Shadow the Rottweiler mix
Aliases: Shadowbear, Babybear
Breed: Rottweiler mix
Favorite toy: A purple stuffed octopus
Owners: Adam
ASPCA personality Type:
Goofball – I’m a fun-loving, happy-all-the-time, glass-is-half-full kind of dog looking for someone who loves to laugh and play around. Must have a great sense of humor and some time to spend with me. I’m a dog on a mission to please you.
Appearance: B
She looks just like a Rottweiler, except she’s too small, has a little patch of white on her chest, and has a weird fuzzy tail that curls over top of her back like a question mark. We’re not sure what other breed of dog she is.
Friendliness (People): A
Shadow is an attention hog. I’ll be petting my other dog and she’ll rush in, push him out of the way, and put herself underneath my hand. She also flops down immediately because she loves belly rubs — she has a skin allergy and likes being scratched. She’s very patient and will let humans do anything to her, as long as they’re paying her mind.
Friendliness (Dogs): D
But when it comes to other dogs that aren’t the one she lives with, she gets extremely aggressive and territorial. It takes a lot of careful pack leadership on my part to get her to coexist with other dogs. She comes around eventually, but usually begrudgingly.
Special Talents: B
We taught her what we call an “up-up”, which is where she sits on her tail and lifts up her front paws before we give her a nighttime treat. I’ve been slowly teaching her how to stay on command. She also has a great knack for manipulating my other dog into playing with her, mostly by raising false alarms about lizards in the backyard.
Begging for Food: B
Shadow is smart and manipulative. She knows who the easiest target is and begs with those big brown eyes of hers. The fact that she’s a tank of about seventy pounds (mostly muscle, but some fat now that she’s getting older) doesn’t seem to stop the weakest link in the family from feeding her.
Overall Grade: B
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Aliases: Sparkles, Sparklebutt, Spark Plug, Batdog
Breed: Australian Shepherd/Dalmatian mix
Favorite toy: Human feet
Owners: Adam
ASPCA personality Type:
Constant Companion – Let me sit at your feet, walk by your side, and I’ll be your devoted companion forever.
Appearance: B
He’s got the most expressive face I’ve ever seen on a dog, and his ears make him look like a bat. But he does resemble a cow. Also, when he was a puppy, the muscles in his ears weren’t quite strong enough to support themselves, so he had floppy ears for a long time. They grew at different rates, though, and one ended up standing up before the other, so for a while he had one floppy ear and one straight ear! I’ve always been disappointed he outgrew that.
Friendliness (People): B
Sparky loves people, particularly people with bare skin, which he will lick until the skin rubs off. He only actively seeks out people he trusts, though.
Friendliness (Dogs): B
With other dogs, he warms up to them quickly, but seems okay with or without their company.
Special Talents: CHe thinks he’s a great lizard hunter, but he’s not.
Begging for Food: C
Sparky has no shame about begging. He lays his chin on your knee and stares at you with his doleful brown eyes, without blinking. He’s also smart enough to know who’s the easiest target in the room.
Other important information:
He’s named after Sparky the Sun Devil, Arizona State University’s mascot.
Overall Grade: B
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Abraham Flowers the Rottie Mix
Aliases: Baby Abey, Abergobbles, Jolly Bastard
Breed: Rottie mix
Owners: anonymous
ASPCA personality Type: Constant Companion – Let me sit at your feet, walk by your side, and I’ll be your devoted companion forever.
Appearance: A
Abraham is one handsome mofo. He is easily the most beautiful person in our household, but he doesn’t let it go to his big, manly square head. Also, sometimes he’s a bumblebee.
Friendliness (People): B
Friendliness (Dogs): A
The only people that Abraham doesn’t like are people in wheelchairs and weirdos. Also, he humps puppies…so maybe he needs to stop and reflect on who the actual weirdo is.
Special Talents: B
This guy can sit pretty!
Begging for Food: B
Cuddles are his food.
Other important information:
He’s pretty much the greatest.
Overall Grade: B+
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Breed: Cavalier King Charles Spaniels
Favorite toy: Whale Shark – stuffed toy
Owners: Andrew & Amber
ASPCA personality Type: Constant Companion – Let me sit at your feet, walk by your side, and I’ll be your devoted companion forever.
Appearance: A
Cavaliers are known for the long ears, feathering on their paws, and of course, those big eyes that most people just melt after seeing.
