in giving Coco her forever home, please submit your interest and adoption application via email or you may TEXT only to 352-215-3260 (phone calls will not be answered or returned from this number) or FB message us for more info or to set up a day/time to meet her.