Brady Labrador Retriever Mix Scituate, MA

Brady is a wonderful dog! He has come such a long way since we first met him back in March 2021. That’s right, he has been with us since March looking for his new forever home!

Brady is about 5-years-old with the energy of a much younger pup! He would love someone who loves running the beach, hikes or anything fun outside! He would do best in an older teen or adult only home. He is very opportunistic and would need to be crated when left alone. He enjoys destroying fluffy toys, chasing tennis balls, and running around!

Brady first came to us bouncing off the walls full of energy and appeared to be dog reactive. He would bark and lunge at dogs passing his kennel and a lot of the time out on a walk. But over time that behavior seemed to diminish because we were rewarding him for alternative behaviors like walking nicely with us on leash and looking at us when a dog walked by.

However Brady still had some work to do. It was very difficult to introduce Brady to anyone because he would jump up at their face as soon as the new person engaged with him. He also didn’t know how to behave in a public setting and couldn’t settle down when anywhere “in the real world.” This did not make him look very adoptable.

Luckily, we had the opportunity to send Brady to a positive reinforcement based training program where he would learn more appropriate skills for the real world AND get to work on interacting more appropriately with dogs both on and off leash!

Brady is now walked on a head halter when in a public setting. This helps manage his behavior and keep him more connected to the person holding the leash. He can now tolerate looking at people and dogs and not have serious fixations on them! He definitely wants to say hi to people, but knows he should be calm and sitting before saying hi. His jumping up behavior has decreased and you can see him trying to be good boy! He is not perfect, which is ok, but he is learning and trying so hard, which is amazing to see! He really does want to please his person.

Brady also has learned to interact with dogs better. Off leash, he is still learning appropriate behavior but understands corrections from other dogs and changes his behavior appropriately. He comes on very strong at first and is still working on that part. He is not a dog for every dog and we still feel it is best to have him be the only pet in the home. BUT, if the right person came along with another very tolerant dog who can handle Brady and help him continue to learn appropriate interactions, we would be up for a meet and greet.

Brady can also now handle being in a public setting, pet stores, Lowe’s, training centers without being completely hyper and over the top anxious about what to do. THIS is the progress he needed! We now feel he will be able to calm and settle once in a home. He just will need some consistency and patience.

Brady is still a work in progress and his new family needs to be ready to continue to work with him on his manners!

Adoptions are by appointment only. For more information on this pet email adopt@scituateanimalshelter.org

All dogs are fixed, vaccinated, dewormed, flea treated and heartworm/lyme tested before adoption. Adoption fees are $360 for a dog, $460 for a puppy, and $250 for a dog with special needs or senior over 10 years old.