Dawson Collie & Husky Mix ST JACOBS, ON

Dawson is a precious, sweet, vision impaired (sees shadows but is essentially blind) puppy born Feb 2021

Collie/Husky mix is our best guess to his breed mix. His potential size as an adult is approx 75lbs.

He was surrendered to our care from a rural pound when he was unclaimed as a stray puppy. He has seen our vet regularly for eye examinations and testing and is doing very well in his foster home.

Dawson is a typical toddler pup who loves to play, chew, explore and snuggle.

He will require an experienced, dog savvy family with previous training experience in order to keep him safe and allow him to blossom in his new home.

His ideal home environment will be minimal stairs/bungalow ideally, with a fully enclosed fenced yard.
Due to his young age, he cannot be left alone for long hours.

Dawson's adoption will be on a foster to adopt contract as he is too young to neuter yet, and will require returning to our vet, at our expense, for his neuter surgery.

Notes from his foster family:
Dawson enjoys tug of war, playing ball, playing in the sprinkler and playing "find it" activities using his enhanced scent skills.
Dawson enjoys self play time and with his family. He has multiple Puzzle Toys, Tricky Treat balls, and canine enrichment toys that we use for mental stimulation. We do short training sessions throughout the day as he's still young and gets tired or side tracked overtime.

GOOD WITH DOGS? Yes.
With being vision impaired he tends not to notice other dogs on walks if they are further away, unless they bark. If noise is made, he is usually startled at first but then excitedly wants to go meet. It takes a bit of cueing but he will respond to "lets go" to continue his walk.
With being vision impaired, noises catch him off guard.
HOW DOES YOUR FOSTER DOG RESPOND TO PEOPLE MET ON WALKS? He's very cautious at first if the person is close by or making noise. He's always been friendly and curious in meeting once relaxed. He tends not to notice people if they're further away.
GOOD WITH STRANGERS? Dawson is working on meeting strangers. With being vision impaired, he mainly sees shadows and relies on his other senses when interacting. When meeting, he can be a bit shy/nervous, and may even bark. I usually have the person stand or sit still, and encourage him to sniff them. I always use treats to build a positive interaction. Once he's taken his time to sniff the person and seems more relaxed, I have them give him treats as well. Once he's comfortable, he gives lots of kisses and wants pets.
Dawson enjoys having visitors come over. I have people walk into our house instead of knocking. I have him wait until the visitor comes down the stairs and then I let him "go see" and greet the person.

GOOD WITH CATS? Dawson would do best in a home without cats as he does chase them and plays too rough, he seems to think they are puppies and doesn't understand why they won't play with him.

Dawson is still getting used to his crate. He needs encouragement to go in and will bark for a few minutes but will settle. He MUST be crated if left alone for his safety.

Dawson is a fun loving ball of energy. He's affectionate and a very smart boy. Being only a puppy, he is still learning his manners and needs reminders but is quick to pick up on new commands. He's working on building self confidence with being vision impaired and struggles when it's too bright or too dark. He can make out shadows and relies heavily on his hearing and sense of smell. We try to keep areas tidy, and "baby" proof to prevent any accidents.
He loves playing with anything noisy, or food related.

Dawson is almost completely potty trained. He still has the odd pee accident but is getting better. If the lobby door is closed, he will ring the dog doorbells to go outside. If it isn't he'll go to the back door and wait. We take him out right away in the morning, after every feeding and nap times, and right before bedtime.

Dawson rides in a crate when he goes for car rides. He is given a busy treat toy or a chewie for the ride to help settle. He needs assistance getting into his crate, and travels well.

OTHER HABITS/ROUTINES THAT WILL HELP THE DOG SETTLE INTO THEIR NEW HOME: "Baby" proofing areas of the house to prevent any accidents while he adjusts to his new surroundings. Removing any objects that he may run into or break by accident. Keeping things the same as he relies on his memory and senses to get around.

Dawson would thrive with another friendly dog in his home who is young enough to tolerate puppies but calm and well behaved to help him blossom. This will help encourage self-confidence and help him bloom into the amazing dog that he is. He needs someone who will keep him active both physically (within acceptable growing puppy joint boundaries) and mentally. He loves being outdoors and going on new adventures. He needs someone who has patience and training experience, as he is a puppy still and is learning.

An adoption application must be submitted to be considered.
If the dog's profile is still showing, they are still accepting applications.

Notes:
*Must have previous experience owning and training dogs , a family whom has previous large breed experience and willing to commit to working with a trainer to set him up for success.
*FOSTER TO ADOPT TERMS-Dawson is too young to neuter and will need to return to our vet, at our expense, for his neuter surgery before his adoption will be finalized.
*Registration with a positive method training school/trainer is mandatory for this dog to continue with his training, socialization and to help his family learn how to manage his vision impairment, build his skills and become the best that he can be.
*Children must be over the age of 10, kind and dog savvy
*Must be located within an hour of Listowel ON as he requires returning to our vet for his neuter.
*MANDATORY Pools and ponds must be separately fenced from yard
*A fenced yard is mandatory for this dog for his safety. He is not suitable for apartments or attached housing as he can be a bit barky while he learns appropriate training skills.
*Owned or rented homes welcome with landlord's permission

Hobo Haven is located in St Jacobs Ontario.
For approved families, we require two in person meetings in St Jacobs ON
If you are not willing to drive to this location to meet our dogs if you are approved, please do not apply. We do not meet elsewhere nor deliver dogs.

If you are interested in applying to adopt a dog from Hobo Haven Rescue, please use this link to submit an application https://hobohavenrescue.ca/dog-adoption-application

Dawson's adoption fee is a minimum donation of $450
We also require a $200 refundable training deposit upon adoption, which is refunded fully once training has been completed with a positive method training school.
(Reg puppy adoption fees are $750, his fee is reduced due to his vision impairment).
We have already spent far more than $800 for his vetting and care.

Adoption fees include spay/neuter, microchip, age appropriate vaccinations, fecal testing, dentals if required, deworming if needed, Heartworm and Tick disease testing, bloodwork, Advantix flea/tick/heartworm prevention, and all medical treatments and surgeries required during their time with us.

For anyone possibly interested in adopting from Hobo Haven, here are a few, but not all, criteria to be aware of:

We require all serious applicants to watched "Petfooled" which is a free documentary at this link https://vimeo.com/300627165, on Amazon prime or also a variety of other free video sites.
Our motto is "know better/do better" and we ask all adoptive families to be as committed to providing our dogs with quality nutrition as they are to providing love. This documentary is not advertising, purely just educational.

An adoption application must be completed and approved, as well as a home visit (Zoom during COVID), prior to meeting available dogs. All dogs are placed in loving foster homes during their time with us, we do not have a shelter to visit.
We do not allow applicants to visit until pre-approved for adoptions. Any questions may be emailed to hobohavenpetrescue@gmail.com

Due to the high volume of applications received for our dogs, priority of replies will be given to applicants who meet the criteria mentioned in the pet's profile.
Please do not ask us to make exceptions, we set these protocols and policies for the dog's best interests which are always our highest priority.

Emails are best, our volunteers work full time and are often not able to answer or return phone calls in a timely manner.