ADOPTED

Ziggy is a fun young (16 months old) golden boy. He came into foster care from a home where he was kept outside until he kept escaping and bringing back tree trunks and parts of storage sheds. The unfortunate situation has become a lucky break for Ziggy. He has become a great indoor dog, and is adapting better all the time.

He was the 41st foster dog in our house in the last 46 months and he’s in the top ten of our favorite dogs. Ziggy has a great personality and is wonderfully smart. He wasn’t housebroken to start with, and it only took two mistakes for him to learn the “toilet” was outside in the back yard. In two weeks with us, those first two mistakes have been his only housebreaking errors. He’s been perfect since. In fact, he sleeps through the night on the floor in our bedroom without a problem.

Ziggy was a shy, timid boy who barked at everything and every other dog when he came to us. In two weeks he’s shown remarkable progress. He improves his confidence every day, and his tendency to be shy reduces every day too. He’s smart about more things than housebreaking too. He learned very quickly that the best way to get a dog cookie in the morning was to fetch the newspaper. Now he gets the paper from the end of the driveway and brings it to the kitchen pantry where we keep the “goodies!” He’s very smart! Thank goodness we subscribe to the newspaper, or we think he’d bring over the neighbor’s paper just to get the goodies!

He’s a reddish, silky boy who loves to be with you. Not obtrusively, but nicely. He loves to play with his squeaky toy running shoe and likes to fetch tennis balls, floating toys and is at home in the water. We take him to Town Lake and he’s learning to mingle nicely with the other dogs. He’ll try to “borrow” other dogs’ toys, but he gives back too. He likes to initiate play with them and is getting better every day about being around other dogs. He does fine with our three cats too. One of them acts like a dog, and the other two snarl and hiss, but Ziggy just leaves them alone – usually. Sometimes when one of the two “non-dog” cats runs back to their area of the house, Ziggy follows them but not aggressively, just curiously. He leaves when they warn him he’s in “cat territory.”

Ziggy loves everyone, although you wouldn’t know it when he barks at passersby at the front of the house, or at their dogs walking by. We think it goes back to his shyness, because when we introduce him to people or dogs he’s great and gets along very well. He’s making progress every day. We love him for it.

He’s a personality boy. He chases flies around the house, and sometimes watches shadows. He walks nicely on his leash, and has learned to stop at intersections and cross when we tell him it’s okay. He likes children and licks them as his greeting. He’s not too enthusiastic, but might inadvertently bowl over his youngest admirers.

Ziggy’s in great health, and was neutered in early August 2004, so he’s just getting over his surgery. He’s active and needs lots of exercising and play. He will brighten up a family’s home for a long time with his great personality and his ability to make you smile.
 

View Pictures Here