Friendliness (People): A
If you have a hand to lend, or lap to lay in, it doesn’t matter who you are. They want you to feel warm and welcome.
Friendliness (Dogs): B
This breed doesn’t always see eye to eye with other dogs. They will most likely be the first bark at a passing dog just because they can.
Special Talents: D
This breed needs lots of training for it to truly perform. They are motivated by treats, so you might get some sit, lay, and maybe an occasional stay, but as for showman ship, they just have no interest in the spot light.
Begging for Food: C
This breed can easily become beggers simply because they like to be at your feet, especially when you’re sitting at a table. However, unless the owner is a willing participant, they would much rather be near you then having to beg for food.
Other important information:
This breed is fantastic for families with small children, older parents, or singles who have time to be around the dog. They don’t do well by themselves all day. They’re one of the breeds that does well in packs, so most Cavalier owners have two or more dogs running around the house.
One interesting note is that they are originally a British breed. Named for King Charles II and have blood lines dating back to the late 1600’s. They were once used as hunting dog. Trained to go down rabbit holes, fox holes, and chase some squirrels to low level trees, they became an indoor breed once the Terrier made its way into the hunting scene.
Beloved for their loyalty, many in Europe’s royalty class demanded they were part of their families. Many castles still hang portraits of the Cavalier that date over 1000 years old.
Overall Grade: B
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Aliases: Super Grover
Breed: Goldendoodle (retriever x poodle)
Favorite toy: his reluctant older brother, Rocky.
Owners: Catty
ASPCA personality Type: Free Spirit – Intelligent, independent, confident and clever, I prefer making my own decisions but will listen to you if you make a good case. We’re partners in this adventure. Treat me like one and we’ll both live happily ever after.
Appearance: A
Grover is extremely handsome, with a HUGE fluffy, white coat, droopy ears and intelligent, dark eyes. When he needs a trim he’s slightly less handsome because he ends up becoming dreadlocked and frizzy, but most of the time he has movie star looks.
Friendliness (People): A
Friendliness (Dogs): C
Grover loves people, and he loves cuddles, but he’s still really a puppy so what Grover loves most is to PLAY and that is how he sees visitors, whether they be human or canine. He takes a bit longer to get used to his fellow doggies, but once he realises they’re as keen to run around in circles as him, he’s their best friend!
Special Talents: D
Grover barely scrapes a two in this area because he is an extremely disobedient dog – living up to his ‘free spirit’ personality type quite well. He’ll sit, he’ll drop, but what use are those if he won’t come?
Begging for Food: B
Obtaining food isn’t much of a problem – he’s very smart and an opportunist who often outwits his human counterparts and steals bits and pieces. He does tend to lose them to his brother quite often though because Grover is quite cat-like in his eating habits, slow and finicky.
Overall Grade: B
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Aliases: Rockstar, Riccardo
Breed: Rottweiler
Favorite toy: Literally anything he can get his teeth on
Owners: Catty
ASPCA personality Type: Couch Potato -I’m a relaxed, laid-back kind of dog who enjoys long naps, watching movies, curling up on laps, and walking very short distances from the couch to the food bowl and back.
Appearance: A
Rocky is a very handsome boy with a shiny coat and a beautiful, smiley face. He has soft velvet ears and two tawny brown spots over his eyes which I see as sort of a trademark. He’s an old doggy now, but the grey hairs just make him look distinguished.
Friendliness (People): A
Friendliness (Dogs): D
Rocky LOVES humans, his family and visitors. As soon as someone visits he walks up to them, gives them an ‘nobody ever cuddles me, I’m so lonely and sad please love me’ glance with his big, soulful eyes and puts his head in their lap. He’s so affectionate that he will climb onto your lap if he can, despite weighing around 50 kgs. He just wants to be as close to the people he loves as possible, all the time.
As for other dogs, Rocky has a young brother of just over a year old who gets on with quite well. He used to be quite social but being the old boy he is now, he’s not very keen on new doggy company.
Special Talents: C
In his heyday, Rocky was quite a talented soccer player, even dribbling the ball between his paws. Now his talents are mostly sleeping and stealing his brother’s food, which he is VERY good at.
Begging for Food: C
As noted before, Rocky has gigantic soulful eyes that he uses to hypnotize humans into handing over love and yes, food. He’s so good at it that he got quite chunky and had to be put on a diet, much to his dismay.
Other important information: Rocky is nearing the end of his life, and if I had one wish it’d be to extend it another ten years. He is the most gentle, loving dog I’ve ever met.
