My name is Farley!

Farley is a fluffy giant goof looking for his forever home! He’s everything you’d expect him to be: freaking huge, super slobbery, floofs for days, sheds worse than any foster I’ve ever had, and gives 12/10 cuddles. Farley is a purebred (also a little inbred-we have his papers 😂), neutered, 2-year-old Saint Bernard, that weighs around 130 pounds. He is UTD on all medical needs.

PLEASE READ HIS ENTIRE DESCRIPTION BELOW PRIOR TO REACHING OUT TO US ABOUT HIM! Thank you for your interest in our handsome boy!

Farley’s not only quite the comedian, he’s also ½ bronco, ½ sloth! He’s a huge fan of couch and bed sprawling, afternoon naps, and sleeping in - belly rubs, chest floofing, jowl squishing, and head scratching. He is also a huge fan of zoomies in the living room, sneaking cat food off the counter, pulling super hard towards anything he wants, and knocking over anything in his path of fluffy destruction.

He is extremely friendly and super outgoing. He likes to wrestle, rough house, and play tug. He sits nicely next to the other dogs to do tricks and take treats. Farley knows sit, down, wait, wait before eating, go to crate, and will shake as a trick. He’s working on walking nicely on leash, over excitement in public, and a reliable come command. He definitely lacks a lot of control in public, as our outings are infrequent, but we’re working on it! Farley is crate trained and is crated in a huge cage when we leave; he does pretty well with this, but does complain at times. He also sometimes gets to stay out in the house alone when we leave, and sometimes sleeps with us at night; he's done well with this as well.

Farley LOVES other dogs-playing tag, tug-o-war, keep away, wrestling, snuggling with them, meeting new friends in public, etc. We have no issues with him and our dogs 90% of the time and he’s loved every dog he’s met in public. He plays very well with my chihuahua mix and anyone else willing to play with him. He can definitely be too much for some dogs, but does tend to back off relatively easily when the other dog tells him off, or we tell him to knock it off.

Farley does get possessive over his food, toys, edible bones, and sometimes areas around the house where there’s food involved. He was even possessive over his bones (even Nylabones, but especially rawhides) even with me when I first got him. He no longer shows any aggressions towards me over any of this, but due to this potentially relapsing, he cannot go to a home with small kids that would unavoidably want to pull things out of his mouth.

Farley will “randomly” initiate fights with my male Chihuahua (and once with my female Pittie), typically over food or around a place where there’s food, but previously it would be over toys as well. It’s obvious that he’s been punished for lower levels of communications (growling), so he goes right to “attacking”. This “attack” has always been very very inhibited; he’s never broken skin/etc on my dogs, just put slobber on my tiny Chihuahua several times (and scared the hell of of me), and always stops when I yell NO!! It has improved drastically and he’s more and more predictable now as he has learned how to communicate. However, we’re highly considering requiring him to go to a one-dog-home due to this (even though he loves loves other dogs and would love a lifelong playmate!), as these events could easily progress in certain situations and could become dangerous.

We enjoy Farley and have fallen in love with him over the last several months (almost a year) since we got him. He’s a wonderful dog, easy to love, so very affectionate; he just loves people. He’s still such a puppy; he has us laughing and “awwing” daily over his doofy antics and cuuuute face. We would 100% keep this dog if it weren’t for his “random” issues with our dogs (it’s just not fair to our guys, and frankly not safe). Given this, we’ve been happily keeping him happy, loved, and floofed, in the meantime, and will keep enjoying him until his perfect home comes along!

DOGS: OK/SPECIAL RECs - He loves to play with other dogs! He can definitely meet other dogs for playdates/hikes/etc.; he does great with this and enjoys doing so. He also loves having a playmate in the home to play with non-stop. However, we’re considering requiring him to go to a single-dog-home. We may make exceptions on a case-by-case basis for the right fit!
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CATS: FINE - He does well with my 3 cats. He wanted to chase them at first, but quickly learned not to and mostly ignores them now. He has once gone after one of the cats over his food, but he stopped as soon as I yelled No! and it’s been just the one time. He is sometimes uncomfortable with the cats around his food, but has learned to communicate this more and we’ve worked on his level of nervousness with his food. He would need to be separated while feeding (or closely supervised with continued training to make him more comfortable with the cats around his food).
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KIDS: OK/SPECIAL RECs - He has met 1 kid (2.5yrs old) that was brave enough to meet him - as he is always so excited and jumping around that all other kids have gotten scared - he was great with her! She squished all over him, played with his water while he was drinking (we tried to stop her), squished his jowls, hugged his neck, etc, and he did awesome!! Due to his size , boisterous energy, and possessiveness of his toys, he cannot go to a home with very young children.
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SPECIAL RECS: *6ft privacy fence or equivalent, *Financial security/planning for his current and future medical needs, *Committed to ongoing obedience/behavior training *Able to medicate/maintain his coat/etc. (General req’s: adoption application-approval process, home visit, signed contract, adoption fee) -
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Medical Conditions / History:
Farley was pulled from the shelter with ear, skin, and eye infections. He had ocular (eye) disease for several months that required drops. He was also limping on several legs and had some neck pain.

Farley was diagnosed with KCS (dry eye); typically this is a lifelong condition, but it seems to have resolved in Farley and he no longer gets medication for this. This may be because it was secondary to something else, or it may return in the future (requiring exams/twice daily drops/etc., or it may never become an issue again. He does require his eye boogers to be wiped away several times a day!

Farley was diagnosed with moderate-to-severe hip dysplasia that already gives him pain. He was in much more pain when I got him from the shelter (at a 1.5yrs), but is still in some pain now. He will require lifelong support for this, and would benefit from a total hip replacement in the future. He also intermittently has neck pain and limps on his right front leg. We have not found the cause for this. A CT scan, +/- consults with veterinary neurologists/orthopedic surgeons, would likely be beneficial in further diagnosing Farley's conditions.

He's currently on a veterinary prescription joint diet and does well with this for now. It's vital to keep him lean, provide moderate exercise, and continue a diet for his joints. He'll soon likely need medication(s) - they'll add up and he'll continue to have others added into his daily regiment as he ages/becomes more painful. He loves to play, go on hikes, romp around the yard, and is definitely quite active; but his pain is real and will worsen as he ages. He will require an owner that is financially and compassionately prepared to handle this.

Please email us at MoreFurDogRescue@gmail.com with any questions or for more information!

More pictures: https://www.mfdogrescue.org/farley