Meet Jughead!
Jughead was born to a stray mama and lived for about 3 years as a feral dog. A well intended Good Samaritan set out an automatic feeder for him, but he got his head stuck and earned his name. The jug stayed on for weeks, as he evaded all attempts to catch him, and it wasn’t until he lost enough weight from not eating that it finally came off. It was then that his appetite was strong enough that he went in to a live trap and made his way to the shelter.
At the shelter, he behaved as any feral animal in a shelter would, and trembled in fear, avoided all socialization, went on hunger strike, gator rolled on leash (when he wasn’t chewing through it in seconds), and just shut down mentally and physically. The shelter put out a final plea for an experienced rescue to help him, otherwise the most humane thing to do would be to put him out of his misery. And he was, indeed, miserable.
We have a foster that specializes in feral dogs. She holds her CPDT-KA certification and works for the ASPCA’s Behavioral Rehabilitation Center as a Canine Behavior Specialist where she uses behavioral modification to rehabilitate extremely fearful dogs from puppy mills and hoarding cases. This was right up her alley, and she agreed to take on his case.
Jughead made his way to the mountains and into foster where the real work began. Slow and steady, and backed by science. No amount of well intended “all he needs is love” could have broken through to this guy. He needed psychotropic medication to ease the edge, systematic desensitization and counter conditioning, reinforcement schedules in line with his preferences, the ability to gradually capture and shape behavior and behavioral modification approaches that avoided any form of flooding.
Jughead spent the first few weeks just decompressing in his own room. The presence of another person paralyzed him with fear. A vet visit, while heavily sedated, allowed us to get him neutered, fully vaccinated, and start him on both a short and long acting medication to help him make the adjustment.
Slowly and surely, Jughead blossomed into the silly, snuggly, lovely boy that he is today.
Now, Jughead has a big personality. He likes to steal shoes, beg for treats, insist on butt scratches, and be the big spoon in bed. He does a happy little tap dance when his foster gets home and he puts his front paws in her lap to lean in for loves. He loves stuffed toys and will carry them about the house and yard, begging all his foster siblings to tug with him. He likes to throw himself into a dramatic play bow to invite his friends, human or canine, to play.
Jughead has made a very strong attachment to his foster, who lives alone. When friends come over, he becomes a wallflower. As soon as they leave, he becomes his goofy, bubbly self again. We expect him to do the same in a home- make a strong attachment to his family but not care about winning over any visitors.
He will be a good boy in the car, but he doesn’t enjoy rides, no matter how many pup cups he gets.
Jughead is crate trained and potty trained. While he is leash trained, he MUCH prefers the comfort of the fenced yard over a walk in the neighborhood.
Jughead showed some behaviors related to storm distress a few months ago. He was given trazodone for the next few storms, and now no longer shows this stress, even without medication. It would not be unheard of for this fear to resurface briefly in a new home.
He LOVES dogs, big or little, male or female, 8 weeks or 8 years. We would love for him to have another dog in his new home to help him learn the ropes and adjust. He doesn’t care about cats and wouldn’t mind sharing a home with one.
He has worked so hard to get to where he is, and an adjustment into a new home will take patience. We are requiring that he stay on his medication (which is super cheap) when he goes to a new home for a minimum of six months and then an adoption can work with their vet to appropriately wean him if they desire.
