Pending Adoption - Bernie

Socialization: Bernie has been friendly towards everyone he meets. The first 3-4 weeks he did attempt to jump up in excitement. We have worked on calmer greetings and he has been doing well. He seems to do well with men or women or even children. I have not gotten to introduce him to very young kids. Bernie has been excellent with other dogs! He has been completely friendly with my two dogs and has been friendly with all dogs we see on walks. Even when the other dog is aggressively barking, he just stands there with a wagging tail. After a few weeks he has become comfortable playing with my setter mix. They run around the yard and trade off who is chasing whom. Bernie seems fairly submissive when playing. Our only experience with cats has been seeing outdoor cats roaming the neighborhood. He has wanted to chase them and barked at them. So for now, I do not recommend he go to a home with cats.<br/><br/>Training: Bernie has learned off, down and drop it. We are now working on sit and paw. He initially was a counter surfer. He is well behaved in the house, but I am not at the point where I trust him to be free roaming without supervision. He is crated when I am not home and will usually bark in the crate for about 20 minutes before calming down. His housebreaking has been perfect - he has had no issues in his stay with me. He does go out once in the middle of the night for a pee break usually. He has been good with playing with soft toys and hasn't destroyed one yet. He has been allowed on the furniture here - couch, chairs, etc., so he would need some training in his forever home if you did not want him to climb onto furniture at all. He also is fairly content to settle on a dog bed. At night he sleeps on a dog bed on my floor, but I have a play pen around it to contain him. He would climb on my bed otherwise. He has done well when operating off a consistent schedule. So far he has not learned that the weekends usually means sleeping in a bit more. However, he is more than happy to go back to sleep after getting his morning walk in. When feeding him, he gets very excited and will jump, bump into things and dance around right in front of you until the bowl is down. I have been trying to get him to be calmer in these moments, but I think this is from living for years in a kennel environment and wanting to be front and center during feeding times. He is not food aggressive and has calmly eaten with his bowl being about 4/5 feet away from my other big dog. When he first arrived he greeted me multiple times a day by jumping up on me but that behavior has calmed. He now only does that once per day when I get home from work (a long day for him) and release him from the kennel. We will continue to work on calmer greetings even in those very excited moments.<br/><br/>Activity requirements: Bernie is an active setter. He enjoys 2 walks a day. We walk once very early and usually before bed time. Our morning walk is about 35 minutes and the evening walk is closer to 15 minutes. He gets longer walks on the weekend and we usually manage 3. He gets plenty of time to play in the fenced back yard and run around (2 hours + each day). He usually spends his time outdoors patrolling for squirrels, birds, rabbits, foxes and moths/butterflies. He has a high prey drive so will chase all these animals. I've not yet gotten him to play fetch, but he will chew on a soft toy outdoors. Bernie is good on a leash. He is easy to manage along with my other 2 dogs. He still will pull strongly when he sees the animals listed above or cats and wants to chase them.<br/><br/>Fence requirements: I believe Bernie needs a home with physical fence due to his strong prey drive. He enjoys the freedom to roam and explore within a yard. He has remained contained with my 4 foot split rail fence with wire, so I believe a fence 4 feet or higher will be sufficient.<br/><br/>Personality: From day one Bernie has been a velcro dog. He follows me around the house and supervises me when I cook or walk to another room. He seemed to get attached to me very quickly, so I imagine the same thing will happen in his forever home. He will absolutely prioritize being with his people over being with other dogs in his home. He loves to cuddle. He enters a zen state when you brush him and can sometimes fall asleep to that. He can be playful with other dogs and has been enjoying pulling toys out of the basket to play with. He is social and wants to happily greet everyone who visits. He has been wonderful for grooming - letting me brush him, clip his nails or brush his teeth. The one thing he does not enjoy...is baths.<br/><br/>Health history: Bernie is neutered, microchipped, up to date on vaccines, and on monthly heartworm prevention. His next leishmaniasis test is due in February 2027. Bernie had a fairly extensive fungal infection and an operation to help clear the infection in his nasal cavity. Because of this history, he would go to his home in a foster-to-adopt status for a few months to ensure it has entirely resolved. He will need to go to a home where there is good veterinary care nearby and an adopter that is comfortable with a dog with an extensive medical history. The rescue doesn't believe that the chances that this fungal infection would re-occur are high. He also had a dental cleaning with 10 teeth extracted before coming to USA, so it is important that his adoptive home continues to brush his teeth daily.<br/><br/>This dog originates from Turkey where Leishmaniasis is endemic. They tested negative before coming to the USA, but the parasite can remain dormant in the system for many years, so potential adopters must be willing to commit to annual testing for the next 7 years. Typically, the test needs to be sent to a special lab, but any regular vet can draw the blood and send it to the lab. The cost of the test seems to vary widely by area, but is approximately $150-$250. or if your vet is willing to send the test to a veterinary college lab, cost can be as low as $80.<br/><br/>Foster comments: Bernie is a 100% happy and wonderful boy. He's done amazing with adapting to home life after spending many months in a kennel environment. He loves his comforts - air conditioning, comfortable dog beds and being around people. He is looking for a home where you don't mind welcoming a Velcro dog (one who will stick to your side 90% of the time). He needs a home willing to help him burn off his energy each day. I think getting focused attention after years in kennel amazes him on a daily basis and he just loves that attention. He has always had such a happy and loving personality; even when recovering from a big surgery. Bernie values time with his person/people, so an adopter/family who can provide that is important. He handles my work days just fine thanks to a dog walker break midday where he can potty and play for about 20 minutes. He's been wonderful with my dogs and every dog we have met.<br/><br/>Foster location: Manassas, VA <br/><br/>Transport note: We are able to arrange volunteer transport to get dogs from their foster home to their adopter as long as the adopter and the foster are within a 1,000 mile radius of each other and the adopter is located in the USA. If the adopter is more than 1,000 miles from the foster home, adoption would only be possible if the adopter is willing to drive the distance beyond the 1,000-mile transport limit. Long distance adoptions may also be possible if the adopter is willing to pay for a flight to get their dog from the foster home to their location if the foster feels this is an appropriate arrangement for the specific dog. Canadian adopters would have to drive into the USA to pick up their dog, as we do not transport outside of the USA.

