Enzo

Our volunteer says it all:

“Enzo is a short haired black and tan full GSD, he is quite slender and weighs approx. 32kg. He is vaccinated, neutered, microchipped, regularly flea and wormed and is in excellent health and condition. He has the softest fur and is very handsome with beautiful eyes. He is almost 4 (DOB 13/12/2019). He has been with this family since he was 10 months and was purchased from a previous owner who had him for just 1 week.

My knock on the door was greeted by extreme barking and although told to wait on his mat he did a runner towards the door which I had to close quickly to stop him escaping. He has run outside before so definitely needs to learn door etiquette for safety. He stopped barking once I was in and was very excited to see me. He brought me all of his toys to see and play with him and was happy to have a fuss. He wears a 3 to 4ft piece of soft rope on his collar constantly in the house which I was told was for them to easily grab him when he jumps up at the window which he does whenever people or dogs go by. He barks excessively at this and they cover the glazing on the door and shut the curtains to reduce this.

Enzo is housetrained and is super bright, he watches and waits for commands and reacts immediately in the house, he knows sit, down, lay (he rolls onto his side), twist, paw, kiss, wait and a few others.

I am advised that Enzo is very possessive of his food and has bitten twice, once when they were trying to slowly hand feed him which was recommended by a trainer. He seems fine with being given treats and although he waits to be told he can start his meals he does guard and they are sure he would bite if they tried to reach in. He also bit a few weeks ago when they tried to cut his nails.

I am advised that he is extremely reactive to dogs and will bark and lunge at the sight of any dog. He has never been socialised and has had no interaction with any dogs in the 3 years they have had him. Dogs are avoided completely, even the vet provides an appointment that misses the waiting room. He apparently has escaped his lead twice and was found playing with another dog both times so perhaps he isn’t aggressive just unsure of how to greet. He has had no outside recall training. They say they have tried 2 dog trainers and 2 behaviourists to try to overcome the issues but with no success.

He barked non stop when the lead came out and would not settle, he was so excited. Eventually, I took Enzo for a 20 minute walk. He weaves and pulls a lot and is constantly on high alert, barking at everything and choking himself on his combined head/nose/neck lead which I would probably change for dogmatic and a body harness to get some control and also some comfort for him. His hackles were up constantly and he seemed fearful of everything to me. I decided to jog for 5 mins which he seemed to enjoy and relaxed a little and watched me rather than be on look out, he ran beside me very nicely. This boy has tons of energy which he probably isn’t using up each up day. Walks are simply not an enjoyable thing for Enzo or his humans, they are very stressful for both. I was however treated to a lovely fuss and some kisses after our walk.

This boy needs a home ASAP as there is a baby due in 2/3 weeks and they have decided it is not workable with Enzo. They do not want him in the house when the baby arrives and have indicated he will have to be put down if they cannot find a place/home for him.

I wish I were able to foster him, I really do believe this boy is trainable and with the right person/people dedicated to working through his issues he would make a fantastic member of the family. I also think if he were taken on a GSD group walk he would probably shut the hell up, learn some manners and have loads of fun which he really needs ..… “

Can you help this lad please?

Enzo is now safely in our care but still looking for a new home please.

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