Gavin Australian Cattle Dog / Blue Heeler Mix Pittsfield, MA

Meet Gavin. His celtic name means "white hawk" and he is ready to soar. Although he can be shy with new people, once he acclimates to you he's such a sweet boy. Gavin is currently about 14 weeks old; I'm expecting him to mature around 40-45 pounds but don't hold me to it because we don't know what he's mixed with. We do know that there's some cattle dog in there (his littermates are much more cattle doggy looking) and he has telltale mottling on the backs of his ears.

When he first arrived, Gavin would flatten out or go belly up when anyone approached him. With careful confidence building exercises, he's doing much better; continued positive training will be important for Gavin. He will alarm bark when meeting new people but comes around if you take it slowly and treats are given by the trusted person in his life to counter-condition (change his emotional response). He's also learning to explore novel objects and walk on novel surfaces to help him feel more optimistic about things.

At this point, Gavin gets carsick (a lot of puppies do) but he'll likely outgrow that. Because he'd been sick on his ride to my foster home, Gavin needed a bath early on. He was extremely well behaved for his bath although not loving it. Several days later, he was very tolerant of having his nails clipped. We continue to work on enjoying touch.

Gavin is being fostered with 4 other dogs of a variety of sizes and does well with all of them. He's favorite play pal is my 20 pound cattle dog mix. He also likes to chase balls and has started to pick one up if he can beat my other fetcher to it. It won't be hard to teach to this smart fellow nearly anything.

Gavin is crate-trained and starting to go into his crate when cued to do so. He's doing well with housetraining but ongoing supervision and lots of trips outside will be necessary to help him get all the way there.

It's possible that Gavin, despite his young age, may have some hearing loss. Deafness in dogs can be associated with white coat color and lack of pigment. He does hear some things (a siren a block away, children playing and yelling in the yard next door, my voice when I am very close to him especially if I use a high pitch). It's possible that he simply hasn't yet learned that human speech is important but it's also possible that he has some level of hearing impairment. The only way to know for sure is with a BAER test which is not widely available. Gavin's adopter will have to be prepared for the possibility that Gavin doesn't hear well and take extra steps to keep him safe. I have begun using hand signals with Gavin and he will come with a book on how to playtrain a low hearing (deaf) dog. He will also come with one free training session if adopted locally.

If interested in learning more about Gavin or possibly meeting him, please fill out an application at www.acdra.org. An application is not a commitment to adopt but is the best way to get further information on any available dog.

For questions, please contact teampizazz@gmail.com.

COMPLETE AN APPLICATION
http://www.acdra.org/adoption-application