Socialization: Bernie has been friendly towards everyone he meets. The first 3-4 weeks he did attempt to jump up in excitement. We have worked on calmer greetings and he has been doing well. He seems to do well with men or women or even children. I have not gotten to introduce him to very young kids. Bernie has been excellent with other dogs! He has been completely friendly with my two dogs and has been friendly with all dogs we see on walks. Even when the other dog is aggressively barking, he just stands there with a wagging tail. After a few weeks he has become comfortable playing with my setter mix. They run around the yard and trade off who is chasing whom. Bernie seems fairly submissive when playing. Our only experience with cats has been seeing outdoor cats roaming the neighborhood. He has wanted to chase them and barked at them. So for now, I do not recommend he go to a home with cats.

Training: Bernie has learned off, down and drop it. We are now working on sit and paw. He initially was a counter surfer. H

Socialization: Bernie has been friendly towards everyone he meets. The first 3-4 weeks he did attempt to jump up in excitement. We have worked on calmer greetings and he has been doing well. He seems to do well with men or women or even children. I have not gotten to introduce him to very young kids. Bernie has been excellent with other dogs! He has been completely friendly with my two dogs and has been friendly with all dogs we see on walks. Even when the other dog is aggressively barking, he just stands there with a wagging tail. After a few weeks he has become comfortable playing with my setter mix. They run around the yard and trade off who is chasing whom. Bernie seems fairly submissive when playing. Our only experience with cats has been seeing outdoor cats roaming the neighborhood. He has wanted to chase them and barked at them. So for now, I do not recommend he go to a home with cats.

Training: Bernie has learned off, down and drop it. We are now working on sit and paw. He initially was a counter surfer. He is well behaved in the house, but I am not at the point where I trust him to be free roaming without supervision. He is crated when I am not home and will usually bark in the crate for about 20 minutes before calming down. His housebreaking has been perfect - he has had no issues in his stay with me. He does go out once in the middle of the night for a pee break usually. He has been good with pl