Journey
Two year old sable boy, tall as a small horse, with a big bark and a soft soul.
If you have ever wanted a mini horse but your HOA said no, we would like to introduce you to Journey. He is two years old, sable, long legged, and a healthy eighty pounds. He is very tall. Guests will comment. Children will point. Someone at the vet will say "wow, he's a big boy" as though you had not noticed. This is your life now.
He is also very sweet, which is the part the height does not warn you about.
Journey did not get much of a puppyhood. He spent his young life tied to a tree, watching the world happen at the end of a rope. He has been making up for lost time ever since, and he has done it without a shred of bitterness. He still has some puppy left in him, which mostly shows up as joyful jumping when he gets excited. For that reason he is looking for a home without small children. Not because he means any harm, but because eighty pounds of enthusiasm is a lot for a small person to absorb.
With other dogs, Journey is remarkably easy. Female dogs of every size, including the pushy ones who like to run things, and smaller male dogs too. His best friend at his foster home is a blind and deaf dachshund puppy, roughly the size of one of his legs, and he plays with her like she is made of antique glass. She has no idea she is small. He has decided not to bring it up. If you want to know what is in a dog's heart, watch how he handles someone more fragile than he is. Journey passes that test every single day.
At most he is medium energy. He enjoys a walk, loves patrolling the yard, and has strong opinions about what is going on out there. But his favorite activity by an enormous margin is being wherever his humans are. Sit down and he will lay his head across your feet, which is partly affection and partly a security system. If you are planning to stand up, he would like advance notice. Bathroom trips are a team activity. You will not be lonely. You will occasionally be trapped.
He is a protector of his home and family and he has a big boy bark to prove it. Anyone considering an uninvited visit will be advised, at volume and at length, that this is not the house to try. Delivery drivers will learn. Squirrels have already learned. Once Journey decides you are welcome, though, the whole performance collapses into a wagging, wiggling mess and you will wonder what all the noise was about.
Journey loves people generally and men particularly, and he is not subtle about the preference. He is a man's man through and through and would really like one around. But his future mama should not take it personally, because she will be loved right along with everybody else, and nobody is getting treated like a spare human here. Almost never. Hardly ever, really. Fine, occasionally, if dad is home and there is a ball involved and mama happens to be standing between Journey and the door. But the moment dad leaves the house, mama is promoted to Best Human Alive, effective immediately, no hard feelings. And if the day ever comes when mama needs protecting, there is no question at all about where Journey will be standing. Right in front of her.
He is house trained, crate trained, and reliable with free roam, which is a lot of boxes checked for a dog who started with nothing. And bath time is not a problem, because Journey has outsourced it. Turn on the sprinkler and he will handle the entire process himself, with tremendous enthusiasm and no supervision required. Grooming budget: one lawn.
Journey is looking for a family without small children, with the right dog friends or none at all, and ideally with a man in the house he can appoint as his person. He has waited a long time to belong to somebody. He is ready when you are.
Think you might be Journey's people? Learn more and apply at gsdrescue.org.
