Parsley

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.                                            

Ready to add a little garnish to complete your family? Here’s Parsley! He is a 7 year old, male neutered Shih Tzu who weighs about 15lbs. He is light brown and white with the sweetest expressive little face. Parsley is up-to-date on all his vet care and is ready for adoption.

Parsley was plucked from a puppy mill after he was no longer wanted for breeding. Dogs in puppy mills often remain in one enclosed location like a barn and typically don’t experience the wider world. We suspect Parsley was occasionally kept in the home to show to potential puppy buyers as the father of the puppies as he does not display all of the expected ex-puppy mill dog traits. He was already accustomed to being indoors for the most part, although he needed to learn how to use the stairs. He has no issues with doorways, common household noises like the vacuum or washing machine, and does not display fear of large outdoor spaces like many puppy mill dogs do. He is generally not fearful, and is happy and confident with people.

In the home, Parsley is calm and relaxed. He appreciates having a crate nearby for independent relaxation, but will also sit with you on the couch or a nearby dog bed. If you are standing in the kitchen or sitting down at the table, he likes to sit and lean against your leg or foot. He does tend towards the side of independence at times when he is at rest in the home, but he displays a good balance of being nearby but not necessarily always on top of you. He is not destructive in the home and does not pick up or chew on things that he shouldn’t. 

Parsley’s housetraining has progressed very well. Being an adult intact male when he arrived, Parsley was a bit of a sprinkler at first, attempting to season each bit of furniture with a drop of urine. Now that he is more settled in our home and healed from his neuter, he has not had any accidents, and alerts to go out by either whining at the door or pawing at the outside door when you are nearby. He is very good at being sent out to complete his washroom duties on his own, and likes to use a few spots before indicating he is finished and ready to come back inside. He also eliminates equally well on leash. He has never soiled his crate or his bedding.

Parsley in fact loves his crate, and it is a place of comfort for him. He rotates between relaxing in his crate, next to your feet, on the couch or on a dog bed, and it will be important to keep a crate with an open door on hand for him. He is very well-behaved in his crate and only barks occasionally if he knows you have left the home for about 1 minute, or directly after you get home for a very short amount of time. He responds well to verbal correction if he takes longer to settle than usual. He is very quiet in his crate otherwise and rests without issue. He will tolerate a normal 8 hr workday perfectly fine. He does enjoy some kinds of dental chew treats and will work on them in his crate. Even though he may bark in other circumstances as outlined in this bio, he is generally a quiet dog, and should be fine in an apartment or shared-wall dwelling in the city or a larger home in a rural setting. He has not displayed signs of separation anxiety in his time with us.

In the car, Parsley travels very well. He tends to make some fussy grumbly noises as you depart and as you park, but once the vehicle is in motion he is quiet and calm. He travels in a crate in the car for safety. Parsley has not demonstrated signs of car sickness or travel anxiety otherwise, and handles both short city drives and longer highway commutes quite well.

On walks, Parsley generally tries to walk out in front and only puts some tension on the leash when he really wants to smell a specific spot. He really enjoys walking and handles longer walks with ease, but is not upset if his walk is missed that day. His energy level is low to moderate. He will enjoy a home where someone enjoys going on strolls around the city and a trail or two, as he loves sniffing new spots. He walks at a moderate pace on a martingale collar to prevent him from slipping his collar. He has never spooked on a walk and is very comfortable with the hustle and bustle of busy city traffic and passes strangers without issue (although he is happy to say hello should they talk to him!) He generally walks about 30 mins daily. He requires a jacket in the colder weather as he does shiver and get cold, but he is not cold averse–he is always ready to go outside and enjoy sniffs. Parsley will need continued training to learn how to walk by your side, but he does generally walk quite well once you are partially into the walk. Parsley has not been reactive to wildlife on walks.

Parsley is generally good with other dogs and coexists quite well. He is fostered with two female medium sized dogs who are used to fosters in our home, and they respect the space of other dogs. Parsley would likely do well with another mature dog of small to medium size after proper introductions, but he can feel intimidated by larger or more energetic dogs. He would do well as a solo dog as well, as he does not need other dogs for confidence. When Parsley first met our dogs, he was a bit upfront and inappropriately standing on them and in their space and trying to mount them, and did not seem to know how to say hello in any other way. Being a male dog from a puppy mill, it is entirely possible the majority of his time spent around other dogs was only interactions to make more little Parsleys. He may need continued help with his greetings, but his neuter did help and any mounting behaviour has faded. He has tried to play with our dogs when they are playing, but he is not entirely sure what to do, and kind of just runs about and stands in the mix of things but does not know how to actually engage in play. Sometimes he tries to control or stop our dogs from playing by standing in the way and grumbling about such fun. He does not initiate play on his own right now, but he has started to reciprocate run and chase type games and seems to enjoy running with our dogs. Parsley will occasionally run after a tossed toy but does not try to play with them on his own yet. He is occasionally defensive of his beds and crate space (when he is inside) from other animals, and will ask for space with a growl, but other times will snuggle up happily to the resident dogs as long as it is his idea first. We use a small pillowcase as a visual barrier when his crate door is closed to help keep him comfortable and he appreciates this added privacy, finding the pillowcase sufficient defense that he no longer feels insecure. On walks, he does notice dogs and while he has not been reactive in his time with us we do feel continued training will be necessary to break his focus from other dogs, as barking dogs in the neighbourhood cause him to join in vocally, and he may resort to barking at other dogs on walks without a proactive approach and teaching him to check in with his handler. In the backyard, he does bark back at the noises of other dogs as well. When out by himself, Parsley does like to patrol the backyard a bit, and will bark in the air to proclaim his domain. He is not the type of dog to sit quietly outdoors and observe things passing or around his home without comment, even though he is relatively quiet indoors.

