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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.
This is Maxine, and she will not accept a life she does not deserve! Maxine is a Bluetick Coonhound who is about 7 months old. She has a beautiful bluetick coat, with some larger black spots on her back, and an adorable half bluetick/half black and tan face. She has been spayed and is up-to-date on all her vaccinations and vet care appropriate for her age. She is about 40 lbs but is still a bit on the thin side and is still growing, and may weigh up to 50-60lbs once fully grown.
Maxine was found as a stray running with her brother (also under Pound Dog Rescue’s care) and was housed at a rural pound for about one month with little adoption interest. A pound is a difficult place for a young, high energy dog to stay for a long time, so they contacted Pound Dog Rescue to bring her into foster care where she could start training, playing and experiencing the world as a young dog should.
Maxine does not seem too affected by her past. She absolutely loves people. She likes to meet new people, but in new locations she often greets people meekly, close to the ground, as she sneaks into their lap as close as physically possible. She may try to slip in a few kisses on the mouth or ears. Once she is more comfortable in the new space, she tends to be more exuberant in her greeting. We have worked on her manners in our time with us, and she has learned to sit to ask for affection, but her new home should be prepared that Maxine will likely want to jump up to try to deliver those kisses to mouths and ears and receive the affection she desires so badly. While she was a bit of a jumping bean to start after picking her up from the pound where she had limited stimulation, she will now often automatically offer a sit or lie down for attention. She does not tend to jump up on strangers, but will try to softly sneak her way up their body to kiss their face. She has not been protective of the house with new people entering the home, and treats visitors into her space with a gentle friendliness. Being a puppy, when she is excited or understimulated it is a lot harder for her to remain with all four feet on the ground. Due to her tendency to jump up, we recommend any children in her home be slightly older, about 10 years and up.
Being so motivated to please her people, Maxine is doing very well with her training! She is generally a submissive dog, and needs a calm owner who can direct her fairly with positive guidance and reinforcement. As a hound, she does need clear leadership as they are a determined breed group and if she has an idea of what she wants to do she does not give up easily, despite her overall submissiveness. However, we find that her determination can be channeled into good choices with the right motivation. She absolutely loves training, and is motivated by praise, physical affection and food rewards. She takes treats almost too gently–we often have to place them inside her mouth like a coin in a vending machine. Maxine is trained exclusively with positive
reinforcement and will not respond well to overly harsh corrections. She needs to build her confidence and success with positive reinforcement is a great way to build confidence. Maxine knows her name, sit, lay down, kennel and we have been practicing various life skills like handling for common veterinary and grooming procedures, walking nicely on a leash, not jumping up, and other common puppy skills. Maxine likely did not live in a house before, so things like not jumping up on the counters, bursting through doors, and walking on a leash were new to her in foster care. Maxine will thrive in advanced training classes or classes like scent work where she can build a strong relationship with her owner and build her confidence. As a result, we do not recommend Maxine for a first-time dog owner.
In terms of walking, Maxine is a higher energy dog, who walks on average 5km per day minimum if combined with other forms of stimulation, but can definitely walk longer. She loves her exercise. As a puppy, she benefits from a balance of walking and other forms of play and mental stimulation to tire her out. She is currently walked on a combination of a martingale collar for safety and a gentle leader for control. Maxine has greatly improved in her walking skills in our time with us, as leash walking was a new skill for her. At first, she was either at the end of the martingale with tension or straying to walk directly in front of us. She habituated to her gentle leader very easily and knows that it means she is going for a walk. She doesn’t rub her face or try to remove it at all. Now, we either walk her together with two of our dogs with more structure or solo with more sniff time and training breaks. Maxine appreciates a decent walking pace, and being a hound does enjoy some sniffing time especially on her less-structured walks, but usually doesn’t linger on the same spot for very long. She generally does not pull on the gentle leader, but a good sniff trail may excite her to pick up the pace and pull along the path of the scent, as is typical for her breed. Maxine will likely appreciate long sniff hikes in woodsy areas for stimulation every now and then, but is also very happy on her city walks with varied routes. Initially strangers passing her were always curious new friends, but we have been working on her focus and she passes strangers much better now. She has no fear of busy car or foot traffic, and is not startled by city noises like ambulances, construction, shop doors opening near her, or large vehicles like garbage trucks.
For her other activities, Maxine enjoys playing with toys, people and other dogs. She likes all kinds of toys, especially plush toys. She does a good job entertaining herself with toys on a bed nearby. She usually receives one food puzzle per day to help engage her mentally, as mental stimulation is important to keep her happy. She also enjoys a game of fetch and is working on the retrieve part but definitely has the running perfected! We usually cycle a few types of fetch toys for her and she enjoys running from end to end of the yard after them. She is also learning how to play a game of tug with her handler. Her future home would benefit from access to enclosed green space where she can run safely, whether that is your private yard, or time on a long-line. She will love going to a home where her family enjoys hiking or running, and other outdoor activities she can participate in.
