Beautiful Percy arrived for rehoming on 1 March 2024. He is a medium-sized staffie cross who came to us as a stray. Percy is a year old (born April 2023).

 

As a young dog Percy would suit an experienced owner who will give Percy the training he needs. He needs a confident owner, but he is very treat orientated and learns very quickly.

 

The sort of home for Percy:

• No dogs or cats in the home 

• No children under the age of 14 years and no small children regularly visiting the home

• Access to his own private and secure garden (not shared or communal)

• Not left for very long, at least to start with as we do not know if Percy is used to being left

• An experienced and confident owner who will give training or take him to training classes – in areas such as walking on the lead, meeting with other dogs

• an active home with plenty of walks and play.

 

Handling

When he first arrived he was a little nervous of new people, and needed a few minutes to get to know us. He may be a dog that is a little fearful meeting new people at the start, and this can includes strangers when out and about. Once he knows you he is your best friend.

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Very much as you would expect for a 1 year old puppy; happy, fun, bouncy, fidgety, lots of things are a game to him. We had to fit him with one of our collars when he arrived, which took about 2 or 3 minutes of him wriggling all over the place. The temporary harness was easier to put on.

 

He has never shown signs of any aggression or dominance to us, but probably needs to learn some boundaries regarding jumping up for a fuss, and mouthing. He seems to be reactive to arms waving about, and based on some signs of cowering we wonder whether he was hit/beaten previously. He may snap at an arm if it is waved about at him.

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He knows a lot of commands already including sit, paw, stay/wait, and is bright enough to learn touch and eyes in a couple of days, and now knows middle, wait and down. He is a clever dog and enjoys his training.

 

Walking

May pull quite a bit at the start, but will settle into a better walk as you go along, though still at the full length of the lead, and with occasional pulls here and there. Confident walkers, and those experienced in working with dogs who pull find him easy to walk.

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Very keen on people, and seems to want to say hello to everyone, but he does have a nervousness when meeting new people, and this is why introductions should be done slowly and carefully.

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Very excited when he sees dogs and will pull harder, and may go on his back legs, he may bark or squeal and we believe he would benefit from training to improve his socialisation, but as explained below he has met with and interacted with off the lead dogs positively. He is definitely a dog that is willing to learn as shown in his training for TEMPS with us (see below under Commands).

 

Dogs and cats

On our walks so far he has shown a high level of unsocialised excitement towards dogs. He seems very keen and excited when he sees them, and gives the impression of a pup that has not been socialised yet (long nails indicate a lack of walking previously). He will pull towards dogs, and may jump up. This may also mean that he gets stressed as a result.

 

He has had off the lead introductions to dogs with a dog trainer present and these were successful, and very playful. As this is a work in progress we are not looking for a home with another dog.

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Commands

Since arriving we have been training Percy TEMPS - Touch, Eyes, Middle, Paw and Sit. He has excelled at this and shows us that he is definitely a dog that can learn no skills with the right rewards (mild grated cheese).

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Playing

Loves playing and with a variety of toys. Will chase anything you throw. Chews tennis balls up in seconds. Doesn’t seem to know any drop commands. Very quick, like lightning. No problem with us tidying toys away.

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Easy to train as he is very treat orientated and has already learned several new instructions since coming to us.

 

Health

Although bright, alert and very responsive to his name, sounds and treats Percy was underweight when he arrived at just 18.5kg and our vet reckons we should aim for a 25kg weight.

 

Weight: 24.65 kg - has added 6 kilos in our care.

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Height: 20.75 inches at the withers.

 

Our vet believes he is in good health, and he is now fully vaccinated. He was reactive to dogs in the waiting room - nothing aggressive, just unsocialised and a lot of barking.

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He will neutered between 1 and 3 months after adoption, once he has had time to settle in his new home.

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If you have any questions about Percy before enquiring you can email us at adopt@happystaffie.co.uk

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