“You know I love a London boy” - Taylor Swift

10/30: Two week pup-date! London is now up to date on all of his shots, is fully healed from his neuter, and is ready for his furever home. We definitely think someone loved this guy, as he seems to have the foundations for house training and crate training. We still want all of his experiences to be positive and successful though, so we are diligent about how much crate time he gets both while we are home and while alone. He is doing fantastic on a routine. He's been catching up on meals and sleep in his foster home, and just enjoying being indoors again. He actually sleeps quite a bit with the right amount of exercise, chew time, and mental stimulation/training. I think he would love a fenced yard to run and play in, but I don't think it's required as long as his person/people are committed to ensuring he gets enough exercise. He is an expert level cuddler, and after dinner loves to Netflix and snooze with his foster humans.

10/19:

Meet London! London is a panda shepherd. The panda coat comes from a genetic mutation in the KIT gene.

London is a fantastic little guy. He is super cuddly, very playful, and a quick learner.

This boy has not been in foster long, so we are still learning all about him. We have mainly focused on establishing a routine, and just shaping the behaviors we want. Very few have been put to “commands” yet. He is pretty good with “sit” now though.

He is a bit talkative when he first goes into his crate but he settles quickly. He willingly goes into the crate, we are using snacks to teach “kennel”, but he is still very excited to get out, so we are also working on being calm before being allowed out.

We are unsure of his exact age since he was a stray, but we think he’s about 6 months old. Since he’s young and we don’t have his history, we are treating him as if he hasn’t been potty trained and so he goes out every 1 - 4 hours depending on how much he’s had to eat and drink. We haven’t asked him to hold it all night yet.

He is very underweight. At the vet on 10/16 he weighed 30.5 pounds. We are doing several meals a day, as well as using both kibble and a more high value treat for training. As soon as we touch his food bowl he’s very excited to eat and he’s curious about anything on the counter, so I would expect and treat him as a counter surfer until he learns he will be fed regularly and that this behavior is not acceptable. Every day we are working on this though, he makes improvement every day. He’s food motivated and a very quick learner. 

He is currently very itchy. When he was picked up by animal control he did have fleas although it was not an infestation, however it was long enough that the scratching caused a secondary infection. He is actively being treated with steroids and an antibiotic and will get bathed when he is fully healed from his neuter. 

For being so young he also walks quite well on the leash, and is getting better every day. 

He has ridden in the car in both a crate and loose in the back seat and does great. He falls asleep after a few minutes. 

He is still very much a puppy, so he likes to explore with his mouth. He gets the most mouthy during play time. He hasn’t gotten a hold of anything and chewed it but I could see if something were interesting enough, he might. Even though the mouthing is pretty gentle, I would not recommend a home with children under 15. I think the mouthing could scare them and I believe a small child running might entice him to give chase as well and he may knock them down in play. 

Needless to say, he has not been left unsupervised in the house yet. He has partial free roam of the upstairs with me while I work during the day. 

He has met a couple neighbors, an older child, and the HVAC guy, and was friendly toward all of them. He has met two neighbor dogs while out on walks and has done great with them as well. He spent about an hour at the Fredericksburg Pet Expo and was super. I think he could do well in a home with another dog, but one who will tolerate puppy antics. I’m unsure of small dogs at this time, as he hasn’t met any, but he is very interested in deer and squirrels and would absolutely chase them, so I would not recommend a home with cats, chickens, or rabbits. 

We are very fond of London and he has already been through so much in his short life, so we will be very selective as to where he goes. Our ideal home for London would be an active single person, or couple with no children under 15, and no small animals. Since he cannot be left home alone for long periods of time yet, someone who works remotely, is retired, or is only gone part-time would be the best candidate. He will obviously need training, so whoever adopts him should be committed to working through the rough patches or willing to find and work with a trainer to help him be the best dog he can be. 

London is being fostered in the Northern Virginia area. Approved adopters can contact crystalvgsr@gmail.com to get in touch with his foster family.