Manny was turned over to the shelter because he supposedly growled at the owner's niece. He has had no issues in rither of his foster homes.  His first foster had to give him up because a family  member died.  No one would take her dogs, so the first foster said she would.  Because they were males, we had to find another foster for Manny. Below is what is first foster had to say:

Honestly, we couldn't have asked for a better house guest. He's completely potty trained and hasn't had any accidents in the house.  He really loves our GSD, Greta. They have become pretty much inseparable. He's fine with the cats. If they run he will chase them, but we can call him off right away. If he catches up to them before we call him off, he doesn't do anything. Just looks back and has this look like "what do I do now?" He's been great with the horses. Shows little to no interest in them. He was very interested in the bird for the first few weeks and the one time she flew, I believe had he got her he would have had a before dinner snack. We started really correcting his interest in her and he's now figured out that the bird is absolutely off limits and now pays no attention to her.

 

He can not be crated. He gets very stressed out in the crate and starts shedding like crazy, drooling, and really mentally shuts down. Once that happens and we bring him out, it takes him a while to recover from it.  When we leave, he stays loose in the house and isn't destructive, doesn't use the bathroom, and just appears to go lay on the couch (he's left his evidence behind multiple times). We have left him in the house unattended for up to 4 hours at a time.

 

He's extremely smart, takes direction well, and thrives off leadership. Once he figured out the rules of the house are not negotiable, he hasn't tried taking advantage of any situation and has settled into a playful, goofy, fun loving guy. He LOVES people. LOVES them. Anyone who comes to the house he greets immediately and will happily melt into the floor for a belly rub. He does bark when someone knocks, but has no reservations about us letting people in. 

 

Aside from getting on the couch when no one is home to tell him to get off and possibly wanting to snack on the bird, we have seen no behaviors that could be deemed "bad". (Honestly, who doesn't want a comfy place to lay down or a funky blue chicken for a snack). He does not counter surf, has not dug in the garbage, doesn't go for food in our hands, doesn't jump up on us (he will do a happy bunny hop in front of you when you get home though), he sleeps next to our bed on the floor all night, (he may steal a robe out of the hamper a time or 2 to sleep on, but he always returns it to you when he's done), and is just very calm and chill in the house. 

 

When we go for walks he does not drag me, he will give gentle tugs until I tell him "ah ah" and then he begrudgingly comes back down to my pace. He does play with balls and tugs when he sees our dog do it, but once she is done, he is done as well. I don't think he really knew what playing with toys was, but he seems to follow our dogs lead in what to do. I believe he would benefit with a female companion in his new home, especially one that is awkward as his current one, I think she makes him feel normal.

 

Car rides- after our first ride together when I brought him home (he rode well) and he was very stressed we decided to take him on outings that didn't involve him being transferred to people. He has really started enjoying our rides, he especially likes it when Greta can come too even though he hogs the back seat. He jumps right in the car now with no hesitation, sticks his nose in the window signaling for me to crack it, and after a few minutes lays down and just enjoys the ride. 

 

All articles, materials, images and pictures are the sole property of Akita Rescue Mid-Atlantic Coast, Inc.® (ARMAC)©  Written permission from an ARMAC Board member must be obtained prior to reproducing anything contained herein.