Overall Grade: B-
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Aliases: Pretty girl; Shelby Shelberson
Breed: SuperMutt; breeds open to debate. The shelter said border collie/husky mix, but the older she gets, the more people think she’s part greyhound.
Favorite toy: Her favorite ball, which is blue and has a jingle bell inside it. Second favorite: whatever toy her “brother” Frank happens to be playing with.
Owners: Emily & Harry
ASPCA personality Type: Busy Bee – I’m a naturally playful, curious, and trusting canine. Take me for a big walk every day; give me something to do. After my job’s done, I’ll curl up in front of the fire with you in the evenings.
Appearance: B
Shelby is gorgeous. She’s cream and caramel with a little bone-shaped white stripe that runs up her forehead. She’s svelte and has legs for miles! Sometimes, she pretties her paws up by covering them in blue ink and/or blue and green highlighters, depending on what has been accidentally left around the house. Then again, frequently and especially when she’s tired, her eyes get all wonky and seem to point in different directions, such that she looks like she has perhaps been drinking. We think this is endearing, but we know a puppy modeling agency might not agree.
Friendliness (People): A
Friendliness (Dogs): B
Shelby is a social butterfly who is literally always excited and happy to see everyone—dog, cat, or human. It’s hard for her to get as much attention from people with her attention-hog of a “brother,” Frank the Mastiff, in the house, but she still tries her hardest. If you come over, she will be so excited to see you that her tail will wag the back two-thirds of her body. And, in the event that you ever let her sleep in bed with you at night, there is a decent chance you will fall asleep with her curled up by your feet, but wake up and find yourself inadvertently spooning a dog. She’s sneaky like that.
She also gets so excited when she sees another dog that she can barely contain herself (we can sometimes barely contain her, too). She will play at the dog park until her tongue is hanging out sideways and she can barely walk anymore. She only loses a point for sometimes playing a little too rough with and/or ganging up on other dogs with Frank, but I guess that’s what happens when you grow up with a Mastiff twice your size.
Special Talents: A
Shelby is still too young to have fully developed her talents, but she gets an A on presumption, because she’s smart and maybe a little bit evil so it’s only a matter of time before she has honed her skills. She has already developed many talents over the last few months, like sit, stay, down, and, more notably, things like locking deadbolts (she once locked her mom and “brother” Frank out of the house; that will teach us to ever leave her behind again!). She has also figured out how to do things that are seemingly physically impossible, like reaching things on shelves that appear to be physically beyond her reach and perching her entire body on the arm of the couch to look out the window. We suspect that she may have Go-Go Gadget Legs, but we have yet to confirm it. She has figured out how to play fetch with her ball all by herself. She generally picks up commands quickly and we’re pretty sure we will ultimately be able to train her to do anything. We also think she’s probably already plotting to take over the world.
Begging for Food: B
Shelby thinks begging is for suckers; if you want something, you TAKE IT! She gets a B because she rarely begs—she knows we won’t give in—but she frequently manages to get what she wants anyway by resorting to alternative means. For example, if you don’t give in to her wet-nosed attempts to share your coffee, she will just wait until you are distracted and then stealthily sneak into the garbage, pluck out the used coffee filter, and attempt to eat ALL of the coffee grounds. If you don’t give her one of the cookies you baked, she’ll just wait until you go out and then inexplicably retrieve said cookies from a shelf that appears to be far out of her reach.
Other important information:
By all indicators, Shelby appears to be a social deviant with a wide range of vices. She seems to enjoy the taste of alcohol and always tries to steal sips of wine and beer with much more effort than she makes toward anything else. She will specifically (try to) eat cigarette butts off the ground. She’s displayed an aptitude for petty theft, we’re pretty sure she’s responsible for at least one broken window and she likes to roll over and put her ladyparts on display for everyone to see. Inappropriate! We’re pretty glad she’s a dog, because if she were a person, we think she’d be a nightmare as a teenager and would cost us a lot in bail money and lawyer’s fees.
Overall Grade: A-
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Aliases: Sy
Breed: Collie Mix
Favorite toy: ropeball
Owner: Lisa
ASPCA personality Type: Free Spirit – Intelligent, independent, confident and clever, I prefer making my own decisions but will listen to you if you make a good case. We’re partners in this adventure. Treat me like one and we’ll both live happily ever after.
