Adopt

My name is Copeland!

Posted over 7 years ago | Updated over 4 years ago

My basic info

Breed
Beagle
Color
Tricolor (Tan/Brown & Black & White)
Age
10 years 9 months old, Adult
Size
Small 25 lbs (11 kg) or less (when grown)
Weight
25 lbs (current)
Sex
Male
Pet ID

My details

Alert icon Not good with kids
Alert icon Not good with dogs
Checkmark in teal circle Good with cats
Checkmark in teal circle Purebred
Checkmark in teal circle Needs experienced adopter
Checkmark in teal circle Shots current
Checkmark in teal circle Spayed / Neutered
Checkmark in teal circle Housetrained
Checkmark in teal circle Has special needs

My story

Here's what the humans have to say about me:

Copeland is a special case that is going to take a really special someone to be his happily ever after. At present, he is working on some behavioral modification in the hopes of rehabilitating him enough that he can be placed in a home successfully. However, please read his story below and feel free to email us at bark@pawtropolis.com if you’d like more details on his situation and how you can help with his rehabilitation. Copeland will not be adopted into a home with children because he tends to bite when scared. Additionally, he is not a candidate for Apartment or Condominium living as he is quite vocal when left alone and would be very stressed if he had to interact regularly with people and dogs who were not in his immediate family. 

Copeland was originally brought into Helping Paws Rescue in February 2017. He was an owner surrender to Barrow County Animal Control and not much is known about his past life before arriving. At the shelter, he was fearful and they reported that he was distrustful of men, so when we came to evaluate him, we were skeptical if he would be able to be handled. He showed fearful, tense, and what appeared to be submissive body language with us, but allowed us to handle him and pick him up without incident. Like so many dogs at the shelter, he was in fact completely shutdown, so we decided that we would give him a chance to flourish with us.

Since then, he has bounced through several foster homes and has had increasingly aggressive reactions to both other dogs in the home and strangers. He lived full-time at our Westside facility for a few years where the staff worked diligently with him on learning trust and also on how to read his body language when he’s uncomfortable so that he isn’t put in situations that he feels the need to bite. He currently lives full time in a foster home where his foster mom is working with him. He is a current patient of the UGA Veterinary Teaching Hospital Behavior Medicine program where they have diagnosed him with a generalized anxiety disorder that manifests in fear aggression. Like people that suffer from the same disorder, he lacks the coping mechanisms to deal with situations he perceives as stressful and so he has learned that the only way he can control the situation is to bite. His behavioral modification exercises will hopefully build a foundation for him to learn those coping mechanisms. If successful in his rehabilitation, UGA has offered to continue consulting with his new family so that they can continue to receive professional feedback on his transition into a new home.

When you get around Copeland’s troubled emotions, you get to see a very sweet, intelligent, and downright silly personality. He loves to play with toys and will happily toss them to himself. He loves going for car rides and walks. He enjoys being with the people that he trusts, leaning against them and napping nearby. He also loves to learn new things. He has all his basic manners down cold including sit, down, wait, walking nicely on a leash, and potty training. He has been clicker trained as well, and he loves to work for his food and treats with that. We are committed to giving Copeland his best chance at happiness. We are limiting his visitors to only serious applicants who can provide him with safety and stability that he needs and would love to hear from someone that might be willing to work with him and bring them into their home.

Thanks for your interest in this pet. For more information about our adoption procedure please visit www.pawtropolis.com. We rarely do out of state adoptions. You'll find more about long-distance adoptions on our adoption procedure page of the website above. WE DO NOT SHIP.

Adoption fee is $250. This includes spay/neuter, rabies, bordetella, dhpp, micro-chipping, id tag, training materials, toy, a week's worth of food and moderate to advanced training.

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