About Kona

Owner surrender! We are helping to find him a new home. Please complete an application if interested. Owner notes: Kona is a 2.5-year-old Neutered Kelpie/German Shepherd/Siberian Husky mix. He has the coloring of a Shepherd with white on his chest, neck and nose. He has one blue eye and one marbled eye, and he weighs 56 lbs. In August of 2020 I saw Kona on a website where his owner/foster mom had listed him for adoption. We set up a meet and greet at a park and Kona became ours the next day. Kona was very friendly but not trusting, of course. As expected, he was skittish to his new family. He was well behaved and had good manners. When he joined our family, he was accustomed to being on the furniture, but quickly learned that he was not allowed to do that here. He was house and crate trained; but very shy and quiet. We had to train him to ring a bell tied to the door handle to go outside because he would not make a sound. He had some fun tricks and we added to them over time. He is very smart and learns quickly. He does lots of tricks for treat which he takes with his lips gently from your fingers or can sit back several feet and can catch the treat out of the air if you toss them gently to him. Kona walks well on a leash, and he obeys to the commands sit, stay, down and heel. We found out quickly how much he loves water of all forms. He plays with water from the hose by jumping at it and drinking and biting the hose stream. His very favorite thing to do is swim. He runs up and down the beach at top speed. He enjoys rides on the boat, but I suspect that is only because it is on the water and when we stop he can jump in and swim. Kona also loves to go for rides in the truck. Rides to the dump are the best start to his Saturdays. I can't say for sure that Kona gets along with cats. Our cat has always put Kona in his place whenever a faceoff occurs. As with all dogs, there were a few things that took patience with Kona. As much as he likes the water he has to be bribed with peanut butter to get him into the bath tub for a bath, even a rinse after swimming in the river. It took him a year to trust us enough for him to lie on his side for us to scratch and tickle his sides and stomach. He still has a hard time with someone holding his feet to trim his nails without growling and pulling his feet away. He gets upset and vocalizes when he is toweled off after a bath, as he does not like his shoulders touched. Kona is well behaved, fun and happy about 90% of the time; but is quick to change mood letting you know with growls and snarls that he has had enough. Kona has had a 2 overnight week-long training sessions, as well as weekly evening sessions at obedience school. We have been working on his food aggression with activities that obedience trainers assigned, but Kona occasionally still growls and snaps if he is given a higher value snacks that takes time to eat; like rawhides or Kong's filled with peanut butter. Kona's crate is a safe space and he will go into the crate just to get a break, but he does not like to be closed in even if he goes in on his own. We have seen that Kona enjoys playing with other dogs once he is introduced properly. He is an aggressive player and expects all dog friends to play similarly. He does well with supervision to make sure that nothing gets out of hand. Due to the bit of resource-guarding over food, it may be best if play with other dogs was limited to a time when no food or toys were around until he got to know them better. He loves to play with pull toys with people, and keeps the toy box empty bringing you things to play with him. Stuffed toys do not stand a chance; they will be shredded in hours, if not minutes. When he goes to other dogs houses, he tends to head right for their toy bin to play with anything he can find. We have found that Kona loves to be outside in any weather, but especially when the sun is shining down on him. He is a bit of a wanderer, but does wonderfully when closed in on an elevated deck where he can safely sun himself for hours when he wants. He loves to run and jump and chase a ball (as long as he doesn't have to give it back to you) when he has a chance. I think he would thrive in a fenced in yard where he can take breaks from prancing around and burning energy with a good nap in the sun on his own terms. If interested in this handsome boy please fill out an adoption application www.rescueangelssomd.com. Adoptions within 100 mile radius of Waldorf, MD only. Indoor homes only.

Charles County
Waldorf, Maryland 20601