MAX – KELPIE/HEELER – MALE – 1.5 YEARS OLD

This handsome fellow is a beautiful example of how resilient and forgiving animals can be. Max was used as a punching bag by his former (now incarcerated) owner and came to us full of anger and anxiety. We didn’t feel we could safely go into his kennel with him for the first few days he was with us. We took things slow and once Max knew he was safe he began to let his silly personality shine. This boy will keep himself entertained for hours tossing a ball around to himself. He was so full of joy; we knew we had to give him a chance to heal and be all he could be. He just had to be “fixable”.

We opted to let Max just decompress for many months in foster care to hopefully replace his bad memories with good ones.

Over the past eight months we let Max buddy up with puppies and friendly young dogs. He took the “Uncle” role seriously and was an absolute gem with the little pups and did great with the other dogs he got to interact with.

We finally felt confident that Max was ready for some schooling to give him some structure and help him work through his remaining anxiety.

This is the report we received from the amazing folks at Kindred Spirits Pet Care after his two-week board and train.

“Max is a very typical herding dog. He is insanely smart, energetic, and wants to be a part of whatever you’re doing.

The good: He is quick to learn and very eager to please. He knows sit, down, come, leave it, and focus (look at me), and we’re working on stay and leash walking but he definitely prefers being off leash. He is super playful and will play fetch until your arm falls off, but he also loves to snuggle. He is pretty sure he’s supposed to be a lap dog. He gets along great with dogs, and good with kids and he is very good in the kennel. Max knows to temper his energy and is gentle with puppies and elderly dogs.

His Struggles: While he does good in the kennel, he sometimes gets nervous when approached in the kennel and will bark and sound aggressive. Once he is out he’s fine. We have been working on that a lot and he’s definitely improving. It is essentially a non-issue now and he shows no aggression when approached while kenneled.

He is not aggressive towards cats but he will chase them, trying to play. He stops when told to leave it and doesn’t retaliate if they give him a swat.

And while he does good with kids, he is young and rambunctious and could easily knock a little one over.

He still struggles with jumping up on people, we are working on that and he is improving- he just gets very excited.

Max does best with a calm, gentle approach and needs very little scolding if he does something wrong.

Overall, he’s a super lovey dog- ready for any adventure and will make someone a fantastic buddy or family pet.”

Max is potty-trained, up to date on vaccinations, neutered, and microchipped.

This wonderful dog deserves a life filled with love and fun play. He will be your best friend for life. ❤

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