Featured Animal

Genny
Akbash / Siberian Husky / Mixed (medium coat)

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Nip has spent his life guarding goats, and he takes his job seriously. He is friendly with people, but unfortunately, he is reactive to a leash or collar, which makes it a real challenge to take him to the vet. Nip's original owner bought him as a puppy, brought him home, and put him with goats. He loved his dog, but apparently never saw the need to put a collar or leash on him, and never took him to the vet. We are working to de-sensitize Nip, to show him that we can put a light slip lead around his neck and it won't harm him. We are currently using a lightweight plastic goat chain, which you can see in some of his photos. It breaks easily, so we replace it regularly, but he still gets nervous when we slip it over his head. For this reason, we think it would be best if Nip could be adopted by someone who has a vet who makes farm/ranch calls, to minimize the stress of trying to get him the care he needs.

UPDATE: Nip has made enough progress that he is wearing a collar full-time now, and will tolerate walking short distances on a leash. He's still sensitive about his neck, but has learned to trust his foster mom. It might take a little while for him to learn to trust an adopter in the same way, but clearly, he has shown that we really can "teach an old dog new tricks" so to speak.