Deserted dog needs home

Albuquerque NM

Description

Meet San Lorenzo. Back in March, I loaded up our 3 dogs and drove down to San Lorenzo Canyon in Socorro County for a day hike. For those of you not familiar with San Lorenzo, it's in the middle of nowhere, just a dirt road that winds through miles of New Mexico desert. This black-and-white heeler puppy ran out of the desert in front of my truck. He was terrified, and after an hour, he agreed to let me drive him to the nearest town and ask a vet to scan him for a microchip, which he didn't have -- nor was he neutered. The vet said people will dump unwanted dogs in the area where I found him. Having no plan, I drove back to Albuquerque with him cowering behind the driver's seat. I couldn't drop him at the shelter, even a "no kill," because of the trauma he'd already experienced, so I brought him home and slowly we've introduced him to a safe and loving environment. It took a week for him to be able to confidently walk into the house without us having to lure or encourage him. We've spent endless hours training him to be a respectable puppy who understands the rules of society. He is now crate trained, mostly leash trained, knows basic obedience commands, and 100% potty trained. He sleeps through the night in his crate. We call him Enzo. He's around 8 months old. Here are the expectations Enzo has for his future adopters: *People who can offer him an enriched life, both indoors and out, and who understand the herding dog personality. *People who will invest in additional training post-adoption, to address anxiety-based reactive behavior. It's not aggressive, but could become aggressive if not addressed. *People who agree to multiple play dates with Enzo before taking him home, in order to be sure he's the right fit. *People who agree to return him to us - no questions asked - if it doesn't work out. *No cats. He is neutered, microchipped and up on 1st year shots. We'll be asking for an adoption fee. Nothing too steep, just enough to show us that the adopter is invested.