Edamame

Please read our dog bios carefully to be sure that the dog you are applying for suits your family and lifestyle. At Pound Dog Rescue, we believe in the benefits of post-adoption training for our dogs and their families. This allows for continued socialization, and learning and helps to create a well-mannered and balanced dog. Post-adoption training is a requirement in our adoption process.                                   

Once frozen, now fresh: it’s Edamame! He is a 3.5 year old, male neutered apricot Moyen Poodle. He weighs just under 20 lbs and is a medium sized dog with a tall, slim build. His veterinary care is up-to-date and he is ready to find his forever home.

Edamame entered rescue after a commercial puppy mill was offloading unneeded dogs. He never lived inside a home before, and had limited exposure to the outside world. As a result of his limited socialization, he is the type of dog who is curious but not always confident in himself. He takes comfort in the presence of other dogs, and is eager to follow their lead when he is not sure what to do. A lot of his time in rescue has been focused on adapting him to a life as a loved family member, which he has taken to quite well already! Edamame dearly loves gentle physical affection from people of all gender presentations once he is feeling confident enough to approach and ask for it. With strangers, this may take a little bit of time if he is without the company of another dog, and when he is in new surroundings. He tends to tremble and hold his head low when he is uncertain. Coming out of his shell did not take long in our home with our two resident dogs guiding the way. He likes to dive in to give kisses especially if you are touching other dogs (even to strangers), and sneak closer for gentle pats, and refresh the kisses should the pats stop. He absolutely loves to nap next to you or in your lap. He seems curious about strangers but he is not sure how to interact beyond some quick sniffs and kisses. He tends to duck his head down if you pat him on top of the head, but if you stop he asks you to continue

Edamame has adapted quite well to indoor life. He can be a little unsettled if you are up and doing things, he tends to flit around until you are also stationary. Once the humans are also relaxing, he is very good at finding a spot nearby to either sit down and observe you pointedly or hop onto the sofa for a snuggle. He is just learning to appreciate dog beds too. He is a bit uncertain about indoor machinery like vacuums, the blender, coffee grinder and other high-pitched mechanical whirring but with positive reinforcement he is starting to habituate to these noises. He usually responds either with some barking, or by speeding up in his circuit around the home. Edamame is also a bit awkward with stairs, and while he can certainly do the stairs, he prefers to jump over them either up or down so his staircase use should be limited until he has practiced traversing them with a little more precision and less gymnastic ability.

Edamame is progressing well with crate training. Due to his tendency to like to follow his people closely, it is important to continue independence training for him to avoid separation anxiety. He will likely need a refresher with his new family. He can have some fear-of-missing-out behaviours if you are doing things with other dogs and excluding him. Generally, he is best described as tolerant of his crate at this time. He does not necessarily want to go in there if he had a choice, but when positioned in front and asked to enter, he will do so. Occasionally he will bark for about a minute when you leave the home, but once he has expressed his opinion he settles down quietly and quite comfortably for the rest of the duration he is in the crate, as he has been found sleeping on his back with all his feet in the air. He is crated for various periods of time throughout the day, both with us present and out of the home, and with this repeated practice he is learning that crate time is an expected part of his life, and it is not such a stressor as it would be if he did not practice this at all. Edamame is very tidy in his crate, and would have no issues if he needed to be crated for a longer duration. He has not been protective of his kennel space in his time in foster care.

His tendency to cleanliness also expands to the home, he has been one of the tidiest fosters we have ever had in terms of housetraining. He picked up on housetraining very quickly, and is learning to go to the backdoor when he needs to go out, although he will need to continue practicing his cues in his new home. He will urinate/defecate both on and off leash (in a secure backyard) or on his walks. At this time, he does not appreciate being in the yard alone so we are usually with him. He does not require a yard in his new home, as long as he has time for short walks to relieve himself.

