Jersey our Longtimer is Looking for a home...

It always amazes me how wonderful dogs end up staying at a shelter for much longer than I would ever expect.  There are often over 150 available dogs at any one time, so there is always a variety of dogs to choose from.  Unfortunately, some dogs just continue to get overlooked.  When you volunteer weekly like I do, you really get to see a dogs personality and know how fantastic they truly are.  Jersey is exactly that!

Today officially marks the 6 month anniversary of Jersey arriving at the shelter.  On August 10th, last summer, Jersey came into the shelter as a stray.  I would say a large majority of our dogs are strays and the shelter will hold the dog for at least 5 days.  The hope is that the owner will find him/her at the shelter and come to reclaim them.  Of course Jersey wasn't micro-chipped, so when his 5 days were up and no one came for him, he became available for adoption. 

Jersey came in as a pretty healthy dog, almost 50lbs, no heartworms and seemed to be in good shape.  Jersey is between 1-3 yrs old and is labeled as a pit mix.  When first meeting Jersey, he seemed like any other high energy dog.  He loved to be outside, he wants to get where he is going and was pretty friendly with any person he met.  There was nothing out of the ordinary that made me think he was going to have a hard time finding a home.  I would harness him on walks so he would be a little easier to manage.  He was very much interested in treats and knew how to sit.  He seemed very adoptable to me and I was sure there would be a family for him anytime.
 
Here we are 6 months in and Jersey is still waiting.  He is such the studly guy and totally loveable.  There was a short period of time when he was able to be in a foster home, but found his way back to the shelter.  He has been worked into play groups to see how he meshes with other dogs.  This is what was noted after his first inital playgroup:      
Jersey was an interesting dog. Played well with Abel, rough but good bite inhibition with play. However, the energy level of Starbucks set off Jersey. He was lungy and quickly escalated play to inappropriate behavior. Once apart he calmed and was attentive to touching and interaction with me, soft eyes etc.. I think he'd be best in a home with a medium energy dog. We need to determine if he's reacts to a certain look of dog or energy level. Again, Abel and him played and got along great. Starbucks kept wanting to play and run from Jersey. We will try more dogs with Jersey.

Today we introduced Jersey into a different playgroup to see how he would be with some different energy.  It was pretty positive and again we were able to see just how great Jersey is.  You can click this link Playgroup - Jersey and Jorge! to watch a short video of him interacting with a couple other dogs from today's playgroup.  

I wanted to help out my buddy Jersey and see if I could share his story.  He is another dog that has been overlooked and deserves the chance at a fantastic home.  I leave you with this video I made of him, showing off his awesomeness!  Please share his story and lets find him a home!