Maxine plays well with other dogs once she is more comfortable with them, as she is very curious and friendly but generally unsure with face-to-face greetings due to her low confidence. She hesitates, but does not refuse to meet new dogs. With proper introductions (like following behind the new dog on a walk) she regains her confidence and plays well with other dogs, reading their signals very well without much human intervention. She is the type of dog who needs a few moments or sometimes a few introductions to figure out another dog before initiating play. Being a puppy, she may need help learning when to calm down and leave other dogs alone when they are done playing, but we have not found this to be the case for her in foster care. She leaves older dogs alone when they are resting, and is not a pest when they do not want to play. She may however accidentally step on or sit on a resting older dog in her clumsy playfulness, so any older dogs in her forever home should be tolerant or provide reasonable corrections to younger dogs. Maxine would do well with an active dog companion to play with, but she will also be fine as a solo dog. We do not find her to take confidence from other dogs being around necessarily, and introductions with new dogs that are forward and exuberant cause her to back up at first. Maxine is not dog reactive, and we reinforce her visual check-ins with a tasty treat on walks, as she may look at other dogs while on walks and briefly becomes distracted by following them with her eyes, but is very easily redirected to focus on her handler. Maxine is fostered with our two medium size dogs who are slightly smaller than her, and another small senior foster dog. She adapts her play style to each dog, enjoying both paw-bopping, sharing toys, and running around, while leaving the small senior who prefers not to play alone to his peaceful napping. Maxine has not demonstrated any resource guarding around other animals in her time in foster care.
For a breed that generally has high prey drive, we have not seen Maxine display strong prey drive tendencies in her time with us. Squirrels have darted up trees and sped past her on walks with very minimal reaction. She has also seen small and large birds and not been overly excited. We also have two dog-savvy cats in our home, who have met many of our foster dogs. She is definitely interested in our cats. If a cat were to run from her we think she would chase them, but our cats are very comfortable with Maxine and generally do not move unpredictably in front of dogs. If they jump past her, she is usually more interested to see where the cat came from, rather than continue to track the cat that is directly beside her. In these moments, it’s almost as if she is more excited for the appearance of a cat and the chance that there are more coming than actually touching said cat. But, she is interested in sniffing the cats and has play-bowed and tried to initiate play with them in the same way as she does for small dogs. A cat who swipes at her would likely be interpreted as play. At the same time, she is able to relax next to our cats on the couch. For these reasons, we believe it is not out of the question for Maxine to live with cats, however she will require further training, time and maturity to be truly successful with them. I would not recommend her forever home start with cats for the time being, as she is still a young puppy. Her behaviour with cats aligns with a young puppy who has not had much exposure or training around cats, and most cats will likely find her inquisitive nose intrusive and annoying.
In the home, Maxine tends to be a bit busy, as is typical for a high energy puppy. We are working on teaching her how to relax in the home, as she is currently very excited by all the things to do and will over-exert herself. Prior to her becoming overtired, we ask her to go into her kennel with a special treat for some quiet time and she falls asleep almost immediately. She has been able to lay on a bed or the couch but is still working on relaxing without being told to do so, which is common for high energy puppies, and she is definitely making progress already. When she goes to her forever home she will need reminders on appropriate objects to pick up and which objects are toys. Entering our home for the first time everything that she could fit her mouth on was a possible toy! She has not been destructive with her toys or bedding, and has not tried to chew on chair legs or anything similar, but management and training will be important to help her learn the expectations in her new home.
Maxine has been doing very well with kennel training. She sleeps in her kennel quietly all night, while we are at work, and spends varied periods of time in her crate throughout the day to practice independence. If she is appropriately physically and mentally exercised, she may bark softly for a few minutes when left completely alone, but falls asleep and is silent until she is visited to get up again. If she is crated in the same room as family members she rarely protests, but may release a small whine if she is bored. She is very good at self-soothing, and we provide toys in her kennel which she will chew on if she is upset, and settles herself again. She is not protective of her kennel space. Although she is generally a quiet hound, she has a big bark if she gets going and a long howl, which may upset apartment/condo neighbours with shared walls. Generally she only barks when she is left alone at first, but is not very vocal otherwise for us.
Housetraining has also been a success for Maxine. While she is not reliable at alerting yet, she also has not had accidents in the home–only once in her kennel when she was left alone for the very first time. She understands to pee and poo outside with the command “duties” and is getting better at relieving herself faster with less dawdling.
Maxine has been very good for any body-handling and grooming. She does shed a bit, but her short, soft haircoat is otherwise fairly low maintenance. She tolerated bathing much better after her first time, and stood still nicely. We have also trimmed her nails and handle her paws without issue. She has not demonstrated any body-handling sensitivities in her time with us, and we always try to make it a positive experience for her with a tasty reward.
Maxine also loves car rides. She is ready to jump in as soon as the door opens for her. We do recommend a car crate for her, as she
usually likes to play a bit before settling down in the back seat. We tried a harness tether at first, which she did tolerate very well, but anything in the back seat was fair game for a nibble, and she would occasionally stretch to give ear kisses to the driver. Just like her home kennel, we have special toys that are only in her car crate. She plays with her toys for a bit and then sleeps for the ride just like before, but there’s less distraction and ear kisses for the driver. Safety first! With maturity and training Maxine will likely not require a crate in the future, but we do strongly recommend one, especially for now. Maxine has not demonstrated any nausea or anxiety about car travel.
Are you ready to give Maxine the life she deserves? Thank you for considering a rescue dog. You can find some of her foster journey @twiceluckyfosters on Instagram.