My name is Benji!

Tiny Benji is a loving, trusting, and friendly boy. He came to us from a neglectful situation, but he is ready to love and be loved by his people. He is just under 10 pounds, but should gain 1-2 pounds. We are confident due to his hair texture and other traits that Benji is a Coton de Tulear or a Coton de Tulear mix, we don't really know if it's maltese mix, it's a guess, could even be havanese mixed? Who knows! He is cute even with his crazy haircut :) He is about 6 years old.

Benji is a lower energy dog that just wants to hang out with his person. Speaking of... he really does prefer to be the center of attention and would love to be an only dog in a home with humans 12 and over. He doesn’t love large dogs and we are certain this is due to his recent experience being attacked by one in his home, and he really does attach to his person. He is tiny and still a bit nervous after his ordeal, so care needs to be taken… he can get underfoot, so his people should be aware of this and steady on their feet. Benji seems to travel well in the car.

His hair looks a bit crazy as it is in transition as his matted body needed a quick shave down prior to having emergency surgery to repair a broken jaw caused by the large dog in his prior home. He’s great about staying in his crate if no one is home and at bedtime and is learning to be a good boy in his foster home, where he lives with adults and another small dog. Benji will need continued consistent potty training to learn where to go and his new schedule. His foster mom has been working on this with him, but as you can imagine, our first concern is getting him healthy and working on his self confidence.

Benji sleeps in a bed next to his foster mom while she works from home, and he smiles big with teeth when he sees her in the morning and when arriving home from errands. Benji is not ready for walks, so will need a home with a small yard while he navigates the great outdoors. He will need help learning what walks are. It seems he wasn’t walked in the past, as he isn’t actually interested in walking on a leash. He may have been carried around since he is so tiny.

Benji does not shed and will need regular grooming and brushing of his thick cottony hair which is already growing back. Please consider this expen$e, this is a non negotiable. His hair should have never have gotten as bad as it did, the matting and the shave down are traumatic for dogs to go thru. Keeping his hair clean and brushed is part of his requirements.

**Benji would do better in a house with low foot traffic near the front door and a small yard. Benji's new family should be home a good portion of each day. Benji would prefer to be an only dog, and has not been cat tested **

Benji is open to a foster to adopt or regular adoption.

Benji’s adoption fee is $300

Benji is neutered, microchipped, up to date on shots. He had a jaw repair surgery a few months ago and a few tooth extractions. His teeth have been completely cleaned as well.

Please email us if you have further questions about Benji’s care to see if you are a fit and should apply- or if you would like to apply our adoption application is on website www.k9spirit.org or email Stacy at: stacy@k9spirit.org and we can email the app to you.

Ideal home reminders:
-Yard
-Home, not apartment
-Continue his potty training consistency commitment
-Patient and reassuring pawrent(s) who are eager to help Benji learn all the great things about being a dog- including walks!
-A calm home that is not full of surprises