My name is Combie!

NOTE: COMBIE IS WITH HIS PEOPLE IN MEADOW VISTA, CA. GSRSV HAS NOT MET COMBIE. WE ARE LISTING HIM ON THIS WEBSITE ALONG WITH OUR OWN DOGS TO GIVE HIM MORE ADOPTION EXPOSURE. PLEASE SEE END OF THIS BIO FOR CONTACT INFO.

"Combie" is an approx 75-lb, 14-mos old (born 6-5-23) recently neutered male American Blue Bay Shepherd who is very affectionate, smart and socially sophisticated. Combie is healthy, up-to-date on core vaccinations and microchipped. He does have some behavioral issues that will require special arrangements; more on this later.

Note: the American Blue Bay Shepherd is a breed currently in development to produce family dogs with a stunning lupine appearance. The only legitimate breeder of Blue Bay Shepherds is Southern Breeze Kennels in St Cloud, FL, from where Combie was purchased. See https://www.bluebayshepherds.com/home.html.

Combie is friendly with strangers, both inside the house and beyond. His family spent a ton of time socializing him when he was young; he loves going to dog-friendly breweries and wineries. He is great with the 10-yo girl he lives with and her friends; however, he has not been around younger children.

Combie has always done very well with other dogs. He has great social skills and typically presents submissive and playful behaviors. He is non-reactive to barking dogs or dogs displaying aggressiveness towards him. He has not been exposed to very small dogs, however. It should also be noted that Combie exhibits resource guarding tendencies for high value food-based items like bully sticks.

Combie has not interacted with any cats, and appears to have a strong prey drive. So, a home without cats is strongly advised for Combie.

Combie is fully housetrained and respectful of the rules, most notably staying out of the kitchen and off furniture. His people leave him in his exercise pen indoors when they are gone for more than an hour. He sleeps on the living room floor at night.

Combie has received considerable formal obedience training, both as a puppy and more recently. He walks well on leash (his people use a Gentle Leader) and is non-reactive towards other dogs. His off-leash recall could use improvement, however.

Combie enjoys riding in a vehicle and is a calm passenger. He has been in car rides as long as 5 hours. He enjoys playing tug-of-war with a rope toy and loves to be chased around. Combie also likes to swim.

Overall, Combie is a medium energy dog who is happy with two 20-30 minute walks a day and some tug-of-war and running around at home.

Now, for Combie’s behavioral issue: When Combie was six months old, there was a fire in his house in the middle of the night. Fortunately, the fire was extinguished fairly quickly. During the ordeal, he was trapped in his crate. Over the next several weeks he started exhibiting fearfulness and aggression after dark that became progressively worse.

Combie’s people sought the assistance of a professional pet behaviorist for his nighttime fear behavior and it helped tremendously. It took several months, but now evenings are once again peaceful at home.

Unfortunately, there is still a major issue that the behavior reconditioning has not helped with much: If he is awoken in the middle of the night (someone getting up and turning on the lights for example) he freaks out aggressively and will bite.

Combie cannot be crated and has a fear of confinement at nighttime. He can be put in a pen or kennel enclosure during the day but not for bedtime. The ideal living situation for Combie is sleeping outdoors, in the garage, or some other place separated from humans for safety. He doesn’t do well being alone and would like to have other dogs near him overnight.

Combie is located in Meadow Vista, CA. His adoption fee is $100.

Please contact Shawn Severinsen at 408-781-4218 or shawnsev@protonmail.com.