Neena Hound & Collie Mix ST JACOBS, ON

“Neena” (meaning dear one) is a very sweet precious 3 yr female St Bernard/Collie mix, only 74lbs

Neena
ENERGY LEVEL: Low to medium (she's pretty chill but does love to play with other dogs)

She doesn't play with toys but does enjoy playing around the yard, a snuffle mat and her sniffy walks provide her with learning opportunities.

FOOD MOTIVATED? Oh yes!
Miss Neena LOVES food . Given the opportunity, she will steal whatever is within reach so her new family will need to be extremely proactive in ensuring that food is never left on counters or within reach, and will need to continue working on her urges to steal food.

GOOD WITH DOGS? Neena is good with dogs but because of her size, strength and play style, it can appear that she is playing rough.

Neena is a gentle giant and is good with dogs of all sizes and temperaments.
However, we feel that she would be better off being the only dog in the house. She genuinely, truly would benefit from having one on one time with her new parent(s) / family.

She's not an overly excitable dog BUT she does play more on the rough side (chasing, body slamming, biting of legs, etc.) and because she's so vocal when she plays, she might truly freak out most dogs living in a home with her.
With proper intros, she would be fine with visiting dogs, she is not dog reactive or aggressive typically, she just deserves to be the queen of her new home , receiving all of the love that she so craves from humans.

HOW DOES YOUR FOSTER DOG RESPOND TO DOGS MET ON WALKS? She doesn't care about dogs on walks. Neena doesn't bat an eyelash. If the other dog has calm body language, I've let her meet them on leash or if it's a dog I / we know, we'll go over and say "hi" but she generally doesn't care either way.

HOW DOES YOUR FOSTER DOG RESPOND TO PEOPLE MET ON WALKS? She doesn't even seem to notice. When people want to stop and chat about her, she stands by me and will stroll over on her time to sniff them and if she wants them to pet her, she'll lean against them, look up at them, etc. but she doesn't like it when people move toward her (she'll come stand beside or behind me) so she will need her family to advocate for her when it comes to people approaching her so she can continue to grow her confidence.

PEOPLE INTERACTION DETAILS. As above, when given the opportunity to choose to approach or walk by, she sniffs the person if she feels comfortable doing so but if not, just walks by without any reaction to people at all.

When people enter my home, she will put her paws on the baby gate that I have, but we're working really hard on her just standing and waiting until the person comes all the way into the home for her to go sniff and greet them. She doesn't jump up on people once they're in the home. She doesn't react differently to any type of human, she is totally fine with everyone if they give her the time and space to let her approach

She can't see anyone in my backyard because of the fence all around but she will bark if she hears someone ONLY if one of the other dogs in home does.

She is a Guardian breed so it is totally in her nature to do so and a simple "thank you, Neena, that's great, I hear them too" will have her stop barking and come running for face rubs or a food reward.

GUARDING ISSUES? She doesn't like it when she's eating and another dog approaches her dish. She is totally fine if I walk by but not when another dog approaches her whilst she's eating so she does get fed away from my other dogs. Having said that, no dog should be approached whilst they're eating and so I only take her dish / licky mat away when she is all done and walks away from it.

HOUSETRAINED? Yes

CRATE TRAINED? No Neena has never been destructive or made a single mess in the home so she does not require a crate.

DOES YOUR FOSTER DOG SHOW SIGNS OF SEPARATION ANXIETY? No

PLEASE ELABORATE ON YOUR FOSTER DOG'S LEASH SKILLS. Neena is the perfect lady on our walks (she is on a long line and every walk is a sniffy walk)

OKAY WITH MANIPULATIONS? Yes
She absolutely LOVES ear, face and head rubs! She pushes her head into your hand and sometimes, when it feels really good, she'll actually moan. She was great about getting her ear drops put in! We used "look? look ears?" and it got to the point where I could say "Neena, should we look?" and she'd come running over and would put her paws up on the counter (it's the only time she was allowed to "counter surf") and look up at me like "ok, let's do this". She is fine when we cut her nails (and luckily, they're clear so super easy to see and do) and LOVES a good brush!

PERSONALITY? Neena is a snuggle bug! She lives for love and does not hesitate to push her big, heavy head into your hand, your lap or your face to ask for pets. She is a very chill girl who just wants to be with her human (be prepared to close and lock your bathroom door behind you because she will follow her person EVERYWHERE). Having said that, she is also a confident girl who is fine on her own and makes good choices when the opportunity arises. She likes to watch and observe when awake but is also perfectly content to snooze the day away too.

THINGS NEEDING IMPROVEMENT? We are working on remaining calm when I or people enter the home. Having said that, there are other dogs in the home that also get excited when someone comes in and not everyone has baby gates up that block the hallway to their door so it's pretty tough to say if she'll reach the same level of excitement when her environment is different. We are working on polite greetings in this environment so it might need to be adjusted for her new home.

DIET: Neena has exhibited allergies to poultry products and carbohydrates..
We now have her on Bold by Nature Mega Pork Dinner, which is an easy to feed, fully prepared, pattie format raw pork diet which she is thriving on along with her omega 3 supplement
We understand that this is not something every family is comfortable feeding, so we are introducing a high quality pork based kibble to her diet to have alternatives for her new family to choose from.

Skills/Commands
SIT? Yes
STAY? No
WAIT? Yes
LAY DOWN? No
LEAVE IT? Yes
OFF? Yes
DOWN? No
COME? Yes
Neena knows Touch, Stand, Look, Trade and understands what "oh oh", "you're safe" and "thank you" mean.

Notes:
*Children must be over 10yrs (due to her size ), respectful and dog savvy

*Must be located within Ontario Canada
*Inground/ground level Pools and ponds must be separately fenced from yard

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 after you are approved, please do not apply. We do not meet elsewhere nor deliver dogs. Adoptions within Ontario only

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

Neena's adoption fee is a minimum donation of $500-reduced only because of her need for a specific diet. Adoption fees include spay/neuter, microchip, bloodwork, age appropriate vaccinations, deworming, flea/tick/heartworm prevention, and all vet care 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://tubitv.com/movies/494913/pet-fooled
, or 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, including vet references 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. Our dogs are in private foster family homes, not in a shelter.
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.