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PERMANENT FOSTER - NOT AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

Dog’s Name: Matlock,  but is being called “Clifford” (as in the big red dog) in his foster home.

Reaction to  Other Dogs: We have little information to go on. Foster home does not have any other dogs. On walks, he is sometimes interested in other dogs wagging his tail and sometimes ignores other dogs.

Reaction to Cats: We have little information to go on. Foster home does not have any cats. He saw a cat on a walk and did not respond.

Ok with Kids? What age?: Unknown.

Play Style: Independent and infrequent. Will throw toys in the air at times.  Will sometimes bring a ball but may only go get it once. Matlock is pretty low energy.

Any Training? Unknown. He for sure knows the commands SIT and SHAKE.

How does the dog walk on leash? Matlock walks well on a leash. We have deduced that, wherever, he lived, he was taken out on regular walks to relieve himself. He likes to walk. He also likes to sniff and it is hard to budge him if he isn’t ready to move on.

House trained? Yes. As mentioned above, we are almost certain he lived in a situation where all his potty breaks were on a leash and he didn’t have a yard. He will eventually go in the yard but it is much quicker if you put the leash on him and take him out. He will go right away. On walks he will usually poop twice.

Crate trained? No. We also tried using baby gates to keep him in a utility room and he busted out. He does not like being confined.

Stairs: Good. He knows them and navigates them easily. He follows the humans around the house so this means he goes up and down stairs many times a day.

Eating: His appetite is adequate. He doesn’t always finish his food when it is first put down. No food guarding noticed.  He does not seem protective of food.  He really likes Pill Pockets. He is a bit picky about treats and people food.

Personality: Matlock is a dog who likes to be close to people and will follow you from room to room.  He wants to be petted. He might put his front paws on furniture to get closer to the humans but he doesn’t jump onto couches or beds. He has some anxiety over being left or abandoned or confined. He isn’t necessarily destructive as far as tearing anything up but he may scratch or push on a door that he wants to go through to get to the people.

Temperament: For the most part, Matlock is a gentle giant. A big teddy bear who sleeps a lot. One really cute thing he does is make a low grunting sound when he is happy and wants more of whatever you are doing.

Sleeping: Matlock is a good sleeper.  He snores a lot and it is loud. At night, he sleeps in the bedroom on the floor and will stay asleep through the night and into the morning without disturbing the humans. He also likes to sleep on a big beach towel.

Counter Surfing: He will sniff but he has never jumped up to get anything on a counter. He has not made any move to get anything out of trash cans but most of the foster home trash cans are not able to be openly accessed so there is not a lot of opportunity.

Taking any Medicine? Nothing right now for routine conditions other than heartworm and flea preventative. Currently on prednisone for an ear infection.

Due any vet care? Matlock is under vet supervision. He was neutered and at that time the vet removed an abdominal mass. Please see update below

Car Rides: Matlock clearly has ridden in vehicles. He wants to jump in whenever the back of a vehicle is open (but may need a boost due to his heavy back end). Once in the back of the vehicle, he will ride quietly but when you stop, he will leap over the seats and end up in the front seat trying to get out the door. When he rode in the back seat with a person, he invaded the space of the person. No sickness or nervousness on car rides, though.

Begging: He begs for you to pet him. At the table, he may or may not come up but will go away if told.

Reaction to Thunderstorms? None. In addition, his foster home observed him over the 4th of July when fireworks were being shot off and he had no reaction.  He barked once but that was it.

Barking: Not much of a barker. He may bark when humans come home or when the doorbell rings. He has also barked occasionally when a person walked in front of the house and he saw the person outside the window. His bark is very deep and loud.

Favorite Toys: Big stuffies. He likes to use them as pillows. He also likes a ball occasionally. Matlock likes to put his head on a dog bed, too. He will burrow his face into the toy or soft dog bed and knead it or suck on the material.

What food is dog eating? How much per day?

Purina Pro Plan FOCUS for sensitive skin and stomachs. Feeding 1 ¾ cups twice a day. He doesn’t always eat all of it.

Must have in a home: People who will take him on at least a short walk twice a day. People who are at home a lot so he can be near them. It would probably be best to have him in a home where they did not intend to kennel him if they went away on a trip. Matlock would not be happy in a kennel for long periods.

Wish list in a home: He will be better in a home with a lot of space (versus a feeling of confinement).

Availability: Please see update below

Any other info we should know about the dog? Matlock is 90 pounds and stocky. He is usually gentle and good on the leash so this isn’t an issue but he will charge the door to get inside, and it is hard to pull back 90 pounds of resistance. We are working on training him to wait before going through the door.

7/25/2020

During Matlock’s initial exam, a mass was found in his abdomen. Initially it was thought that the mass was related to an undescended testicle, but during surgery to neuter him, and remove the mass the vet found a softball size tumor.

Lab results on the tumor identified it as sertoli cell cancer. The good news is, there is less than a 15% chance that it will metastasize (spread). The second part of the good news was that there are treatment options for either direct chemo treatment, or by doing combined preventative treatment of palladia (a chemo drug in pill form) and carprofen. This is the plan we are going with because of the low chance of metastasizing.  Matlock will need an ultrasound and xrays in 3 months to check for spreading, and then again every 6 months to be sure we catch it if/when it spreads. 

GRRNT has placed Matlock in our Permanent Foster program. He is a happy boy right now, and doesn’t know he got such bad news, so we aren’t telling him!

GRRNT will provide all the vet care he needs to be healthy and comfortable for the rest of his life.

PERMANENT FOSTER - NOT AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION