Chaco

About Chaco:

Chaco is believed to be a Border Collie/Australian Shepard mix. He is two years old neutered and up to date with current shots. He is a higher energy dog who is good with people, older children due to nipping tendencies and most other dogs. He struggles with small puppies and small dogs due to his energy level and he has never learned to be gentle. Chaco is also starting to enjoy playing fetch. Being a Border Collie, he also shows the herding/nipping at heels tendencies and occasionally will find it more fun to herd other dogs while they play fetch. Recently he is herding other dogs less and playing fetch more as he becomes more comfortable. He loves to be outside during the day but prefers to be wherever his people are. He also is very friendly with people and runs up to everyone. He also will jump if you let him but he has made fantastic progress with that since being fostered. He has met a few children during our trips to Lowes, Home Depot or PetCo and been just as friendly with children as well. Chaco likes to swim and has been kayaking with us and did really well. He fell off the kayak a few times but he was able to climb right back in and is working on his balancing skills. He is slightly more leery of fetching in the water but is building confidence the more he is exposed to new situations.

Chaco basically is learning to become a house dog. His back story is that his previous owner found him as a stray at one year old. They decided to keep him but he was only an outside dog that was kenneled or ran the neighborhood freely. He was turned into the shelter due to the neighbors having issues with Chaco running freely. With that being said Chaco has done exceptionally well with house training. Since being in his foster home he has only has three accidents total. He is free to roam the house during the day and is not destructive at all. He actually has not torn anything up but occasionally he will pull a can out of the recycling bin to lick it. He is working on ringing the bells to tell us when he needs to potty but he just chooses to hold it. Chaco is kenneled at night due to the fact he can’t be around cats. He has higher prey drive and he is ok if they are not moving but once they run he chases. Occasionally he will ignore them but he shows far too much interest to be trusted with them yet. Chaco’s typical day mainly involves following me around where ever I go and chewing on nylon bones. He plays great with my Border collie and Aussie and is very submissive. He often rolls on his back while my dog jumps all over him. He plays very well with all dogs he has met and been allowed to play with. With the exception of small dogs and puppies. Since he is rougher when they are so small he has not been allowed to play yet.

Chaco also uses a gentle leader to help with pulling. This has also helped tremendously. When I don’t use the gentle leader I can still tell an improvement in his pulling. He also enjoys hiking and has done very well on hikes. He also trail runs with me or we run 3 to 4 miles on a Greenway several times a week. He has no issues keep up when we run four miles. Overall he is an incredible dog. Very cuddly and a huge lover. His favorite thing to do is hug you. Yes, its bad behavior but quite possible the most adorable thing you have ever seen. When I come home from work he loves jumps up and wraps his paws around you and squeezes. He will even let out an little moan/ whine. It has never been a dominant/humping behavior. When people meet him this is their favorite thing but we are working on only hugging when asked for a hug since this is bad manners.

Really the only issue Chaco is working to overcome is his fear of a kennel. Chaco has nipped hard twice when being forced into the kennel. He walked in but tried to escape and was blocked with hands and nipped twice. This was in the beginning of his fostering. Since then Chaco has also showed incredible improvement. I do kennel training with him multiple times a day and now he will walk right in his kennel if you have treats or his food bowl since he is always fed in his kennel. Chaco still doesn’t like to stay in his kennel and will bark. In the beginning, he would bark for close to an hour straight after we would put him in it but now he barks for maybe 10 minutes then goes to sleep in it overnight. He really has come a long way in a short time frame of a couple weeks. With more training and not a lot of kennel time he will overcome his fear of being locked in kennels. He is currently enrolled in an adult level dog training class to help with basic manners as well as kenneling issues. He is very smart and learns quickly. So far he knows sit, shake, down, come and we are working on stay. With a patience and continued training he will be an amazing addition to your family.