Adopt Cooper!

Review bio in full. Apply below.

Cooper is a one and a half year old hound mix seeking a new home. Cooper would make a great companion for an active adopter that will meet his physical and mental stimulation needs. He is very smart and food driven and learns new things quickly.

He can be reserved in new environments and take his take getting to know new surroundings, but he is friendly with people and does not display fear or aggression to new people. He does not mind intrusive handling. He has lived with older children his whole life and hasn't had any issues with them i.e. relating to their appearance as children. We do want to highlight that he does not display aggression, but that he can be very mouthy. During Cooper's meet and greet sleepover he did with us, we did not see this behavior because he was in an unfamiliar place, and Cooper does not display this behavior to all people. However, it seems Cooper can display overstimulation mouthing and barking behaviors towards people possibly due to feeling amped up during these times and/or being under stimulated in ways that is true to his breed mix (running, barking, tugging, sniffing out critters, hard mouth activities such as frozen kongs or nylabones). This is important to note in relation to living with children because, although he does not have issues with children, children (nor adults) should not interact with Cooper in a way that will bring out or exacerbate this behavior. In my professional opinion as a dog trainer, I feel a huge dent could be made in these behaviors through increasing his stimulation in ways that are true to his breed and constructive as well as ensuring he is placed in his crate for required deep nap times during the daytime as any adult dog needs. We may have the chance to bring Cooper to barn hunt to see if this activity will help scratch that genetic itch and will update if so. (Cooper is not a candidate for gun hunting as the sound of a gun would likely scare him nor have his instincts been tested for any kind of hunting though he sure does like to bay.) Cooper will take naps on his own in the day, but these are typically when he's exhausted his tank of energy and it's not always most healthy for a dog to nap only after they've become completely exhausted. 

Cooper will need help to learn how to settle in his crate if he is placed in his crate when he is not completely tired. It seems this is not relating to isolation distress, but frustration and never having to learn to be ok with crate time unless it is his choice. He may display destroying crate pans or beds in the crate during these times and mild to moderate low to medium volume barking. We started some work on this when he came from his sleepover and will continue to work on this with his owner to see if he can improve with this behavior more to prepare for his next home. Cooper has no issue with sleeping in his crate overnight likely partly due to a human being present, but mostly due to him not being frustrated with being in the crate because he is tired. Cooper must be crated when not supervised because he will get into things and can consume small inedible items, though this is not a compulsive behavior. The current owner has crated Cooper when they need to leave the house, but always tired him out before doing so so they aren't sure how quickly his behavior can be changed to accept the crate completely.

He doesn't seem to mind people around his food or toys, but an adopter should understand that it is best practice to leave dogs alone when they have something. Cooper, due to his high stimulation needs, may steal food or things off tables or counters when he has extra energy to burn so keeping things out of his reach will likely lead to the most harmonious solution for this behavior Cooper displays. Teaching him to leave items alone or bring stolen items to you are great training items to work on with him. His owner states he shows dislike for being removed from furniture, but it does not seem like a big concern, simply another skill that can be taught with training. For the aforementioned reasons, having Cooper drag a leash on a martingale collar during his first few weeks in his new home would likely be helpful to remain consistent with him and to prevent any unnecessary conflict. Cooper has also shown reactive behavior towards a tree in his yard that once had a beehive - the code word is beehive; see app below for context. Though the hive was removed, he continues to bay at the tree and can be hard to remove from baying at the tree. A previous trainer gave some bad training advice relating to this behavior and created controversy in being removed from the tree. His owner is working on undoing that and reducing his feelings about the tree and moving away from the tree. In my professional opinion, I don't think Cooper means to do any harm to anyone in any of the behaviors discussed here. We are happy to discuss this and all of Cooper's behaviors at length with any seriously interested person.

Cooper has been around other dogs in his life, but has not been tested by us. It is reported that he did fine with dogs at boarding, but can be reactive on leash, possibly from a root of frustration. He can also be reactive to other animals on leash. He doesn't react to all sounds of all dogs and even heard dogs during his sleepover and didn't react. We hope that meeting his specific stimulation needs could help reduce his reactivity and allow for a new window of training opportunities. Given the above information, we would want to know more about how he might feel sharing his toys and resting spaces with another dog as well as how he could behave towards a nearby dog when reacting to an animal he sees, but living with another socially appropriate dog is a possibility. 

Cooper's owner has been working with vets to determine if he could have some GI related issues as he can display an upset stomach at times and his #2's aren't always firm. This may not mean there's anything wrong with Cooper, just that there are some foods that agree with him more than others. All medical information will be shared with applicants for full understanding. Cooper is housebroken, UTD on vaccinations, and neutered.

Seriously interested persons can apply below.

Questions? Email beyondthewalkdogs@gmail.com