WONDERFUL NEWS: Cocoa's been Adopted!

Absolutely wonderful news:

Cocoa was adopted this morning, by a retired gentleman living in Burlington. He is an experienced dog owner who is looking for a full-time companion, which I'm sure Cocoa will relish!

The adoption was made possible thanks to Petfinder.com!

I want to thank Cocoa's new owner for being patient with us, as we took a tour of his home and spoke with him in length about his "special requirements and behavioral issues". I feel confident that this is an ideal situation for Cocoa, and with his new owner's guidance and training, he'll become a wonderful well behaved companion.

Tremendous Improvements Seen

Cocoa is making tremendous imporovements thus far. Yesterday was the first day without any agression issues at all. He spent the day with cow hooves and toys all around, amongst all of our dogs, and he displayed all the proper doggie social behaviors. I can't tell you how proud I am of him. At this point, I can now say he can be adopted by families owning other dogs.
We had a setback as far as his housetraining is concerned, but these things happen. He also managed to capture and kill one of my chicks, which I wasn't too happy about! However, this is a behavior that I may not bother with, since it's most likely he'll be adopted by a family w/out chickens roaming about freeing on their property.

Cocoa Updates

Cocoa continues make progress. We can now take away any bones or toys from him at any time, so long as there are no other dogs around. He has accepted us as being dominant over him, but is still having issues around other dogs.
Cocoa is now walking quite well on a leash, so long as he is on a choker. He is no longer crying all night when we place him in the crate in the evenings, and willingly goes in when it's time.
We are now concentrating on his jumping, and his anti-social behavior towards other dogs.

Cocoa Updates

We have just discovered that Cocoa is actually only 9 months old, according to his Vet Records. He has made a great deal of progress since arriving here. He has accepted us as being the alpha's of our pack, and does not growl, snarl, or even put up a fight when ever we take away his bones. This is an extremely important milestone for him!
He has also learned to stay off the couches. He is not allowed in any of our rooms alone, this way he is under constant supervision. He still does not ask to be let outside, but he now responds to the verbal cues of "Outside?".
He still has some aggression issues with one of my dogs, but it is diminishing. I feel confident that it won't be long before learns everything he needs inorder to find his lifelong human companion.

Help needed for a homeless doggie!

I would like to introduce you to "cocoa", he is a small terrier/lab mix who is in need of a new home. He is currently staying with us and our pack, until a new home can be found. He is a dog with "special needs" which I will describe shortly. An ideal adoption family would be experienced dog owners, who have previously dealt with dogs having dominance issues. It would be best if this family had no small children.



On the positive side:

He is young, 9 months old, and has been neutered. He is completely healthy and up to date with all of his shots. He is a loving, friendly dog who definately wants to be a part of a family. Unfortunately, at this time, he believes he should be the head of the family. He is relatively small, under 35lbs, short haired, intellegent, and surprisingly very good with cats! He is leash trained, can sit on command and give paw.

Cocoa's "special needs" are as follows:

1. Resource Guarding/Aggression: Cocoa will lunge and attack if he thinks someone is planning to take away whatever it is he is guarding. I have seen him act this way towards bones, squeeky toys, garbage cans, and even a piece of paper.

2. Dog aggression: Cocoa has poor doggie social skills, and will growl, lunge and attack other dogs if he perceives them as a threat or a danger to him.

3. Dominance: Cocoa definately displays a dominance streak towards other dogs as well as humans. 4. House Training: He is not completely house trained.

5. History: He has a history of biting humans as well as other dogs. He was originally adopted from a no-kill animal shelter in North Carolina.

My husband and I are doing everything we can to resolve as many of the behavioral/training issues as we can, and I will issue updates on this site whenever Cocoa reaches a milestone achievement. However I will accept an adoptive family at any time, so long as they are experienced dog owners with no small children.

If you would like to see Cocoa in person, or are interested in obtaining more information, please email me at: marydamooch@yahoo.com

Donations of dog food, bones, toys, leashes, collars, etc., are requested in order to help us out in this attempt to rehabilitate this Westford Doggie. Thanks for your interest, and wish us luck!

Mary Campi
Westford Dog Warden
802-752-7311

FOUND DOG / Osgood Hill Rd

Is this your dog?
This little guy was found chasing cars on Saturday Sept 7th on Osgood Hill Rd. He is a young lab mix, maybe 20 - 30 lbs. Please call the Westford Dog Warden if you have any information regarding who he belongs to.