Special Needs Dog Needs Foster home or New Home Quickly

In order to be considered "gimpy" a dog doesn't have to have a physical issue.  There are dogs out there that have mental issues and only need time, patience, and love to heal.  There can't be stronger proof that sometimes environment causes issues that can be solved through caring than the Michael Vick Pit Bulls.

Such is the case of Schatzi and Ari.  Two husky/jindo mix puppies from the same litter who ended up at a shelter.

Ari was adopted by Kate's family, who provided her with training and a loving home.  She grew into a wonderful, confident dog whose adventures are chronicled in a book.

Schatzi was not so lucky, his life has been filled with uncertainty and abuse, and is now fearful of other dogs.  His anxieties and fear of other dogs landed him back at the shelter, this time not as an adorable ball of fluff, but an adult full of complexity and uncertainty.  He was on the short list to be killed.

When Kate found out, she reached out to friends and everyone she knew for help.  When it came time for a decision and nobody could take Schatzi in, she made accommodations at her home temporarily to save his life.

Read Kate's letter below.  If you can help in ANY way, or if you want to take the chance that Schatzi can become the dog he's suppose to be, the one he should have been all along, and give him the benefit of the doubt, please contact Kate as soon as possible.

We'd like to give Schatzi a chance to see life through the eyes of love.  Will you give him that chance?

Contact Kate at: kate.miles.1@gmail.com

Dear Friends,

Meet Schatzi.

He is a littermate of Ari’s and a real sweetheart. I rescued him yesterday from euthanasia and am now working hard to find him a home.

 Schatzi is almost six and a husky-jindo mix. He’s a real doggy-dog: he loves to play with toys and interact with people, he likes affection, and is incredibly content hanging out with a paw on your foot, curled up in bed with you, or just lying nearby.  He seems well trained and has both visual and voice commands.  He’s great on a leash and very voice driven in terms of direction when out in the world (a great husky attribute, which also would probably make him a good skijorer as well).

 Schatzi’s life prior to coming here has been an unstable one and has included abuse. As a result, he does have special needs and will require a home that is accommodating of those needs. His life has included some pretty bad pummelings in a pack of dogs known locally for their aggression. As a result, he is fearful of other dogs, and I’m told he may act aggressively towards them.  In the time that we have been together, we have encountered other dogs on walks around town, and he has behaved politely. Even still, he needs to be the only pet in a house – at least for now (this also makes him not a good candidate for a traditional shelter).

Earlier in the year, he was left chained to a tree for several weeks, which resulted in some separation anxiety as well.  I’m working right now on crate training him.  He’s fine by himself in a car, so I’m optimistic that this too can be dealt with, provided someone is willing to put in some patient time teaching him it’s okay to be in the world – and to be alone at home.

 In just 24 hours, I’ve already fallen in love with this dog. I’d keep him in a heartbeat if I thought that he and Ari could live together.  But because he really needs to be the only dog for a while, that’s not possible.

I’ve boarded Ari for a few days in order to buy Schatzi some time, but we don’t have much of that.

Please let me know if there is any way at all that you can help, or if you know anyone who could provide a home for this really wonderful guy.  Thanks to the very caring work of rescue transport teams, geography need not be a major hurdle: so long as we’re sure we’ve found a good match for Schatzi and his new humans, we can get him most anywhere.

Kate