ADOPTED
Meet Aioli! Aioli found himself in rescue after being surrendered to a local pound due to ongoing chronic diarrhea, and a young baby being uncomfortable with him in the home. Prior to his surrender at the pound, he was purchased online and rehomed, so he has been bounced around a bit. Aioli is working on rebuilding his confidence after his rocky start to life.
Aioli is a 7-month-old mixed breed Border collie. He is currently a perfectly medium-sized 15kg and may grow to about 20kg+. Like a collie, Aioli is high energy. He often has to be reminded to take breaks and will play and play and play as long as possible. He loves to play fetch and has a wicked ball drive . . . dog sporting-interested folks should consider him! He is very motivated by play, and will work for play as a reward. Aioli has missed some walks with the recent heat waves but will tire himself out playing with our dogs or by himself. Aioli may also have some hound in him given his very loud voice; people are always taken aback by the loud baying that comes out of him when he means it! He certainly has athletic breeds in him which is reflected in his ability to jump to the height of your shoulders without much startup effort, and his enjoyment in travelling to his next destination with a single bound.
While Aioli is fostered with 2 similarly-sized dogs, he does require proper introductions to other dogs. Initially he had some resource-guarding concerns, but he was also nutritionally-starved from ongoing chronic diarrhea, and was probably feeling quite bad on the inside. As he has become more comfortable with his foster home and learned that resources are in abundance, these behaviours have resolved. He is always fed separately from other dogs, but is no longer uncertain about sharing water dishes, etc. He has been successfully introduced to a larger male lab (who was another Pound Dog Rescue foster dog), and another medium-sized female mixed breed dog friend and loves them both to bits. Although he loves the dogs he knows, he does not necessarily require a home with another dog, but if he does live with another dog they should be calm and confident. He will feed off of the energy of other dogs and people, so his influences should be calm and confident to reassure him. He would benefit from a dedicated group of dog friends that he can visit if he does not live with another dog.
Aioli also lives with 2 cats in his foster home, and to our happy surprise, he is very good with dog-savvy cats! If the cats dart past him he will become excited and will run after them playfully, but he does not seek them out to chase or bother. If they run past him he may bat at them with his paws but our cats are very tolerant of dogs in general. He is easily redirected from his initial excitement if the cats are having zoomies. Aioli will play with cats gently if they initiate play with him. In general, Aioli enjoys interacting with and sniffing the cats and is very gentle with them, and our cats enjoy rubbing up against him and saying hello to him. Any cats in his forever home should be dog savvy, and Aioli should do well with them after gradual introductions.
When he is in the home apart from our other dogs, Aioli is very good at entertaining himself. He loves chew toys like Nylabones and Benebones, and has not been destructive in our home. He also loves plush toys, and will form a mountain of as many as he can collect. He is given food puzzles which he also enjoys, and an occasional cardboard box or egg carton to rip up for fun (which we use as a food puzzle). He has a snuffle mat to use for food as well, as he really enjoys sniffing. Solving food puzzles can be a great confidence builder, and Aioli will likely move on to the more difficult puzzles with time! He is a very smart boy.
On walks, Aioli can be described as “on alert.” If Aioli sees unknown dogs while leashed he is not quite sure what to do and has displayed some reactive tendencies while out on walks, his hackles will go up and he may growl and bark. This behaviour stems from a lack of confidence and insecurity, and activities to build confidence will help him know what to do when he feels these big emotions. In his foster home, he is being conditioned to accept a gentle leader while walking, which has helped him greatly in training through his confidence issues and discomfort with seeing unknown dogs. He can be redirected from his big emotions and has started to disengage from triggers on his own, offering a “sit” instead. A gentle leader will be a must while Aioli continues to work on his reactivity, and he has shown promising improvement in a short amount of time. 
