Bolt came to SHRF as an owner surrender due to the owner being too inexperienced to work with him because of his alpha personality and resource guarding. We do not know his history prior to that.
We do know that Bolt's forever home will need to be with an experienced dog and Husky owner who knows how to take charge and continue to work on his resource guarding. Bolt’s foster family is continuing to work with him and has made some progress. Because of his resource guarding, Bolt should not be in a home with young children.
Bolt will talk from time to time, as Huskies are known to do and the new owner will need to learn his vocal signals. He makes a growling sound from time to time but not in an aggressive manner. He even growls while playing with his foster brothers and sisters, which is common when dogs wrestle or play tug-o-war. This boy gets along well with other dogs, and he would love to have a playmate in his new home.
Bolt is crate trained and loves his crate seeing it as his private den. He will sleep in there at night (the door can be left open) and will go in and out during the day. He is possessive of his space, and he will growl if someone gets too close.
Bolt is housebroken, although when he first arrived in his foster home, he had a couple of accidents. Since then, there have not been any reoccurrences, so it appears to just be a matter of knowing the new routine and environment.
Bolt does not like to be restrained or held tight and will see this as threatening, resulting in him reacting by growling or trying to bite. Therefore, he should be muzzled for any vet visits or caution used if for some reason his new owner needs to restrain him for any reason. This is something that will require continuous work.
When going for a walk Bolt is quite inquisitive and likes to wander to check out all the smells. Other than that, he walks well on lead. Like most dogs, Bolt enjoys riding in a car and watching the world go by.
Bolt is responsive to commands and for the most part will listen when told to do or not to do something. He enjoys having his neck area scratched as well as his shoulders and back. He may also roll over or onto his side for a belly rub.
He is a face licker and has also been taught to jump up and take a treat from your mouth or hands. However, he does not always know when it is appropriate to do that and when not to so you may lose that snack you were carrying. If this is a trick that his new owner wants to continue, more work will be needed so that Bolt knows to only take a treat on command and not when he sees something tasty that is not intended for him.
Bolt is healthy, heartworm negative, neutered and up to date on all vaccines.. He is, in some ways, a work in progress where he just needs his forever owner(s) to understand him, have patience, and continue to work with him. In time the negative behaviors that he has learned will go away. He deserves a loving, forever home so fill out an adoption application at the upper left corner of this page, today.
Dog
Name: Bolt