Meet Felix.
He is a very sweet pooch who had a rough beginning. More on that later. For now, Felix would like you to know who he is today. He has dictated his story to his two foster moms, Anne and Barbara. We've faithfully recorded what he's said.
But first, the basics. Felix is a 3-year-old, 65-lb neutered male American Pit Bull Terrier mix. This handsome "blue nose" is a sweet, polite dog who is very responsive to his person. Already house trained, this goofy boy also knows basic commands, including sit, down, stay, and come. He is learning to walk to heel, and is being kennel trained. Oh, and he's kind of lazy. And he snores.
See more pictures here! See a video of Felix here!
But first, the basics. Felix is a 3-year-old, 65-lb neutered male American Pit Bull Terrier mix. This handsome "blue nose" is a sweet, polite dog who is very responsive to his person. Already house trained, this goofy boy also knows basic commands, including sit, down, stay, and come. He is learning to walk to heel, and is being kennel trained. Oh, and he's kind of lazy. And he snores.
See more pictures here! See a video of Felix here!
Felix does well with dogs...
Photo by Laura Wagner
There are few things he loves doing more than spending a day playing with other pooches. Okay, except maybe snuggling with his human. Or chewing on a Kong, or lazying around in the sunshine, or.... At any rate, he gets along great with other dogs. He would be overjoyed to be in a home with a well-matched dog. Not only could he offer canine companionship, but he also thinks he could learn a lot from another dog, like how to be normal. Well, as normal as dogs are.
...And cats, too.
Felix shares his foster home with two cats. It was the cats' first time living with another dog. They were pretty freaked out. At first they hid. Then they hissed a lot. Now they just ignore him. Felix wishes they would be friendlier and let him sleep next to them, but he respects that they aren't interested in him. He suspects they think they are better than him, but he's not too insulted. Sometimes, though, they sniff him. He's overjoyed when they do this, but does his best to ignore them and not wag his tail. And yes, he knows he has a cat's name.
He had a rough beginning.
Photo by Rob McNicholas
He doesn't remember much about what happened before he was fostered, but he ended up in an animal shelter. Here's a photo—you can see how skinny he was. He was only 45 lbs! Whatever happened to him left him so scared he wouldn't come out of his kennel. But two women who volunteered there looked into his eyes and saw how much love he had to offer—he only needed time to open up. They teamed up sprung him from the kennel and took him into their homes. Suddenly, he had a warm, quite place to sleep! And yummy food! And structure! And he was told what was okay and what wasn't okay! And most of all, he learned he didn't have to worry about everything—he could trust his foster moms and other humans to take care of him.
He doesn't like to talk much about those early days--quite frankly, he's a little embarrassed about how scared and cautious he was. But he also thinks its important for people to know his past because he's still recovering from it. He's come a long way, gaining confidence with his foster families and learning how to be a regular old dog. He hopes that whoever adopts him will understand that his heart was broken once and that he may need a little time to open up, especially towards men.
He doesn't like to talk much about those early days--quite frankly, he's a little embarrassed about how scared and cautious he was. But he also thinks its important for people to know his past because he's still recovering from it. He's come a long way, gaining confidence with his foster families and learning how to be a regular old dog. He hopes that whoever adopts him will understand that his heart was broken once and that he may need a little time to open up, especially towards men.
The ideal home.
Felix is looking for a person or people who will play with him, snuggle with him, give him some place safe and warm to sleep, and feed him lots of yummy treats when he's good (and he tries so hard to be good!). The ideal home will be calm, patient, with no young children, and will provide him continued structure. And he admits that sometimes he gets so excited and happy to see his person that he can't control himself and will act like a puppy, jumping up and nipping. His foster moms have told him this is inappropriate, and he is trying oh-so-hard to check himself and stay calm. He hopes his future parents will continue to work with him on this.
Interested?
Felix wants to hear from you! His adoption will be handled by Any Dog Rescue. If you are interested, please contact his foster moms to arrange a visit. We prefer adopters within reasonable driving distance from Berkeley. What's reasonable? Maybe 1-2 hours. If you live further though, please contact us; we are always willing to make exceptions for a promising home! You can email him directly at felix (at) adoptfelix (dot) com, or use the handy form below.
Felix's library
Felix doesn't read. What did you expect? He's a dog! But his foster moms like to read lots of books on doggie behavior to learn how to communicate with him and other dogs. Here are some books that they've found helpful (he especially likes the ones that tell them to feed him lots of tasty treats. He'll do anything for kibble: sit, stay, down, you name it.) Anyway, he leaves the book descriptions to his foster moms. Most of them focus on positive training, a philosophy that reinforces desirable behaviors with rewards.
The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell. This excellent resource is an unusual dog book in that it focuses on human behavior, not canine. It makes you aware of what messages you are sending, unconsciously, to your dog, through your body language, through your tone of voice, and so on.
For Love of a Dog by Patricia McConnell. This book complements The Other End of the Leash well, in that it explains the signals that your dog is giving you. There's lots of great information on how to read your dog's body language.
How to be the Leader of the Pack by Patricia McConnell. Though short, this book is an excellent primer on several key steps you can take to establish yourself as the benevolent leader, thereby earning your dog's respect and love. She does not, however, condone alpha rolling or other fear based leadership techniques.
On Talking Terms with Dog by Turid Raas. A slim book full of photos that help you interpret dog body language. Specifically, Raas, a Swedish dog trainer, deals with both recognizing anxiety in your dog and using body language to help calm them down.
The Dog Listener by Jan Fennell. This English dog trainer asserts we can become the alpha dog through four simple techniques that tap in to the dog's natural language and behavior.
The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell. This excellent resource is an unusual dog book in that it focuses on human behavior, not canine. It makes you aware of what messages you are sending, unconsciously, to your dog, through your body language, through your tone of voice, and so on.
For Love of a Dog by Patricia McConnell. This book complements The Other End of the Leash well, in that it explains the signals that your dog is giving you. There's lots of great information on how to read your dog's body language.
How to be the Leader of the Pack by Patricia McConnell. Though short, this book is an excellent primer on several key steps you can take to establish yourself as the benevolent leader, thereby earning your dog's respect and love. She does not, however, condone alpha rolling or other fear based leadership techniques.
On Talking Terms with Dog by Turid Raas. A slim book full of photos that help you interpret dog body language. Specifically, Raas, a Swedish dog trainer, deals with both recognizing anxiety in your dog and using body language to help calm them down.
The Dog Listener by Jan Fennell. This English dog trainer asserts we can become the alpha dog through four simple techniques that tap in to the dog's natural language and behavior.