About Winston

Description: Winston is a 3-year-old neutered male Saint Bernard who weighs approximately 115 lbs. He was the smallest of his litter, and has stayed on the small side even as an adult. I have had him since he was 12 weeks old, and it is a very difficult decision to post him here for potential rehoming. I absolutely adore him, and he was my gift to myself after finishing breast cancer treatment in late 2021. He is a huge goofball, is great with every human adult he's met in my home, and loves to be around his people. I'd put him somewhere in between wet mouth and dry mouth (I've fostered both before, and while he does drool a bit, it's mostly after eating, drinking, exercise, etc.). He knows sit, lie down, bow, touch, wipe (to get droolies off), roll over, spin, and has an emergency recall word (jackpot!). He walks well on the leash in general and does not pull at all; he is, however, leash reactive when he comes across another dog in a yard. He is muzzle and prong-collar trained, and I use both for walks. He is INCREDIBLY strong, even for his smaller size. He is also crate trained and goes in immediately with the command 'in your crate,' and he voluntarily goes into his crate often during the day for naps. He is 100% housebroken. He plays fetch and tug and is a great couch potato in between play time. He sings the song of his people when he hears firetruck sirens. He LOVES laying on the AC vents this time of year He is up to date on vaccinations, flea/tick/heartworm preventiveand was neutered at 11 months of age. Reason for potential rehome: He has lived peacefully with both my other dog (8-year-old, 60-lb high energy lab/pittie mix) and cat for most of his life, but in the last 6 months or so, he has become increasingly aggressive toward both (increase in frequency and intensity). These events were (I believe) triggered by an incident with a pet sitter leaving food out, and I was managing them effectively for several months, but they have progressively escalated over the last several months. It is so far isolated to indoor spaces (they still go outside at the same time for potty breaks) and is mostly resource-related guarding that includes posturing with a lot of barking, snarling, and lunging; fortunately, there have been no injuries, no bites, no broken skin, no blood, but I'm pretty decently experienced with dogs, and relatively experienced with Saint Bernards, specifically, and my gut is telling me that I'm one poorly-managed or inattentive incident away from him injuring one of my other animals. Since the significant escalation about a month ago, I am essentially doing 'crate and rotate' with the dogs, keeping them separated into different areas of the house at all times, and only allowing them in the same space when Winston is crated. I do have an appointment with his veterinarian on Wednesday 8/12 to rule out a health reason for the escalation. Although he was successfully introduced to my boyfriend's dog (a very confident, 20-lb mix who knows how to put a dog of any size in it's place with clear and immediate feedback) 4 months ago over the course of several visits, I will only consider homes with no other dogs and either no or very-dog-savvy cats. I also think it's best for him to go to a home with either no children/grandchildren or kids over age 12. Note that I used to be an adoption coordinator for a large-breed dog rescue that disbanded shortly after the COVID pandemic, and I would like to follow an adoption process similar to theirs for anyone interested. This would consist of: (1) a 30- to 60-minute phone screening, (2) a veterinary reference check, (3) a home visit without Winston, (4) a meet-and-greet with Winston, (5) signing of adoption contract that stipulates he is to be returned to me if the adoption is not successful. All of these are designed to ensure a great match, successful long-term placement, and Winston's safety/security.

Contact

Anne Arundel County
Pasadena, Maryland

Lisa Rinehart: 4102184480

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