Spartacus Chihuahua ST JACOBS, ON

Introducing wee Spartacus. He is a male, neutered, 4yr old Chihuahua , weighing only 3lbs.

If you are looking for a lap dog, Spartacus is not the dog for you. He loves to be on the couch near you but isn't interested in snuggling with humans. He far prefers to snuggle with the other dogs in his home, that is his happy place.
His ideal forever home requires another friendly, small to medium, gentle dog that would be fine with having Spartacus snuggle close beside them , which would help him transition and gain confidence in his new home.

Spartacus loves exploring in the backyard along with his canine foster friends whom he enjoys being in the company of.
He doesn’t ask to go outside for potty breaks yet, but goes willingly when invited to do so. His housetraining has come along nicely since his neuter, but he also willingly wears a belly band if needed to avoid accidents during his adaptation to a new home/new routines.

Spartacus has almost no teeth (we had to remove many of his teeth during his dental surgery due to decay/neglect).
He is picky about his food and cannot manage kibble, so he will need to stay on his current meatloaf style dog food. He loves his Cookhouse meatloaf food and dances excitedly when it’s being prepared.
Spartacus is also picky about treats.

Spartacus can be anxious around people. His body language is quite easy to read when he is anxious; lots of lip-licking. He does take time to warm up to you and fast movements can startle him. He is not aggressive, just shy and nervous. If you hold out your hand to him, he will sniff it and lick it and then you can scratch his chest or, even better, give him a nice bum scratch. He is not a snuggly boy but does like to be near you.

Spartacus isn’t very interested in toys. He prefers to hang out on the couch and watch the world. He sometimes enjoys a game of chase around the furniture though. His tail wags as he stops, changes direction and scoots away. Again, his body language then shows that he is engaged; soft eyes and eye contact, mouth open and tail wagging.

He is not a big barker, although in his foster home, if the other dogs bark, he will join in. He does not seem to have any separation anxiety, as there are foster siblings to be with. I do not think separation anxiety would be a problem in his forever home.

He also likes a snuggly, soft blanket to paw to the perfect shape and sink into.

He has occasionally been resource guarding the couch when snuggling with his foster brother , which is easily resolved by removing the dog stairs and not allowing access to the couch if this happens as he cannot access the couch on his own. This has improved along with his training to redirect him. He snuggles nicely on dog beds and in his "den-aka a crate with the door open" with no guarding issues.

Spartacus sleeps well in his crate. He cannot manage our slippery wooden stairs, so we carry him to bed. He goes into his crate very willingly and settles quickly. He is quiet until the morning. He is not destructive so would likely also do well sleeping on his bed on the floor in your bedroom at night.

He has now been neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, bloodwork and all testing completed and is ready to find his forever family. We have completed his dental cleaning and extracted decayed teeth as necessary.

Spartacus does have luxating patellas. No hock, tarsal, or metatarsal warmth, thickening, swelling, or pain on palpation.
He is stable and has been working on rehab including rebuilding muscle tone and strengthening his legs, after arriving into our care in April extremely emaciated and weak. He is now thriving in his foster home and eating very well.

Due to his very fragile size and higher surgery risk, our vet has recommended to consider medically managing his luxations vs surgical intervention. We have him on Sashas Blend joint support which is managing him very well.

Notes:
*Spartacus is a tiny fragile young dog whom will need a safe environment where he is not at risk of jumping off of high places or escaping through insecure fencing.
* He is extremely finicky and must remain on his current food which is Cookhouse cooked meatloaves, a balanced cooked diet for dogs readily available that he now eats very eagerly.
*Children must be over the age of 10, kind, gentle and dog savvy
*Must be located within Ontario Canada
*Pools and ponds must be separately fenced from yard
*Owned or rented homes welcome with landlord's permission
* Must commit to keeping him on Sashas Blend for his joint support.

Please read his entire profile before applying. An adoption application must be submitted to be considered. If the dog's listing is still showing, they are still accepting applications.

Only applicants who meet each dog's criteria as noted in their profiles for their ideal forever home will be contacted. You MUST submit an adoption application prior to being considered , see instructions at the bottom of this profile.

Sending a brief note stating interested is not considered an application. You MUST submit a full adoption application in order to be considered.

https://hobohavenrescue.ca/dog-adoption-application

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

Spartacus' adoption fee is a minimum donation of $500. Adoption fees include spay/neuter, microchip, age appropriate vaccinations, fecal testing, dental surgery, Heartworm and Tick disease testing, bloodwork, Advantage prevention, and all medical treatments and surgeries required during their time with us. His medical expenses have far surpassed this amount.

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

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.