Appearance: A
He is a rescue dog. He was abused so where ever he had sores, old scabs & had been chewing, the hair fell out (on lower back). The rest of him is so naturally shiny and soft with a cute face & a head up,tail up swing fanny trot. He has very pretty colors. The best looking teeth I have ever seen. He is 5 months old and his teeth are bigger than my great dane’s.
Friendliness (People): B
Friendliness (Dogs): A
I have 3 large dogs from other rescues ages 6yr. to 10 yrs. Rescued as tiny pups. He loves everybody. They all share toys and put their bowls next to each other, there is no problem. Same with treat time, he gets in the middle of the other 4, sits waits even if he is last. If he gets growled at it’s for a reason he won’t cower but trots off to find something else to do.
Special Talents: B
This is a dog who has had no formal training or anything until he came here. Most things he thinks of all by himself and amazes me: of course he is house broken, sits, shakes paw, he will put toys back in toy box, put laundry in basket. I have collapsible bowls for water when hiking in desert, when his is empty he takes it to his seat in the truck. Gets his leash out of their travel backpack & waits until we’re ready to go. He will get the scent indoors or out and follow until he finds what I ask him to find or trail ends. For an untrained pup he’s pretty smart. I can ask him to bring me the big booboo bag once, a couple of minutes later here he comes with bag in tow. I didn’t teach him these things, he came up with them and I just went with it.
Begging for Food: A
I don’t allow begging it’s rude. If a newby insists on trying like they all do I ignore him. If he keeps standing and staring at me everybody will get a treat but him. He caught on to that real quick now he waits for his treats the right way.
Other important information:
This pup is one of 4 dogs that were found at different times within a month, severely abused. All had a chunk of skin ripped from his side. He is the only one found still living. He was the only pup. He survived a week in a drainage ditch when the temp. was 19 at night he weighed only 10 pounds. He & I have worked hard to get him to normal. He is now a proud, happy pup, still healing some wounds, hair starting to grow back, put on 30 pounds and he is always by my side. Protective, not mean, can be if need be. I have a vet but I live hours away & have to pay cash so I am for the most part the vet. I make the meds for his back, make him wear a tank top and he leaves it on. His homemade cone stays on. He needs shots & neutering asap. He is too smart to let him get stupid because a female is in heat (all my dogs are fixed). He has a smarty pants streak sometimes, it’s his breed. He has been through a lot and still been a good dog. He amazes me. He has talent & a lot of potential, search and rescue. He is here for a reason, I wasn’t going to keep him (very low income, 3 other dogs & 1 other rescue pup). Its been very hard but I see too much in him to throw him out.
Oh I named him Sidewinder because he could only walk sideways. Not any more.
Overall Grade: A
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Aliases: Roo, Ruster-roo
Breed: Cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel and Poodle mix)
Favorite toy: latest gift from his dog walker
Owner: BCE
ASPCA personality Type: Busy Bee – I’m a naturally playful, curious, and trusting canine. Take me for a big walk every day; give me something to do. After my job’s done, I’ll curl up in front of the fire with you in the evenings.
Appearance: A
Look at my picture! People tell me all the time what a darling dog I have.
Friendliness (People): B
Friendliness (Dogs): D
Likes people especially when he is with a member of the family, is very social, but prefers his own people. Very protective of family members and will tolerate a visiting dog but not thrilled with other dogs, prefers people.
Special Talents: D
Will sit and give a paw if he must, but thinks it is rather silly. Prefers to just look cute and get what he wants.
Begging for Food: B
He sits at your feet at meal time and then looks very expectantly after a meal, but does not bark or whine.
Other important information:
He is so important to me and makes my life better by having him in it. He is a sweetie who loves to give kisses and curl up with me. I am lucky to have Rusty in my life.
Overall Grade: C+
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Aliases: Mimi
Breed: Yorkie (Yorkshire Terrier)
Favorite toy: Kuching the Cat
Owner: Sally, at Healing Jewelry for Pets and their People
ASPCA personality Type: Life of the Party – I think everything is fun, interesting and meant for play, especially you. Anything you do, I’ll want to do too. With my own brand of surprises, life with me will keep you constantly on your toes, and the fun is guaranteed.
Appearance: A
She is as sweet as she looks!
Friendliness (People): B
Friendliness (Dogs): B
She loves to love.
Special Talents: B
Always wins at Hide & Seek
Begging for Food: B
She is a lady and would never beg!
Overall Grade: B+
Review Of My Dog 