Size
(when grown) X-Large 101 lbs (46 kg) or more
Details
Good with kids,
Good with dogs,
Good with cats,
House-trained,
Shots are up-to-date,
Story
TO EMAIL ASKING IF THE DOG IS AVAILABLE. PLEASE READ THROUGH THIS BIO THOROUGHLY AS INFORMATION ON HOW TO APPLY IS CONTAINED IN THIS LISTING**
For Adoption: Mrs.Potts!
Please read our dog bios carefully to be sure that the dog you are applying for suits your family and lifestyle.
We at PDR believe in the benefits of post-adoption training for our dogs and their families. This allows for continued socialization, learning and helps to create a well-mannered and balanced dog. Post-adoption training is a requirement in our adoption process.
To apply for adoption and for more information on our process and requirements, visit our website at https://pounddog.ca/adoption-info/.
It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you to come read this biography. We invite you to relax, pull up a chair, as Pound Dog Rescue proudly presents…Mrs. Potts! Mrs. Potts is a 6 year old St. Bernard. She is a giant breed dog who weighs about 130lbs and is still a bit underweight.
Mrs. Potts arrived into Pound Dog Rescue from a puppy mill, where she was kept in a barn and used to breed puppies repeatedly. She is ready to undo what’s done and live her days in the sun. She had mats in her coat, infected ears, soiled fur and a urinary tract infection. She was also in heat when she arrived in her foster home, and while her preventative veterinary care is up to date, her spay had to be delayed for safety as a spay surgery on a giant breed, mature, overbred dog who is also in heat is an added risk. An experienced locum veterinarian is coming to complete this procedure, so Mrs. Potts has a set date of March 21st for her spay at our veterinary partner hospital in Cambridge. Her new family must be able to transport Mrs. Potts to this appointment to have her spayed, and should live within 1 hr from the vet hospital in Cambridge to facilitate this appointment, and it will be part of her adoption contract to ensure she is spayed on this date.
Now that Mrs. Potts has been treated for her urinary tract infection and is no longer in heat, she is doing much better with housetraining. She seems to understand that she should urinate and defecate outside, and will do so quickly. She will bark with a whine to let us know she needs to go out or will stand by the back door, but will need continued help to learn how to alert reliably in her new home. Mrs. Potts will eliminate well equally on or off leash (in our enclosed backyard). We recommend a home with an enclosed yard for Mrs. Potts. Being from a puppy mill, she does have a fear of large, open spaces and tries to return indoors fairly quickly once her business is finished, especially when the area is unfamiliar. Limited visual stimulus as offered by our tall wooden fence helps her feel more secure outdoors, but she does not linger for much longer than necessary. Her confidence has grown with us and she no longer pulls to go back inside when she is finished using the bathroom in the backyard, and she is starting to enjoy short periods of time in the yard by herself now. She is especially enjoying all the snow we’ve had recently. Mrs. Potts is slightly calmer outside in less busy, less urban spaces with fewer doorways into buildings. When walking past doorways she almost always wants to go inside, so when there are less homes to walk past she is slightly less focused on returning home to the safety of her castle. Her ideal home will be in a low density suburban or rural neighbourhood, though she does not seem noise sensitive or reactive.
