About Scooter

Scooter is the quintessential velcro dog. He loves his people and follows me around the house. He has been with us for about 4 years now. We took him in after our next door neighbor abandoned him. They adopted him as a puppy from a family friend but had not experience with dogs and tied him out in the yard since he was a puppy for most of his first year of life. He was then allowed to roam free in our neighborhood in Texas where he would often spend his nights around our back patio looking for our dog to play with. When we came back to our house from Thanksgiving vacation about 4 years ago, Scooter was dripping wet and bleeding everywhere. He had been attacked by racoons and had several cuts all over his face and body. We took him into our house after that incident and decided to keep him indoors with us until we could talk to his owners. The neighbors said that we could keep him since they had no idea what they were getting into when they got a dog. They assumed they could just keep him outdoors and everything would work out. Unfortunately, in that year that Scooter had free range of the neighborhood he took it upon himself to chase the delivery trucks that would go near his property. This extended to chasing the delivery people that went near his house, and then when we took him in officially, it extended to defending against anyone who went near our house. He thinks that is his job. He is unbelievably loyal and committed to his family. We have a cat, two other dogs and 3 kids. He is the goof ball of the bunch and is very submissive to my other male dog. He also occasionally goes to doggie daycare and does well there. The bad habits he picked up while being abandoned unfortunately have made it very difficult for him to be in the neighborhood where we have moved to since we are in very close proximity to other houses and there are children or delivery people coming and going constantly. This brings back his behavior of defending his house from people who would go near it. I had been able to manage his behavior because I was a stay at home mom and with him most of the day. As long as someone is in the house the doesnt fixate as much on the comings and going of people around the property. Now that I am working full time and going back to school in the evening, Scooter is alone for longer periods of time and has been barking at everyone that goes near the property and feeling distressed. Although we initially just wanted to get him out of a dangerous situation, he is such a big personality and such a velcro dog, that I wanted to keep him and make it work because he loves me and I love him, but he is not happy in our current set up and I wont be able to be at home to the extent that I used to be in the foreseeable future. I am hoping that someone with space, a quieter lifestyle and maybe in need of some herding/patrolling could give him a chance. He is a beautiful dog with the softest silkiest fur. His mom was a pure bred australian shepherd but dad in unknown. Scooter bonds really closely to his family and in the right setting with proper help would be a one in a lifetime type of dog. He has been to obedience training can sit and give you a high five. He is wonderful with us but very much a guard dog to anyone else he sees. Once we invite people into the house and he sees that we accept them he acts normally and affectionate. He greets people by putting his giant paws on their shoulders and is definitely a leaner. He thinks he is a lap dog despite weighing 60 pounds and loves nothing more than to be on top of you 24/7. Only someone experienced with larger dogs and with the right environment can be considered.

York County
York, Maine