ADOPTION PENDING
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.
Meet Jubilee: a celebration of a dog! Jubilee is a 5 year old female spayed tricolour Beagle type who weighs about 45 lbs although she has some weight to lose. She has a solid, stocky build and may be mixed with a larger hound breed like a Basset hound due to her long body, slightly shorter legs, and wide, large feet. She is definitely larger than what you might think of when you hear “beagle” and is the perfect size for an adventure buddy. Either way, this dog is hound through and through.
Jubilee found her way into rescue after her elderly owner could no longer care for her. She was pulled from the shelter as she was recognized as a dog with a wonderful temperament who, like many dogs, simply needed another chance at a forever home. Jubilee adapted to her foster home very quickly and without reservation. Jubilee is happy to relax inside the home and will nap when she isn’t having a quick play with our dogs or solo with a toy. She is an excellent houseguest. She understands indoor living and quickly made her way to the couch and made fast friends with our other family members. Jubilee has no issues with common household noises, stairs, changes in flooring textures, or doorways. She is not destructive or obtrusive in the home, although she will put her paws up on the edges of counters to check on the progress of her dog food being prepared. With people food she is interested, but very respectful, and has not attempted to investigate or take any food from the counters. She does like to sit in the kitchen as you cook or near the dinner table at a respectful distance while you eat. If you have something particularly tasty like pizza she is a bit more restless in sitting nicely and shifts around, but it is important not to give her table scraps as this is not good for her wellness in the long run.
Being a respectful and well-adjusted lady, Jubilee has been doing well at housetraining. She has had the odd pee accident in her crate, but is doing much better without bedding in her crate. She only tends to have accidents on her bedding in her crate or bedding beside her crate. She has never had a poo accident inside the home. She is generally good at alerting when she needs to go out, as she will come to you, then head to the door and sit down, rapidly looking from you to the door handle to indicate she needs to go out. She prefers to defecate on her walks but will use the backyard if you give her enough time for some sniffs.
Jubilee is also crate trained. She understands that her crate is a place to rest and easily relaxes in it for the duration of a standard workday and is very quiet and calm overnight as well. If we are crating her for a workday (8hrs) she always gets a walk before being crated of at least 15 minutes in length, with the rest of her walk in the evening after work. We also practice crating her during the day for shorter periods of time for practice. Occasionally we will give her a dental chew or a stuffed Kong, but she does not require this each time to keep her busy as she is very happy to rest in the crate. The only protesting Jubilee tends to do in her crate is once she finishes her meals, which she eats in her crate, or occasionally when we are leaving midday and she is feeling left out. It is important to take her out fairly shortly after she finishes her meals as we find this is when she is the most urgent to urinate outside, and although it doesn’t happen now, this is when she was most likely to have an accident in the past. Jubilee would be best suited to at minimum a semi-detached (provided the walls muffle sounds) or detached home as her jubilations, while infrequent, tend to be at hound volume and would likely bother apartment or condo neighbours. Jubilee is always given an opportunity to go to the bathroom outside prior to crating and we walk her to her crate on leash when it is time to go in. As soon as her collar is off she heads right in her crate without further prompting. If it is mealtime Jubilee will race, ears flapping in the wind, to get into her crate for her food. Jubilee has not demonstrated signs of undue crate stress or separation anxiety. We do have her crate in a separate room away from our dogs to limit visual stimulation, as she was feeling left out when she could see our dogs passing by when they were not crated at the same time as her. She is not protective of her crate space.
Regarding her broader training, Jubilee has been working on simple, but essential skills like response to name, “off,” walking well, and threshold manners. When entering her new forever home, Jubilee will need some reminders of boundaries as she will likely investigate counters, be on couches, benches, beds and going through doorways without waiting as she is fairly confident in exploring new spaces and will investigate if left unchecked. Once she is more settled she picks up on routines and boundaries quite well. In her foster home, she sits before going through doorways, sits to put on her walking gear and is getting much better at waiting as calmly as she can prior to walks. She responds well to positive reinforcement and praise, and is moderately food motivated. She takes treats so delicately and gently. She will need more training with her responsiveness outdoors, but the environment is so enticing for her it can also be used as a reward in itself (i.e. go sniff)!