Given her uncertainty in large open spaces, we have been taking our time in acclimating Mrs. Potts to the outdoors, that great wide somewhere. She generally walks close and right beside you. Initially she was a bit of an unstoppable force but is very responsive to leash pressure now that she understands what is requested of her. She also feels much more comfortable outside with you once she has formed a bond with you, and puts a lot of trust into people she knows have been kind to her. She is walked on a martingale collar attached to one leash for safety with a shorter traffic lead on her flat collar at the same time. When Mrs. Potts entered foster care, she was mostly intent on returning back indoors, and any door down our quiet street was seen as a portal to the safe indoors. She is improving, but she can be quite strong when she makes these sudden turns to try to enter any door available, and we find the traffic lead is helpful for preventing a buildup of her momentum up people’s driveways. Now that she understands leash pressure and we have formed a bond with her, we have a much easier time redirecting her and there have been moments where you can see her enjoying her walk and sniffing new smells. She understands “this way” and “wait” and while she once pulled to try to go back inside, she waits patiently and calmly for us to open doors now. We have not required a gentle leader or halti in her time with us, but it is an option for helping control her in these moments of uncertainty instead of a traffic lead, it has just been our personal preference. Mrs. Potts is a low energy dog, and will not require long walks, and we have been slowly building up her confidence in small 10-15 min increments which do tire her out mentally and physically. Being a mature giant breed, she loves her naps, and is not the type of dog to require or desire long walks outside. She does have less anxiety in her own yard and on trails where there are no buildings to enter. She notices other dogs on walks and will try to pull to go say hello to them if they are in range, but we generally don’t encourage on-leash meetings with unknown dogs for any of our fosters. She does not bark at unknown dogs, but her interest is apparent and her ears are up. She has not been interested in wildlife on walks, mostly because she is overstimulated by the largeness of the world and does not seem to notice them at this time.
In the home, Mrs. Potts is fairly calm and comfortable, especially now that she is more settled into indoor life. At first she was not sure where she could relax and took a bit of time to find a comfortable spot. She had to learn that glass doors cannot be walked through and how to use the stairs, but has not encountered any issues with things like hard, slippery floors or household noises, though she will change resting spots if you are vacuuming. Although she can use the stairs and has no issues going up and down them with her newfound confidence, ideally her forever home will have limited stairs for her long-term comfort, as giant breeds are prone to developing arthritis as they age. She has never been intentionally destructive in the home, but may bump into objects due to her size in a smaller home. She appreciates her crate as a safe refuge and will happily nap inside and will collect plush toys to cuddle with in her crate or work on a dental chew. Mrs. Potts is calm and relaxed in her crate, although sometimes in the morning she will treat herself to a spot of barking when she thinks it is time to wake up. We have had success covering the front of her crate with a light sheet and playing white noise for her when we go to bed (while she is on the main level by herself), and find she does not declare the morning with these two steps in place. When she barks in her crate, she does not do so for more than 1-2 minutes, and she only seems to do it when left for bedtime when she is uncovered or without her white noise. She may also whine or bark briefly, feeling excluded, when our dogs are playing without her directly in front of her crate. It is possible over time that her increased confidence will result in more indoor vocalizing, as she does tend to communicate needs with a bark or two. Otherwise, during the day, she is generally quiet and composed in the crate and usually asleep. She is not defensive of her crate space and has not demonstrated separation anxiety. Mrs. Potts should be fine for a regular workday, as she only had accidents in her crate while she had a UTI, and appreciates her rest.
Be our guest, be our guest, Mrs. Potts is as friendly as all the rest, and she will always have your company thoroughly impressed! She loves people and has a kind, gentle, mannerly way about her greetings. She loves head pats and will come right up to new people for affection with a gentle tail wag, before meandering away eventually. Being as tall as she is, she does not feel the need to jump up to meet people. She is very good at relaxing by herself nearby and does not insist on physical affection, but does not get tired of petting either. She has been unphased by new guests in the home, and does not seem protective of the home either inside or outside. Mrs. Potts should be fine with older children who have had exposure to giant dogs (8yrs and up) as long as their parents are mindful of not allowing children to walk her alone and close doors and gates behind them. She may accidentally step on toes in narrow hallways, although she tries her best not to knock into you while walking. Mrs. Potts responds well to physical affection and is learning how to accept treats from hands as rewards and does so very gently. She is also food motivated and generally finishes all her meals, and has not demonstrated resource guarding with people or other animals. She really loves cookies! Mrs. Potts is quite biddable and tries to understand and do what you ask her to do. Formal cues are a work in progress. She is not a challenging dog, but due to her size and lack of world experience would likely be best with someone with some giant/extra large dog experience, and is not suitable for someone who cannot physically handle her. A basic level training class will help build her confidence and life skills, and will help formulate a bond with her new family.