He generally walks well beside you and has learned to return to your side automatically if he gets farther ahead of you. He is gradually learning to relax and will occasionally show interest in smells and exploration, but he is not always sure of himself. He will raise his hackles and growl and bark in the direction of unknown and uncomfortable situations at times (for example, children running), but has been improving greatly with continued guidance from his handler. When relaxed, he loves to follow smells and will likely benefit from decompressive “sniff walks” in fields or woodland trails while on a long lead. While he is still working on his confidence on walks Aioli will need to live in a rural environment, small town, or quiet subdivision where there is little activity and things for him to get stimulated by. A busy area or city center will not suit him.
Children are not recommended for Aioli as he is stressed by children playing, and has been rehomed previously from a home with a child who was scared of him. He does have a very loud bark and this may have upset the child in his previous home. He is happiest with adult people or older teens. While he is generally very friendly and happy to meet people indoors, Aioli can be hit or miss in terms of his acceptance of new people. Sometimes he needs slow introductions, but other times he greets new people like a long-lost friend. If he is unsure of someone, he may bark and growl, but is learning to sit on his own and is working on his fear and lack of confidence. He accepts food from strangers and opens up in a relatively short amount of time with positive reinforcement. He also gains confidence with either a calm, assuring handler or a calm, confident dog to help him through greetings. Everything with Aioli boils down to a teenaged pup who was not properly socialized prior to entering our rescue so he is working on building confidence and as such needs his people to be experienced, confident dog handlers who can continue the work we have started with him. He will not be a suitable dog for 1st time dog owners.
Aioli will thrive in a living situation where someone has the interest and time to devote to his training. He bonds strongly to his people, and care will be needed to ensure he does not develop separation anxiety. Structured alone time is important for his continued confidence and well-being, and Aioli will be given short kennel time during the day for this purpose. Aioli does sleep through the night (now that his diarrhea is under control) in his crate without issue. Aioli generally kennels well, although sometimes he does have vocal protests for about 5-15 minutes in his home crate when his family leaves, and has had stress urinary accidents. He has been left alone for up to 7 hours without an accident. He often travels to work with his foster parent, and kennels very well at work without urinary accidents or excessive kennel stress. He may do best with a wire, rather than plastic crate in his forever home as he tries to sleep in the wire crates that belong to his foster siblings. In terms of his housetraining, he is making great progress, and will signal by walking towards the door to the backyard and trying to make eye contact with you. As long we are mindful of his signals, he will not have an accident indoors, and seems to understand where he is meant to do his business.
Aioli is very tolerant of all handling. He has not displayed any resource-guarding tendencies with humans. He tolerates nail trims in exchange for belly rubs, and has no concerns with his ears, tail, feet, legs or anything being touched. He is excellent for bath time as well and tolerates being picked up and held, although he would almost always prefer to jump where you need him!
Now, in regards to the chronic diarrhea . . . Aioli has undergone lots of medical testing and food trials for probem-solving his medical issues. He came into rescue with liquid diarrhea. It has been determined that he has protein-losing enteropathy of some kind. The good news is that we’ve ruled out liver disease and major electrolyte imbalances and his condition is managed with diet mostly. After several food trials, Aioli is currently fed Royal Canin Anallergenic. He must ONLY eat this food, which means he cannot have any treats or people food or anything by mouth that is not considered safe as per your veterinarian with this diet. He does work for this diet as a food reward for training and eats it very well. This diet is crucial to his ongoing care, and any adopters should budget this diet into his care. Aioli is also on Tylosin daily to help manage his diarrhea, which 
is working well for him. This is a prescription medication that would need to be refilled by your veterinarian but it is not costly and very effective in controlling his diarrhea. He receives this medication twice daily by mouth, and takes it very well in some mashed-up and watered-down Royal Canin Anallergenic food. His stools may always be a bit soft, and he will require ongoing monitoring of his health with your dedicated veterinary team.
Overall, Aioli is a highly affectionate dog who loves belly rubs, fetch, and his close circle of canine friends. He wants to please you and is devoted to his people. He would LOVE to be adopted by someone interested in dog sports…agility dog in the making here!!! But regardless, he is looking for his ideal match to be active, outdoorsy people who will keep him busy, play with him, run with him, and overall have fun with him. Please adopt Aioli!