| About Derek: Derek is an interesting 3 year old, all white boy who can hear. We say interesting because he has a list of behavior issues that are controllable but he is work! He was picked up as a stray and pulled from a local shelter by LBR back in December of 2006. His foster home has 2 resident boxers; a male and female. He got along with both of them for the first 3 weeks but after that period, Derek starting having "arguments" with his foster boxer sister. His foster home quickly realized that it was a battle for pack position. He has never hurt his boxer sister but the battles are very physical and sound ferocious. To this day, he has never had any problems with his foster boxer brother.
Derek is a resource guarder; food, toys, even water. He will allow a human to take away his toys, put their hands in his food bowl, etc. but another dog can not!
Derek has a very low excitement threshold; he tends to get overly excited during normal boxer play and this can turn into a battle. His play time with any dog is monitored by his foster parents and he will occasionally be put into a time-out. This gives him time to get his wits about him.
Derek also has a high prey drive, meaning that he likes to chase any animal that moves! Squirrels, rabbits, cats - they are fair game!
Derek was obviously under socialized in his previous life. He lacks in appropriate canine communication skills does not know how to meet other dogs on lead. His reaction when he sees another dog is as ferocious sounding as the arguments he has with his boxer sister! He will lunge and bark excessively. Being that he weighs in at 70lbs, he is very hard to hang onto!
His foster home has taken him thru 2 different obedience classes. The first one was a Relax Class. This class is designed for dogs that are overly reactive to other animals. Derek made great progress in this class. Does he still react when he sees other animals? Of course he does. But now he knows commands that get him to focus back on his handler. The second class was called "Attention at Heel". This class is designed to teach your dog heel position (at your side) and to keep attention on the handler at all times. This class had exercises that brought Derek and his foster Mom (the handler) very close to the other dogs in the class. Derek handled himself well being only a few feet from another dog. When he did react, it was more playful then ferocious. He was not allowed to actually meet another dog however. His next class will be the Pre-Sports class. This is a class that prepares the dog for Agility; it introduces them to the equipment, teaches them to focus on the handler and desensitizes them to being around other dogs.
Of note, he has not had any battles with his foster boxer sister in quite a few months. His foster home has had other fosters thru their house in addition to Derek and their own 2 resident dogs and Derek has done very well with them. His introduction to a new dog into the home is slow and closely monitored by his foster parents. Derek is not maliciously aggressive and he has never bitten or injured anyone; human or animal. Although Derek has shown great improvement in the obedience classes and in general, he is still considered to be a project dog and he will require ongoing obedience classes, which will be part of his adoption contract. So these are his behavior issues! The other side of Derek is very sweet and loving! He loves to cuddle on the couch during a good movie, he loves to go for walks (which can be difficult if he sees any other dogs being walked!), he loves car rides and going to the park. Our intent of his description is not to scare anyone but we do need anyone interested in him to understand what they would be up against. Derek is really a great dog at heart. He just needs support and direction that is administered in a positive way. Derek will need a home that is sympathetic to his issues and is willing to continue to work with him. He would do best in an only animal home with no children. If you are still interested in Derek, please fill out an adoption application.
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