If Jubilee has a favourite thing, it is absolutely her walks! Jubilee walks about 30 mins to 1 hour daily at a moderate pace. Once she sees a leash or really any portion of her walking gear being handled, she has an immediate burst of excitement and usually lets out some big happy hound barks. She tries her very best to help you to put on her gear, but of course her to-and-fro’ head movements to put her nose into her gentle leader and martingale collar that she thinks are helpful make everything a little more difficult! Once dressed, she waits by the crack of the door and squeaks at it while you take FOREVER to leave (in her mind)! She has some difficulty staying on the ground prior to getting dressed, and will offer to jump up on you or on nearby seating surfaces in exchange for you to go faster. We have been working on an “off” cue and Jubilee is learning very well that she must remain on the ground to proceed with wearing her walking attire. Jubilee walks best on a gentle leader head halter, as she can be very enthusiastic about following scents and does not care about the degree to which she pulls (with a martingale alone) to get moving. She is well-conditioned to her gentle leader, and although she does pull a bit even on the gentle leader when she is very excited about a smell, generally walks well with it. Continued training will help with this, but she will likely always be a bit enthusiastic in getting to new smells by putting a bit of tension on her leash. We link her gentle leader to her martingale for safety with a small safety line. Occasionally she will try to shift to the other side of you by crossing in front, but has learned with practice not to cut off her handler anymore, and generally walks in straight lines beside you. If you happen to walk into her she is unbothered as she is intent on where she wants to be next. Jubilee loves to sniff and generally likes to move quickly on her walks, tracking scents, only stopping for a brief moment if a smell is very interesting. She always wants to find the next good sniff. Jubilee would love the opportunity to go on long-line hikes in grassy areas in addition to her neighbourhood strolls, as she really enjoys walking from lawn-to-lawn for sniffing. Jubilee is fostered in a semi-urban area and is not bothered by foot traffic or moderate traffic flows, and has not demonstrated any fear of large vehicles, bicycles, skateboards, etc. Most dogs she passes with disinterest if they are on the other side of the street, but she can get excited by some dogs passing close-by. She tries to pull you in their direction, but is easily redirected. We don’t allow our dogs to leash-greet other dogs on walks, and highly recommend teaching indifference to Jubilee as allowing her to meet some dogs but not others will only build frustration in her. She is not reactive to dogs barking at her on walks, and has been notably disinterested in squirrels and other wildlife outdoors, likely because she finds sniffing so rewarding. We could see her darting after a sudden appearance of a cat or squirrel right in front of her if the timing was perfect, but so far we have not experienced this. Jubilee also enjoys sitting outside on the deck if you are with her, but is much less interested in being outside alone and will bark if unaccompanied. Jubilee can live in a semi-urban or suburban neighbourhood with a changing route and occasional trips for hiking to discover new smells if not in a rural or woodsy area. She would not have fun living in a mainly urban area simply for the lack of greenspace and good sniffs.
Although it does not slow her down, at her vet visit it was noted that Jubilee has some stiffness in her left hind limb, which is likely due to a combination of age-related arthritis and her being overweight. Jubilee had not been walked in her previous home which did not help with keeping up her strength and stamina. Jubilee has some weight to lose, and with appropriate nutrition and exercise should have no problem with that due to her thrill at being outdoors. With weight loss and some joint supplements like glucosamine and Omega-3 fatty acids, her joint function can be preserved as best as possible. Jubilee is not currently needing medication for her arthritis but her forever family should be prepared to work with their veterinary team to choose an appropriate diet, supplements and/or medications as needed to keep Jubilee pain-free in the future, should her arthritis worsen over time. She has no other noted health concerns at this time.