Parsley is also fostered with cats. He is respectful of cats and gently sniffed them before co-existing with them very well. He is not excited by their feline antics, however he will bark or growl at them to go away if he does not feel like being loved on by them directly, in a similar way that he will to large dogs. A cat that is actively interested in befriending dogs may not be the best match for him, but a peaceful co-existence is likely with a more independent cat, as our cats are quite dog friendly and like to snuggle with dogs and this is a bit much for Parlsey’s tastes at this time.

His favourite interactions are with people. Parsley loves to be fussed over, and this is when you see his happiest self. He wriggles and dances when people give him attention and tell him what a good boy he is, whether they are admirers new or old. You can really see the spark in his eyes when you praise and talk to him. He is very praise motivated! He enjoys visitors in our home and is immediately friendly with them. He absolutely loves to greet you when you come home from any time away. He is very communicative with people and makes an assortment of snorts, grumbles and fussy noises to make himself understood.

In terms of handling, Parsley is generally very tolerant with a few considerations. He did arrive already shaved down close to the skin and seems to have been bathed at some point. He does not mind his feet and body being touched, unless he detects you need to complete some kind of grooming procedure with him. He is comfortable with being picked up, and will jump up when a hand is placed under his chest. He is very easy to dress in an assortment of cute winter coats and jackets and tolerates little hats for silly photos. What we did notice right away were large hardened eye crusts, which happen frequently in short-faced breeds with adorable facial furnishings, when their normal ocular discharges are not monitored or cleaned regularly. Parsley was uncomfortable with having his face touched at first, and is generally very clear in his communication (growl, will escalate to bare teeth) that he is uncomfortable. He has never tried to bite, but his foster family is accustomed to working through discomfort in a positive manner with dogs. His discomfort should be acknowledged, and worked through in small steps, rather than forcing him to complete things. Through positive reinforcement and gentle handling, Parsley has no issues with us handling his face now. He should have the fur on his muzzle under his eyes wiped daily to prevent build-up of discharge, and Parsley tolerates this very well for us now. Parsley demonstrates similar behaviour for his nail trims, and it is recommended to continue working through his discomfort positively with a groomer or veterinary technician to build his comfort and acceptance of nail trims, and following up on this conditioning at home. We usually only trim one nail at a time and he is becoming less leery of nail trims, but it is something he will grumble about at this time. We do suspect most grooming tasks were completed with force or were unpleasant enough that he has formed negative associations with such handling, and it will require counter-conditioning to help him form new, positive connections with some handling. As a shih tzu, he will require professional grooming to maintain his coat length, and he does tolerate brushing and combing for daily maintenance very well. He is considered a low shedding breed. While we expect Parsley would be fine with many types of people, we do not recommend a home with children younger than 12 years due to the discomfort with some handling that we have witnessed in his time with us, likely from his lack of gentle handling and proper acclimation to handling in the puppy mill.

Parsley has started some basic training and our focus has centred around gentle handling and confidence with grooming. He can sit, and is learning to follow food lures, but continued training will be needed to help him learn more formal cues. He is highly verbal praise and moderately food motivated (being very particular with the treats he likes, but once you find one he likes he works very well for it) and will thrive with positive reinforcement training. He takes treats very gently and carefully.

Being selectively food motivated, Chef Parsley is not always the best eater of his regular meals. He had to learn that kibble was indeed nutritional sustenance and not dry brown rocks, and will often finish his meals with a bit of wet food mixed in like the finest demi-glace and a topping of beef liver dust. He may have had his food down at all times in the past, as he was very distracted at meal times at first, and we have shifted him to meal-feedings over time which he is accepting better now. We have tried feeding him in his crate but he tosses the plate like Gordon Ramsay, and prefers to eat in the kitchen with an audience. Parsley has not demonstrated food guarding from people or animals in his time with us.

Parsley is a well-balanced, easy to live with, and happy little dog. He will be appropriate for a first time dog owner looking for a calm companion. You can find some of his foster journey @twiceluckyfosters on Instagram. Thank you for reading his bio and considering a rescue dog!