Leroy
collie/catahoula leopard dog Mix | male | 1 year Old | 29 Lbs
QUICK FACTS: ✔️ Deaf dog! ✔️ Good with other dogs and kids! ✔️ Crate trained! ✔️ Housebroken! ✔️ Good in car!
✔️ Good running buddy! ✔️ Walks well on leash! ✔️ Enjoys doggy daycare!
Updates
Leroy found his family on May 11, 2021!
PUPDATE 2
Leroy has been making a lot of progress in his foster home! He’s mastered the hand command for “sit” and is now learning “down”. He’s very food-motivated and eager to please, so he’s pretty easy to train. We’ve managed to eliminate a lot of his mouthiness—he obviously doesn’t understand “no” but he’s very responsive to the spray bottle. He’s also a little better about not jumping on people, but we’re still working on that. He met a few more kids, and he seems to realize that he has to be a little more gentle with the small ones! I actually now think he’d be fine with dog-savvy kids of any age, but he might be overwhelming for kids that aren’t familiar with dogs.
He absolutely LOVES doggy daycare and the daycare staff love him too! Leroy can play with absolutely any dog, and has never met a dog (or human!) he didn’t like. I think he’d make an excellent playmate for another active dog, but he’d also be happy to be the only dog in the house. Leroy has mellowed out slightly after a few weeks in our house. He’s still pretty high-energy, but two walks a day plus some playtime is enough to keep him happy. Once he’s tuckered out, he’s quite the cuddle bug! He’ll happily sit next to you to watch tv or snuggle up to take a nap.
PUDPATE 1
Say hi to Leroy! Or say whatever you want to Leroy, who won't hear you because he's deaf! His deafness is congenital, very likely related to his white coloring (look up "double merle" dogs if you want to learn more!). He has no clue he's different than any other dogs--in fact, he's a very cheerful guy! Leroy is almost never seen without a wagging tail. He absolutely loves to meet new people and new dogs. Playing with dog friends might be his favorite activity ever. Playing fetch would be his second favorite, and chew toys would be third. That's right, Leroy is a natural fetcher! Fetch is a great tool to burn some of his energy, of which he has a lot, Right now, Leroy gets two or three walks a day, plus 30 mins or so of fetch. We've also taken him on a couple runs and he did well. With a little training, he could be a great running buddy!
One day a week, Leroy goes to doggy daycare at the Dog Den and LOVES it. The staff report that he plays well with dogs of all sizes. He's pretty tuckered out when he comes home. He's never met a cat that we know of, but he did meet some chickens and was not super interested in them. He met 2- and 4-year old human kids and was generally pretty good with them, but he did knock over the toddler a few times! Since Leroy can be rather mouthy, we'd recommend no kids under about 10-12 years old. He also has a habit of jumping on people to say hi (we're working on correcting that!).
Mouthiness (nibbling/nipping at dogs or people) is apparently very common in deaf dogs--since they can't hear other dogs' or humans' yelps, they don't really understand that it can hurt! To teach Leroy that it's not ok to nip, jump or bark, we've been using a water spray bottle. He responds really well to the spray bottle, and he's made loads of progress since he's been with us. He'll need an owner that's willing and able to continue working on obedience and manners. Leroy learned the hand signal for "sit" in just a few days, and we're working on "down" and "come".
Leroy is currently about 90% house trained and 90% crate trained. He'll stand by the door to let you know he needs to go out, but he'll still have an occasional accident if you're not paying attention. He's fine in the crate if you're in the room. At night, he sleeps in his crate in our bedroom, and sleeps through the night no problem. If he can't see you, he'll get a little nervous and will whine/bark for 5-10 minutes before he settles down.
Leroy walks well with a prong collar. On a regular flat collar, he pulls quite a bit, but he does very well with a prong collar and his current foster can show you how to use one if you've never used a prong before.
Leroy has an old hip injury on his left rear leg that was fully healed when he came into foster care. He runs, jumps and plays just fine, but occasionally he'll limp/hop a step or two. On exam, he has good flexibility and range of motion in the affected limb so the vet concluded that surgical repair at this time is not needed as he gets around fine and is not in pain. If his mobility declines, he starts to limp more or become painful in that hip or leg, your vet may suggest pursuing a femoral head ostectomy (FHO) surgery to help correct some of those issues.