Despite his past and uncertainty with some indoor noises, Edamame does very well on walks. He genuinely seems to enjoy them, and does not display a fear of cars passing, large vehicles, bins on sidewalks and various other new stimuli. He is walked on a martingale collar for safety. He does tend to walk very well, and he self-corrects any tension he puts on the leash for us. He is starting to become quite engaged with us on walks, and he will accept treats outside for his offered eye contact and focus. When he first started learning how to walk on a leash he would occasionally make sudden diversions to the left or right before correcting course, and while this behaviour has mostly faded he will still occasionally do this, and the martingale keeps him safe and secure. He needs some help navigating things like pesky sign poles and trees as he may wrap around them if the urban topography disrupts his route, but he is learning the leash is a solid link between him and his handler so he is making better choices as he progresses. Edamame has experienced both pack walks and solo walks, and displays a similar level of confidence in both scenarios. Edamame is occasionally distracted by passing other dogs closely, as he seems like he wants to go say hello. He does not bark or react but this is where you may see his rapid diversions as previously described. He does well being encouraged along. We do not encourage our fosters to greet other dogs on leash, and this will be something he will need to continue working on to avoid any frustration behaviours that could result. Edamame is not distracted by wildlife outdoors on his walks, and did not even seem to notice some very large wild turkeys that strolled directly into his view. He seems to have a fair amount of stamina but does very well with short walks too. He is best described as medium energy, and would probably be up for any sort of adventure as long as it included some people and/or dog friends. He currently enjoys about 30-45 mins of walking per day. We expect he could live in a variety of neighbourhoods, including a semi-urban area as he isn’t bothered by the bustle of a more urban setting than a quiet cul-de-sac. We would advise against apartments unless they are dog-friendly, as he can bark a little as previously described, but he is otherwise a generally quiet dog.

Being a poodle, Edamame will require professional grooming to keep his skin and coat healthy and clean. He was very brave for his first professional groom, and should be fine with a gentle, low-volume or small business/smaller scale groomer. Between professional grooms, it is important to line-brush and/or comb through his coat when it is longer to prevent tangles and matting. We have spent a lot of time gently brushing and combing him at home to help him become accustomed to regular grooming, and he is very tolerant. He has no issues with gentle handling, and although he can be a little face-shy he is starting to learn, with positive reinforcement, that good things come from this handling. We always give him the cue “UP” prior to picking him up, and he jumps up to be carried, although he does not always keep all his limbs inside for the ride so to speak.

As mentioned, Edamame enjoys the companionship of other dogs. He is fostered with two medium-sized (but larger than him) female dogs. He has occasionally tried to play and likes a run-and-chase playstyle. Edamame will be happiest with another confident dog in his new home, but a high energy/intense dog may be too much for him just based on what we have seen of his personality. He is very good at sharing his space and resources and really likes to hangout near other dogs if not with his people. Any dogs in his new home should be tolerant of other dogs sharing space and resources like toys, as Edamame sometimes is inappropriate with how closely he likes to stand beside and/or sit upon other dogs, and he will also take and collect toys right from their mouths. He does not put his paws up on our dogs but he will place his chin on them while resting, and some dogs may not tolerate such close cuddling. He has never tried to mount our dogs and was very respectful with his initial greeting, he is not too “forward” but is gently curious and interested.

Being a toy collector, Edamame enjoys gathering a selection of them up on the couch. He prefers soft toys of all sizes, and may try to peel some pieces off of them briefly but he has never been successful in doing so, loses interest in his partial destruction, and really seems to enjoy the gathering and occasional kill-shaking the most. He has not displayed resource guarding in his time with us, with people or animals. He does need the occasional reminder that tea towels are not toys, as he sometimes likes to collect them too. Otherwise, he is not destructive in the home.

Edamame is also fostered with cats, and is cat-friendly. He will sniff at cats at their first greeting, but has never chased, pestered or bothered our dog-savvy cats. He respects their boundaries and co-exists quite well with them. The one thing he may do is sniff them for a bit too long at first, or accidentally step on a tail when positioning himself on the couch with everyone. We expect Edamame will do well in his forever home with a cat after proper introductions.

Edamame travels well in the car. The only thing about the car is that Edamame identifies our car as a giant crate, in that he needs to be placed inside, and may show hesitancy approaching our vehicles for this reason. He travels in a crate in the car for safety, and once he is placed inside his crate he settles and lays down for the ride very comfortably. He has not displayed travel anxiety or nausea in his time with us, on both longer highway drives and shorter city jaunts.

In terms of his forever family, Edamame will be suitable for a less-experienced and gentle dog owner, and can live with older children (12 and up) who have the patience for an initially reserved dog. Edamame will thrive with some mandatory basic training, and while not a requirement may also enjoy some higher level training for confidence given the amount of interest and engagement he has already displayed in his foster home. He is learning how to follow lures for training, and will thrive with positive reinforcement training. We have also spent some time introducing him to clicker training. He is food-motivated, but is learning to expand his palate as he will make the most dramatic gagging gestures at any treat containing a fruit or vegetable. He works very well for meat-based dried treats!

Edamame’s a young green bean ready to grow and mature with you. You can find some of his foster adventurers on Instagram @twiceluckyfosters. Thank you for reading his bio and considering a rescue dog!