Meet Rusty

Meet Rusty, Rufous, Roosty, Rusty-dog, Old Man, Rutabaga,

Rusty is an absolutely incredible 11 year old dog. The only time you can tell he is 11, is when he is walking up stairs-his joints are a bit creaky, and when you look at his frosty little face.

Rusty was a hunting dog for the first 11 years of his life. When his home life was turned upside down, Rusty needed a safe place to land. Now that Rusty has been allowed to decompress, he is ready for his final move into his forever home.

Rusty is completely house trained. He is getting better at waiting for an invitation to leave the house, too. Rusty is an independent dog. He was an outside dog for the first 11 years of his life. He wasn’t allowed on furniture, and though we have shown him it is ok, he still prefers to sleep either on one of his many beds or on the floor. He loves to simply sleep outside, whether it’s on a deck, or in a yard, he needs to have secure access to the outdoors.

Though Rusty is crate trained, and has shown no signs of being destructive, he should be in a house that has someone at home all the time. Even though he is independent, he likes to share space with someone. Anytime his foster parents have to leave him home, he is put into his kennel with a kong, and when they get home he is always found fast asleep.

He is also getting better at walking on a leash, though a firm grip on the leash is still necessary, because cats, bunnies, and larger birds are all seen as prey. Rusty desperately wants to play with every dog he sees, but he has never been taught how to play appropriately with dogs, which means he is very rough, and gets over-stimulated very quickly. His foster parents are currently working on teaching him to not react to other dogs. This means that he should be the only dog in the home.

When Rusty plays with other dogs, and humans, he is very mouthy, for this reason he should be in a home with children 16 years old, and up.

The most important thing to know about Rusty is that he has energy. He likes to go on long walks- two miles or more. When he isn’t given these longer walks, he gets restless and, to be frank, annoying. As soon as he has a long walk, he settles down again. When he isn’t being active, he is a deep sleeper. He does well in crowds, though he prefers a long hike. His recall is quite poor, so he should be kept on leash at all times in public settings.

Rusty is, in his foster parents eyes, a perfect dog. Rusty just wants somewhere he can sleep safely, and someone to go on long walks with.

Located in western Washington with SSRI.