Dogs & Cats for Adoption

 

MEET COPELAND - Special Needs Case

Copeland is a two year old beagle with lots of love to share! He is a small little guy weighing in at about 24 pounds.

Copeland is a special case that is going to take a really special someone to be his happily ever after. At present, he is working on some behavioral modification in the hopes of rehabilitating him enough that he can be placed in a home successfully. However, please read his story below and feel free to email us at bark@pawtropolis.com if you’d like more details on his situation and how you can help with his rehabilitation.

Copeland was originally brought into Helping Paws Rescue in February 2017. He was an owner surrender to Barrow County Animal Control and not much is known about his past life before arriving at the shelter. At the shelter, he was fearful and they reported that he was distrustful of men, so when we came to evaluate him, we were skeptical if he would be able to be handled. He showed fearful, tense, and what appeared to be submissive body language with us, but allowed us to handle him and pick him up without incident. Like so many dogs at the shelter, he was in fact completely shutdown, so we decided that we would give him a chance to flourish with us.

Since then, he has bounced through several foster homes and has had increasingly aggressive reactions to both other dogs in the home and strangers. For the past 6 months, he has been living at our Westside facility where the staff have been working diligently with him on learning trust and also on how to read his body language when he’s uncomfortable so that he isn’t put in situations that he feels the need to bite. On May 9th, 2018 he went to the UGA Veterinary Teaching Hospital for a behavioral consultation and they diagnosed him with a generalized anxiety disorder that manifests in fear aggression. Like people that suffer from the same disorder, he lacks the coping mechanisms to deal with situations he perceives as stressful and so he has learned that the only way he can control the situation is to bite. His behavioral modification exercises will hopefully build a foundation for him to learn those coping mechanisms. If successful in his rehabilitation, UGA has offered to continue consulting with his new family so that they can continue to receive professional feedback on his transition into a new home.

When you get around Copeland’s troubled emotions, you get to see a very sweet, intelligent, and downright silly personality. He loves to play with toys and will happily toss them to himself. He loves going for car rides and walks. He enjoys being with the people that he trusts, leaning against them and napping nearby. He also loves to learn new things. He has all his basic manners down cold including sit, down, wait, walking nicely on a leash, and potty training. He has been clicker trained as well, and he loves to work for his food and treats with that. We are committed to giving Copeland his best chance at happiness. We will update his bio with his progress. We are limited his visitors at the moment but would love to hear from someone that might be willing to work with him and bring them into their home.

 

MEET IROH

Iroh looks like a shepherd/greyhound mix (or some sort of sight hound that gives him a long and lean body). He is approximately 9 ½ years old, and he is a very affectionate guy. He was adopted from Helping Paws Rescue in May 2020 but unfortunately, he was returned to us in February of this year.

Upon his return to Helping Paws Rescue, we took him in for his annual veterinary exam where they discovered that he was suffering from severe periodontal disease and needed to have several teeth extracted. He had 3 molars extracted in May and he is scheduled to have the remaining 3 teeth extracted next month. He is already feeling and acting much happier after the first round of extractions and we know he’s going to feel even better after the remaining affected teeth have been removed.

Iroh is currently in a foster home with 4 other dogs ranging from 10 to 55 pounds, as well as 2 cats. He does have an adjustment period with certain dogs since he is an older guy, but he adores playing and hanging out with his foster siblings after getting to know them. He is okay with cats but would probably prefer a home without them since he tends to want to chase them.

Iroh is well out of the puppy phase so he does well unsupervised inside his foster home, but he also loves his crate and enjoys having a safe space he can go to when he wants some alone time. He is not destructive and he is fully crate and potty trained. He loves getting attention and he also LOVES toys. One of his favorite things to do at his foster home is to pick out a toy from the toy basket by the door and take it to his crate to snuggle with or chew on. He also enjoys sunbathing and exploring outside with his foster siblings. His perfect home would be with a quiet family with a soft bed and lots of toys where he will get daily walks and lots of cuddle time.