Mrs. Potts is fostered with two medium-sized resident dogs, who she is interested in. She seems fascinated by other dogs, and wants to march up to them to sniff them. She does tend to sniff quite intently and is not always mindful that her large head often lifts smaller dogs midair in her efforts. She does respond to corrections from other dogs appropriately and leaves them alone when requested. After she has thoroughly investigated other dogs she coexists quite well. Any dogs in her future home must be tolerant or comfortable with an investigative, big-headed dog up in their business. Mrs. Potts has also demonstrated playfulness in our home, as she feels very left out when other dogs are playing without her and does go to engage in play. She really perks up when other dogs are playing or move quickly past her, and she wants to participate but is not quite sure what to do yet other than trot and bounce after them happily.
Similar to her behaviour with dogs, Mrs. Potts is very interested in meeting cats. Cats on the floor must be trotted after for thorough sniffs. Of course being such a large dog this is often inappropriate for cats, and will cause many cats to seek higher ground or to exit the situation completely. Mrs. Potts is fostered with two dog-savvy cats who are comfortable with her from a higher level as she is very gentle, but there is a real possibility she can step on them when they are on the ground. Mrs. Potts will likely be okay with a cat in her forever home, given that the cat is dog savvy and introductions are taken slowly. She does not seek out the cats if they are not visible or on ground level, and her interest in our cats has faded over time now that she has had time to investigate them, but we have seen her walk quickly after them when they are running around, in her early days in foster care. If cats run, she likes to chase after them to see what is happening, in a similar way she does with dogs, but is always very gentle upon arrival.
Being such a gentle dog, Mrs. Potts is also very amenable to handling. She is very well-behaved in the bath, turns when asked, and even tolerated the high velocity dryer on a beginner setting quite well. Nail trims are best completed when she is laying down, as she is large and feels unsteady without all her feet supporting her. Sometimes she pulls her foot back when handling her feet even laying down, but does not fuss about the actual nail trim portion. We have also had to shave mats from her fur, and although she finds the clippers ticklish, does tolerate them well. Her coat is filling in now that she is eating a nutritional and high quality diet, and she is a high shedding, double-coated dog. If her undercoat is not maintained in the shedding season it will mat into her topcoat in areas. Her coat is maintained with a slicker brush and comb, which we do a few times weekly. She does drool periodically, and her forever home should be prepared to keep some tea towels around to limit the amount of drool appliqued to various walls and furniture. Mrs. Potts does tend to drool on her front limbs especially and this has produced some staining on her white fur, which does not completely wash out but can be maintained with pet wipes. Her ear infection has been treated and now she has clean, healthy ears. Due to her thick ear flaps, her ears must be checked occasionally to ensure she is not brewing additional ear infections. She is also very good for having her teeth and eyes checked and does not seem to have any body handling sensitivities that we have noted.
Mrs. Potts travels quite well in the car. She understands to enter the car when the door is opened for her, and does not need any assistance to slowly step into the backseat. She has been in a larger SUV and a small hatchback. She is composed and calm for travel, and lays down on the backseat for the entire drive. Mrs. Potts has not demonstrated car anxiety or nausea on shorter city rides or longer highway commutes.
Tale as old as time, true as it can be, Mrs. Potts is ready to find her forever family. You can find some of her foster journey on Instagram @twiceluckyfosters. Thank you for reading her bio and considering a rescue dog.
Name: Mrs. Potts
ID # PDR1334
Age: 6yrs
Gender: female
Spayed: will be
UTD vaccines: yes
Breed: St. Bernard
Colours: red and white
Coat length: med
House trained: yes
Special needs: no
OK with kids: older
OK with cats: yes
Ok with dogs: yes
Status: adoptable
Microchip: yes
Size: Xlarge
Location: Hamilton
Adoption fee: $700