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My basic info
Breed
Yorkie, Yorkshire Terrier/Maltese
Color
Tan/Yellow/Fawn
Age
Adult
Size
Small 25 lbs (11 kg) or less (when grown)
Weight
10 lbs (current)
Sex
Male
Pet ID
–
My details
Not good with kids
Shots current
Spayed / Neutered
My story
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Here's what the humans have to say about me:
FOSTERED IN: Chicago, IL 60625
ESTIMATED DOB: 2016
WEIGHT: 10lbs
KIDS: No
DOGS: Some
CATS: Yes
HISTORY:
Spork came to us from an animal control facility.
ABOUT:
To know Spork, is to love Spork. He’s an endearing, but quirky guy. Overall he is a pretty easy dog, he doesn’t demand your attention and doesn’t bother things in the house. Spork likes to follow you around the house and is happy to entertain himself with his collection of toys when you’re busy. He enjoys sitting next to you on the
couch to play with his toys or to have you pet him. He is very agreeable to being picked up and carried and seems to enjoy the attention.
Spork is incredibly smart and will learn all of your words and behaviors. He loves treats and could probably learn some pretty cool tricks if you wanted to teach him. He doesn’t like being yelled at and tries hard to be a good boy.
We recently were able to determine that Spork is completely unfazed by cats. We have a hunch that he was raised in a home with cats, as upon meeting them he didn’t even give them a second look, nor a sniff. He just wanted to walk around and smell all their stuff and steal all their toys.
Dogs: Spork is not welcoming to other dogs at first. He can happily coexist with non-confrontational dogs if he is given a proper slow introduction period (weeks, not days). Once he is integrated he gets along great and never goes out of his way to bother anyone. He doesn’t mind if they walk by him or sit by him, but he doesn’t choose to interact with them and will be annoyed if they jump on him to initiate play.
Strangers: Spork likes to bark at people who walk past the house on the sidewalk, some people who walk by on the sidewalk when you are in the car. We don’t take chances letting him meet strangers on-leash outside the home as we can’t be confident it will go well. He IS generally very good at the vet, and the groomer has said he behaves perfectly with the exception of the nail trim. When his fosters have guests over they carry him outside and have the visitor bring him a treat. This works perfectly and he is happy to have strangers visit. He has been watched by two separate dog sitters and was very well behaved for both.
Housetraining: Spork always poops outside, but he still struggles with marking a little bit in his foster home. They admittedly don’t have the time to always watch him to help polish this behavior off. He is agreeable to wearing his belly bands, which are dry 80-90% of the time. He loves to go outside in the fenced yard and is willing to go even in rain or snow.
Reactivity: Spork has been in his foster home since June. We have had a lot of time to learn about him and his behavior. When he first arrived he seemed to snap to bite at random. Over time we have absolutely narrowed it down to certain behaviors. Spork does not like to be startled/woken up by touch. If you abruptly touch him when he is sleeping he will be disoriented and turn to bite. This is sometimes complicated by the fact that he likes to sleep right next to your legs at night, so if you move and kick him, he will wake up and react. His foster doesn’t have any problems with him actually biting during the night. He also does not like his fur to be pinched or sat on, and again turns to react. We have found keeping his hair cut short eliminates this as a possibility. He does not like his feet touched for more than a few seconds…he thinks you are going to trim his nails. As strange as this sounds, he likes to be picked up, but if you hesitate when setting him down he might get a little nervous. (This happens when he gets his paws caught in his foster’s sweatshirt pocket!) If you just set him down he has no problems. And finally, if he is reacting to a person or animal outside the window or through the fence and you try to pick him up or move him he will redirect to you. Spork’s reactivity has really reduced in his foster home as he has learned what to expect from his fosters. Another component is that our vet thinks that Spork has some back/nerve pain. Since putting him on rimadyl and gabapentin he has definitely become less reactive to the touch he previously did not like. But, the behavior is persistent so an adopter must expect it to happen. He is not an aggressive dog and does not go out of his way to bother anyone in the house. Due to this reactivity Spork must be adopted into an adult only home.
We know it sounds like a lot, but Spork is actually a low-demands, happy dog who you can’t help but like. He is so cute his fosters can barely stand it. His foster doesn’t have any complaints about him and has no trouble managing his behaviors. He is happy to go in his crate (for a treat) during the day while his fosters are at work. Spork does not pick favorites in his home and is happy to sit next to whoever is on the couch. He likes men and women equally well.
Is he a Shih Tzu mix, or a Morkie (Maltese/Yorkie), we have no idea. But if you think this super cutie is a good fit for you the first step is to fill out our adoption application. More information and our adoption application can be found at www.luluslockerrescue.org.
