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Foster Update!

Meet Blue, better known to us as SCOUT.  

My husband and I have had the joy of fostering this beautiful guy for over 2 months now, and cannot wait for him to find his forever home! 

He acquired the name Scout as he is so curious of his surroundings and loves to adventure! It stuck since he immediately responded to the name and he didn’t seem to respond to Blue.

This beautiful boy is a 6-7yo Aussie. He has the sweetest demeanor. He is gentle and kind. He takes treats very gently from your hand and is very patient. He’s not high energy, and is content to lay around observing his people and his surroundings. He will play when you encourage it, but he isn’t rambunctious. We’re still working on bringing toys back when playing. We utilize positive reward based training, to help him build confidence and trust and as a way to bond with him. 

In two months time this boy’s personality has BLOOMED! It’s been such a joy to witness! Like Aussies are known for, he is SUPER smart! He learns very quickly and he understands a lot of conversation/words/body language queues as most bright herding breeds do. 

He knew a few commands when he came to us, but he’s quickly learned new tricks including, lay down, shake, high-five, and place. We do short 5-10 minute training sessions which have had such a positive impact on him. We’ve been working on playing fetch, leave it, and paws up. He is excellent on the leash and rarely pulls. Off leash, at a big park, or at our in-laws 40 acre property, he never goes far from his humans. 

My husband says he’s an excellent “shop” dog, as he likes to hang out close to the garage when he is working on cars. He barks when he gets excited - sees squirrels or cats or the mailman - but he’s not a “yippie” dog that incessantly barks. He has a comfy memory foam bed that he loves to sleep on next to our bed at night. He will come up on the bed, when told it’s ok, for his daily morning snuggles. He LOVES belly and booty scritches! He’s never needed a crate, and has not had any accidents, or chewed anything in our home. My husband and I both work and he is perfectly fine roaming the house while we’re gone. My husband will come home for lunch and let him out, and hang out with him for a bit about mid-day. He loves car ride adventures and does great in the car. We’ve taken him to the pet store, the botanical gardens, daily walks in the neighborhood or to our local park, and on road trips. He does excellent on short and longer car rides. He’s also been to the groomer, and she said he was very sweet and did really well. 

The only challenges we’ve seen with this wonderful guy is he didn’t get along with our relative’s dog that is a boxer breed and is about the same size as him. He did fine with a Yorkie and a small toy poodle at the groomers. So maybe it’s a size or energy thing. We’re not sure - but we know he wasn’t socialized in his prior life. We don’t have children and have only had kids 10 years and older around him. So we’re not sure how he would be with very small/young children. My guess is kids over the age of 10yo would be fine. 

The ideal home my husband and I foresee for this sweet boy is with a couple or a family (with children ages 10 or older) that have a very big yard, or have acreage for him to explore, and most likely don’t have other dogs.  He is content hanging out with his humans. 

We would adopt him, but we’re not ready to commit/adopt. We lost our two dogs about 9 months ago. We had an Aussie and a golden retriever and they were everything to us. Our hearts are not ready and this boy deserves big open hearts! Fostering is the comfort level we’re at right now. We’re very grateful we’ve been given the opportunity to do so.

We really love this guy and want him to find a home/family that will give him an opportunity to be loved and thrive! If you or anyone you know is looking to adopt, please share or reach out to Virginia Beach Animal Care And Adoption Center to schedule a meet and greet with Blue (the Aussie) - as that’s his shelter registered name.

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