About Ares

This is our dog, Ares. Pun was intended, but with some age and growth, this boy has become a handful. He is loving, sweet, and cuddly, all what is wanted with a dog, please read the rest before thinking he is perfect for you. He responds exceptionally well to training sessions with tasty treats, and will do anything we have trained him to for him to receive the new toy he sees. He knows basic commands: sit, lay down, come, stay (to an extent), off, (to an extent) heel (to an extent, no (not to eat food that falls) (more explained further.) He also knows some tricks: Speak, Shake or Paw, Other Paw, Spin, Roll over, Catch, Bang! 'Put the toy in my hand'(with the hand motion to catch the toy directly under his mouth) ... The word 'drop' simply does not work. He is stubborn with that word and it can turn into a tug of war to get a toy from him. This is where I start to explain how we can't handle him & I will try my best to explain the different experiences we have with him that make him very tough to handle. I (Ares's Dad) work full time and my finance (Ares's Mom) is finishing up the last of college so will soon also be full time. What is odd to keep in mind as you continue reading, is that Ares is pretty much free to roam the house as long as we are home. He can respond to his Mom very well, is kind and sweet to us before I go to work. I understand that all dogs get excited when a family member gets home after a long day. The minute I get home, he goes berserk. Like the loony tune Tasmanian devil. He is so excited to see me when I get home, it's amazing he has that much love, but is overwhelming after working long hours. I can't sit on the couch without him rough housing with me. Also can't lay down on my own bed without him rough housing with me. Maybe it's the problem of making the rule at the beginning that he is not allowed on the bed. He used to sleep on his bed by us, but after so many nights of him slapping his paw on the bed, or waking us in the middle of the night, we began to make his bed location at the crate by the front door. He is crate trained, but I will explain more in a bit. We love Ares. However, this guy has some tendencies to act territorial and aggressive. We don't have a back yard where we live. So multiple times a day, we have to walk him around the neighborhood. This guy is a major puller out of instinct. Pit pulley we have called him. We have an easy walk, where the harness has the leash clipped to his chest, and this reduces his pulling abilities more than the traditional harness. There is not a single dog he does not want to smell. He used to walk around and not bat an eye at other dogs, but when he was about 8months, a neighbor dog (a lot smaller) ran up and attacked him while we were walking in the street. Unfortunately, all of his bad behavior started after this and has escalated since. His aggression and territorial behavior happens especially with a brand new toy, if we take it away from him too soon he will react negatively and become dominant over the toy. We live by a tennis court, and he loves pulling us in the direction to find free leftover tennis balls. After a couple days or so, he can break through the ball and begin ripping it apart. Well, he also will eat the ball if we don't take it from him. He will snap and become territorial if he feels that we know it is time to take the ball away from him. This was random, but he wanted to claim my shoes the other day; he was not shredding them or anything because he has never fully destroyed a single shoe and knows better. He was laying by them and pushing them around with his nose, yea he knew they were mine and was probably getting my smell. When I went over to take the shoes and put them away, he gave me the whale eye, like 'don't you think about it, these are mine now' I bent over to grab a shoe and before I could get the other he snarled and snapped at me when I tried to correct him. As far as the crate training, he did very well learning 'Go to your bed' meant go chill in there and lay down till we get back home. If he was a bit to handle at a moment, either rough housing with me or a guest, or if he threw up and would get in the way for us to clean it, we would send him there. He responds to 'go to your bed' exceptionally well with a treat. However, if he is being nasty, like territorial over a toy or my shoes, and we have to send him to the crate, as we close the door he will lunge at the crate and our hands as you are trying to close it. Our safe way to handle this, is to tell him to get in there, and make him lay down away from the door, and a solid 'stay', in order for us to close the door safely. Ares needs a new home. One with a backyard, and extremely patient new owners. We will not give him up to just anybody and we will send him with all of his toys and treats we have for him at the time. Above all, he is a loving and extremely loyal dog and we're so sad to let him go.

Bexar County
San Antonio, Texas