Mason lives with me, my husband Chris, son Christopher, and three dogs, pictured on the left. From back to front, it is Roxy, Izzy, Bee, and Mason!
Mason came to stay with us as a foster dog after a stint at the animal shelter in Auburn. A sweet, soft, and sensitive boy, he easily became overwhelmed by life at the shelter. A New Hope Animal Foundation sponsored him as our foster dog.
In no time, Mason was destressed, neutered, and ready to start training! We could tell this wonderful boy was never taught any manners and we set about changing that so that he may become adopted!
Mason has taken to training very well! He lives in a structured household which he absolutely love. Here, we use every opportunity we can to train and to show benevolent human leadership. It is more of a lifestyle than an event!Very quickly, Mason has learned sit/stay (above) and down/stay (to the right). Mason has learned how to sit before exiting doors, how to use the "four on the floor" rule for greeting people, and comes every time he is called. He is something else! We used clicker training to train Mason on his skills and he took to it very well. He gets so excited when he sees the clicker and treat bag, and he responds equally well without those items too!
He has come so far from the dog I met at the shelter. Now, it is time to work on finding that special home for Mason. He is most certainly not an easy dog to give up. We struggle with letting Mason go... we absolutely love him. However, we are committed to fostering dogs and need to keep a spot open for another dog in need. We are looking for someone who will love Mason as much as we do. He is that special.
I asked someone I know who is not in the world of fostering, training, and rescue what the most important trait to them would be regarding a new adoption. Their answer? That the pet was already housebroken. That made me realize how often I took that fact for granted! So I think it is worth a mention here now for the record.
Mason indeed is housebroken and has never had an "accident" in the house. He is fed twice a day routinely which helps with maintaining a good bowel and bladder schedule. He knows the command "go potty" which helps speed things along outside when he is in scent mode outside! He definitely knows where to do his business though.
As far as linguistics, Mason knows the following English: Come, Watch me, Sit, Down (for lying down), "What do you say?" (sit is the appropriate response), Stay, Off, Dinner, Go Potty, Drop it. He also knows his name.
However you say it, Mason is a wonderful dog who wants nothing more than to snuggle in your lap as long as you will let him. He just turns into a limp rag when you snuggle in close to him and carry him. He is such an amazing dog with the biggest heart. Of course Mason has his faults too! Who doesn't? Sure he may run through the open door too fast, or perhaps he may pay a little too much attention to the cat or the squirrel on the fence, Mason is a beautiful soul who is close enough to perfect for me!
