Tessie Yellow Labrador Retriever ST JACOBS, ON

Tessie is a darling yellow Labrador Retriever, DOB June 20/15 who joined our rescue as a retired breeding dog from a commercial breeder.

Tessie is settling into her new routine in her foster home as a cherished house pet and loving soft beds and couches! She has attended basic training and has blossomed with TLC.

From her Foster family:

YOUR FOSTER DOG'S NAME: Tessie
YOUR FOSTER DOG'S ENERGY LEVEL: Medium

Tessie has been enjoying 2 walks a day, a shorter morning walk approx 15mins and a longer afternoon walk 30 mins. She likes playtime outside following her walk to do a run around the yard. She enjoys chew toys or bully sticks inside and watching the wildlife from the windows

Tessie is very food motivated

GOOD WITH DOGS? Yes she gets along great with her foster brother and has done well with pup visitors with a proper introduction

HOW DOES YOUR FOSTER DOG RESPOND TO DOGS MET ON WALKS? She has drastically improved in the last few weeks and does not often bother when she sees other dogs on leash but does not enjoy a head on incoming interaction as it is overwhelming when she’s focused on her strut on the walk

HOW DOES YOUR FOSTER DOG RESPOND TO DOGS SEEN FROM THE YARD OR INSIDE THE HOME? Does not often respond

HOW DOES YOUR FOSTER DOG RESPOND TO PEOPLE MET ON WALKS? Tessie gets very excited and when excited does hop on all fours and attempts to jump to meet new friends. She is working hard on this and does well if asked to sit with treat incentives as people approach

GOOD WITH STRANGERS? PLEASE PROVIDE PEOPLE INTERACTION DETAILS. Has had positive interactions with new people coming into the home, the more people to give her love the better!

As people approach the door her foster brother unfortunately encourages Tessie to join in on a bark or two

GOOD WITH CATS? Yes - much better with cats now. She didn't pay attention to the older cat in her foster home, but tries to play with their kitten.

GUARDING ISSUES? NONE

HOUSETRAINED? Yes

CRATE TRAINED? No
Tessie does not enjoy the confined space and does better when she can roam freely, she is not at all destructive and will snooze on the couch often.

I LEAVE MY FOSTER DOG ALONE FOR ___H PER DAY. 5

IS YOUR FOSTER DOG DESTRUCTIVE? No

DOES YOUR FOSTER DOG SHOW SIGNS OF SEPARATION ANXIETY? No

PLEASE ELABORATE ON YOUR FOSTER DOG'S LEASH SKILLS. Tessie is a strong girl and walks best with a canny collar and positive treat reinforcement. Best to anticipate her triggers such as squirrels and distract prior.

HOW DOES YOUR FOSTER DOG REACT WHEN YOU TOUCH THE EARS, TAIL, PAWS ETC. PLEASE ELABORATE.
Anything in the way of affection Tessie loves and flips onto her back for more love and belly rubs

PERSONALITY? Very sweet and affectionate, wants to be next to her people and loves snuggles. She is happy to watch me cook in the kitchen or relax on the couch with us. She is so loving, and loves with all her heart. She will remind you to pet her. She is goofy and loves to hop and wiggle when food is involved.

THINGS NEEDING IMPROVEMENT? We are continuing to work on her jumping with excitement usually outside or with new people. She has come a long way with distraction on walks and her strength on leash but improving each day.

MEDICAL CONCERNS?
This poor girl arrived with multiple scars from a rough life, and a hard bump on her left front ankle area from an old injury. We did xrays during her spay and there are no concerns about this bump, it's an old injury that has healed and is not causing her any issues at all.

Tessie arrived overweight but has done a great job with portion control and exercise, and is now an ideal healthy weight.

Tessie is on Joint XL (green lipped mussel joint supplement) as all dogs her size and age should be. No allergies noted.

Bully sticks are her favourite or liver treats

POTTY HABITS: Housetrained. Goes out first thing in the morning and first thing when we get home, then right before bed. She will often pee on walks but prefers more privacy of the backyard for poops

Skills/Commands
SIT? Yes
STAY? No
WAIT? Yes
LAY DOWN? No
LEAVE IT? Yes
OFF? No
DOWN? Yes
COME? Yes

BED TIME HABITS? Prefers free roam at night and moves from floor to couch to other floor

Tessie does like an early morning but has adapted to the occasional sleep in on weekends.

We typically walk right after her breakfast and right after her dinner so she has come to expect that as her routine.

QUIRKS/CHALLENGES/AREAS NEEDING IMPROVEMENT: She has so much love to give and is so affectionate that sometimes needs a reminder of personal space but when reminded will go relax on the floor nearby.

As mentioned above continue to work on strength on walks and distractions from prey drive.

Tessie is very smart and food motivated and does best with consistency to learn. She is very affectionate and loving a very good interactive companion. She loves a good snuggle and belly rub. She has made many strides with commands and walking and has found her comfort in order to relax and enjoy quiet time at home.

TRANSPORTATION? We use her harness and a seatbelt clip for safety. At first Tessie was nervous in the car but she has progressed with each ride and beginning to settle and lay down on the drive. No motion sickness, no reaction to things outside just needs some pets and reassurance.

The perfect home for Tessie would be a home with as much love as she has, whether that’s one person dedicated to her or multiple people to provide her that affection in return. She needs someone to commit to her ongoing training to continue with learning loose leash walking and ignoring wildlife etc, and a strong person with walks.

She likes other dogs as companions when her humans aren’t around but would be fine as the only dog as long as her people were loving.
She loves a good zoom around a secure yard. Ultimately the best thing I can hope for her future is someone to snuggle her back, meet her fitness needs and training goals as well as mental stimulation and Tessie would prefer a fenced yard

*Must be located within Ontario Canada
*Inground/ground level Pools and ponds must be separately fenced from yard

Hobo Haven is located in St Jacobs Ontario.
For approved families, we require two in person meetings in St Jacobs ON
If you are not willing to drive to this location to meet our dogs after you are approved, please do not apply. We do not meet elsewhere nor deliver dogs. Adoptions within Ontario only

If you are interested in applying to adopt a dog from Hobo Haven Rescue, please use this link to submit an application https://hobohavenrescue.ca/dog-adoption-application

Tessie's Adoption is $500: fees include spay/neuter, microchip, bloodwork, age appropriate vaccinations, deworming, flea/tick/heartworm prevention, and all vet care during their time with us.

For anyone possibly interested in adopting from Hobo Haven, here are a few, but not all, criteria to be aware of:

We require all serious applicants to watched "Petfooled" which is a free documentary at this link https://tubitv.com/movies/494913/pet-fooled
, or on Amazon prime or also a variety of other free video sites.

Our motto is "know better/do better" and we ask all adoptive families to be as committed to providing our dogs with quality nutrition as they are to providing love. This documentary is not advertising, purely just educational.

An adoption application must be completed and approved, including vet references as well as a home visit (Zoom during COVID), prior to meeting available dogs.
All dogs are placed in loving foster homes during their time with us, we do not have a shelter to visit.
We do not allow applicants to visit until pre-approved for adoptions. Our dogs are in private foster family homes, not in a shelter.
Any questions may be emailed to hobohavenpetrescue@gmail.com

Due to the high volume of applications received for our dogs, priority of replies will be given to applicants who meet the criteria mentioned in the pet's profile.

Please do not ask us to make exceptions, we set these protocols and policies for the dog's best interests which are always our highest priority.

Emails are best, our volunteers work full time and are often not able to answer or return phone calls in a timely manner.