As expected from her interest in seeing dogs out and about on walks, Jubilee enjoys the company of other dogs in her home. She is currently fostered with our two resident medium-sized dogs, and made friends with them very quickly. She will both initiate and reciprocate play with our dogs and communicates with them very effectively. She enjoys light wrestling with a bit of chasing. Jubilee would enjoy a canine family member in her new home, but does not need to live with one as she does not rely on the presence of other dogs for confidence. Jubilee would enjoy some known dog friends to play and interact with if she does not live with them. She shares her space very well with our dogs and has not demonstrated any resource guarding around them. She walks excellently with her foster siblings, and we have all travelled in the car together and gone on group hikes together too!
Jubilee is a playful dog. She likes toys, especially large, soft plush toys, and shaking them around. She is most likely to play with them after a meal before resting again. She has not been destructive with toys, except for tennis balls, which Jubilee believes must be deprived of their fuzzies. She has not shown much interest in rubbery or hard toys.
Jubilee is also fostered with cats. She lived with cats in her previous home, and introducing her to our cats she was initially quite excited. You could tell that the cats in her previous home hit her in correction, as she was excited and wanted to greet our cats, but would flinch and cry as if expecting them to strike when she got too close. In the first few days she liked to check on them often and see what they were doing, and she can definitely come on strong to the wrong cat as she tries to sniff them deeply at first and is a bit twitchy and excited. Our cats are very dog-savvy and after a few greetings (more so for Jubilee’s confidence than our cats, who were immediately comfortable with her) Jubilee was not expecting to be hit and our cats are constantly rubbing up on her and showing her affection. Jubilee occasionally likes to run with our cats if they are headed somewhere quickly. If there is a cat in her forever home, the cat should be dog-savvy and not mind an inquisitive hound in their presence, and slow, gradual introductions are recommended to make sure everyone is comfortable.
In terms of car travel, Jubilee is very respectful and calm. She enjoys car rides and as soon as the car door is open she tries to climb into the backseat. She either sits on the seat or lays down for the ride, and is calm, quiet and composed. She does not try to enter the front seat or distract the driver during the ride, and has not demonstrated any car sickness on longer drives. Jubilee has also travelled in a car crate and is equally well-behaved and settled in a car crate.
After an initial alert bark if you are on her turf, Jubilee is friendly and well-mannered with new people. She does alert bark in her yard as well if there is a person she does not recognize in the yard next to hers, and if there is a visitor in the house. She will also alert if someone knocks on the door. After a moment to assess the new guest’s intentions and once her family has accepted the visitor, Jubilee is happy to interact and be petted by new guests. She is calm and does not pester guests with more attention than they ask for. She interacts the same with people of various gender presentations. Once you acknowledge what Jubilee has alerted to, she is very easy to calm and prevent from barking further. On walks, Jubilee tends to ignore strangers she passes as she is on a sniffing mission.
With her family, Jubilee likes to hang around but is also self-sufficient and is comfortable resting in another room. She is happy to sit with you on the couch and enjoys snuggling under a blanket when it isn’t too warm, but is also capable of relaxing on her own on a bed nearby. She is a very well-rounded dog in terms of her interpersonal familial relationships–definitely not too needy but also happy to participate and see what is going on. She likes gentle pats and has soft and velvety ears, but will not pester you for physical affection or proximity although she is happy to be the “little spoon” while you relax on the couch.
Jubilee is good for handling as well. She tolerates bathing and brushing quite well. She does shed small white hairs which like to imbed themselves into the couch. She is comfortable with having her ears, paws, face and mouth touched. For her nails we offered a lick mat with a tasty snack to distract her as she seemed a bit inexperienced with nail trims, and she did quite well. Continuing positive reinforcement for nail trims will help build her confidence and create positive feelings with having her nails trimmed. In general, she is not too bothered by examining touches.
Jubilee will suit many families looking for a jubilant, active, perfectly-sized middle-aged dog. She will likely be fine with children as she is very easy going with her handling and has not demonstrated any fears or reservations with people that may lead her to be uncomfortable with children. She is also suitable for a first-time dog owner. Jubilee is ready for her perfect fit. You can find her foster journey @twiceluckyfosters on Instagram. Thank you for reading her bio and considering a rescue dog!