ADOPTED
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.
Let me introduce you to my sweet little Velcro dog – Queso! Queso is approximately a year old, he weighs a whopping 12lbs and he is a Chihuahua mix. Queso has a sleek short coat, and he has beautiful brown and black colourings. He has the telltale chihuahua face, with a long and slender body and long legs. His body is bigger than your typical chihuahua which is where his mix comes in. His sweet little eyes will watch your every move, because you can be sure that if you’re going to leave the room or try to do anything, he will be ready to go right behind you, even if he was sleeping just a moment ago!
Queso came into Pound Dog Rescues care all the way from Quebec where he had been surrendered along with quite a few other Chihuahua mixes to a local pound. The pound was quite overwhelmed with the number of dogs they had and therefore reached out for help! Queso was initially a little nervous when we brought him into our home, some sounds and movements would spook him and he tolerated the other dogs but did not necessarily enjoy them. What really set him apart when we first brought him in though, was how much he LOVED people. He immediately became fast friends with all humans of the household, it is very clear Queso loves his human companionship.
Queso really took well to living life in our home, he loves having a backyard to explore in however he’s not the kind of dog that wants to be let outside while you carry on doing something else inside. He wants his people to come outside and enjoy the sunshine with him! Queso would not require any kind of fenced in backyard, as he would happily walk around outside on a leash with you and do his business that way. Queso doesn’t generally stray too far from us outside, he really just wants to be in our company all the time.
As mentioned, Queso does live in a home with other dogs, and while he will occasionally play with them and snuggle with them, we don’t feel that Queso requires having another dog in his forever home. If there is another dog, he would be best paired with a lower energy dog that does want to constantly bug him to play, but would rather a snuggle buddy! Queso lives in a home with a cat, and he and the cat get along very well, he isn’t very big, plus he doesn’t give chase so the cat actually enjoys his company and doesn’t feel threatened by him. Queso loves all of the humans in his home, he doesn’t discriminate, if you have a lap for him to sit in then he will be your best friend. Queso loves to sit on his foster moms lap while she works from home. When the family is snuggled in for a good TV show or movie at night, you can bet that you will find Queso in the smallest little part curled up with everyone. He truly is a little lap dog. He would do well in a home with respectful children over 8yrs who are kind and not rowdy with him. A quieter natured child who will do well with a dog that likes to snuggle rather than wrestle would be well suited for him.
Queso is still working on his housetraining, we are unsure the conditions that he was living in previously, but we do know that living a home life is still new to him. If you go with him outside, you can be sure that he will do his business outside. However, if you just let him outside and expect him to do his business, he will not. He will generally just wait at the back door until someone lets him in again. So in continuing his housetraining, it’s extremely important that you accompany him outside to make sure he does his business out there and then praise him when he does. We find that giving him lots of pets and affection is the best way to praise him, since he loves his humans so much!
We have been working on basic house manners with Queso and he has been coming a long way. We have also been starting to work on some basic commands
with him as well such as “sit”, “down”, and “wait”. These are all a work in progress. Queso isn’t very food motivated at this point, but I’m sure that once we find the right high value treat that it will change! He is very much a people pleaser so giving him praise and affection does work to reward him too, but he does still have some work to do. Queso has been doing really well on his walks! We have been very impressed with how much confidence that Queso has and he really enjoys taking a stroll through town. Queso doesn’t necessarily require a 30 minute walk in the neighbourhood, but it is important to still get him out for some short jaunts throughout the day to continue his socialization so that he knows more than just being inside the home. He walks really well currently on his martingale collar and so far he has done well when seeing wildlife, people and other dogs. Queso is not a very vocal dog when it comes to seeing other dogs or people, or when he is playing. As part of our adoption agreement we expect you to complete a basic obedience class with Queso, that being said I can’t say enough how beneficial advance levels of obedience can be to both you and your dog in setting them up for success.
Queso is currently crate trained. Now in saying that, he does not like actually going into his crate and we do have to place him in his crate. If we put his food bowl in, most times he will happily follow it in, however we do more often than not need to physically place him in the crate. He will initially be very vocal when you place him in the crate, he is very much a dog who wants to be glued to your side, he has a big Fear Of Missing Out. If he can still see or hear you once he is in his crate he will continue to be vocal for a while. However, once we have left the house, or have gone to bed, he settles quite quickly and will sleep contentedly in his crate. We have cameras in our house where we monitor and he never barks for more than 5-15 minutes, and at night when we sleep again it is only about 5 or so minutes then he settles in for the night and will sleep the whole night through. Once you get home/wake up, he does get really excited and wants desperately to get out of his crate, but we make sure that he has calmed significantly before letting him out. Because he can be very vocal at times in his crate, I do not recommend him going to a home where the home shares a wall with other residences, as we would want to avoid any issues. Queso is currently crated for his meals, at night as well as during the day if no one is home.
Queso has been able to take many car rides, short and long (3.5 hours) and he has done exceptionally well for all of them. He will happily curl up in the lap of whoever is a passenger. Car rides really just mean dedicated one on one snuggling time so for him it is 100% a win win situation! Queso has also had the opportunity to take a ride in a golf cart at our summer vacation place, and he was more than happy again to just sit in our lap and enjoy watching the scenery. Queso has visited our vet and he has received a clean bill of health. Queso has been neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, heartworm tested as well as received his heartworm/flea/tick prevention. Queso also had a surgery to repair an umbilical hernia. It is important that his forever family understand the importance of continuing his heartworm/flea/tick prevention and understand all the yearly costs associated with owning a dog.
Queso is looking for a quieter household with a family who likes to take short walks and wants to take their dog with them when they go on adventures, he doesn’t want to be left behind! He is looking for a home where someone will not be gone most of the day all week, and someone who is looking for a dog that will be a little shadow for them everywhere they go. If you feel that you can provide this kind of home for Queso then I urge you to apply to adopt him!