View more
He originally came from a hoarding environment and was never exposed to human touch or much human interaction of any kind. After being rescued from that situation, he spent time in the local humane shelter before being adopted by an older couple. He lived with them for several years, but they were not able to overcome his aversion to being touched, much less handled, by people. Sadly, they passed away and he had to go back to the human organization. He was unlikely to ever be adopted from there, given his untrusting nature. One of our foster moms realized that living for the rest of his life in a shelter was no life for any dog, and even if he couldn’t become a pet who loved to snuggle with his people, he at least deserved to lay in a soft bed and be able to run in a yard. And so he became a Rose’s Rescue foster dog.
Wesley is as good of a boy as he knows how to be. He is housebroken, and doesn’t need to be crated while his foster mom isn’t home. He doesn’t want to be touched, but will easily take treats from her hand, flows her around the house throughout the day, and wants to sleep in a dog bed right next to hers at night. He loves the permanent dog resident there - she, too, came from a hoarder and is easily frightened. It seems that they are kindred spirits. He has also gotten along well with other foster dogs that have come and gone in the home over the months he’s been there. We have no idea how he would react to a cat.
Wesley drags a very lightweight leash attached to his collar all of the time. Without it, it would be extremely difficult to manage getting him in a certain place - like in the car to got to the vet or groomer, for instance, since he will try to run away from you if approached. He does have a bite history when being cornered and then forcibly handled. His drag leash alleviates that potential stressful situation.
That said, he has been going to the same groomer at the humane shelter in Youngstown since first being rescued from the hoarder. He has become very used to her over the years and allows her to do whatever she needs to do to bathe, dry, and clipper him, including his nails. His foster mom has been able to do things like change or adjust his collar or wipe off his coat if he gets into something dirty in the yard. She just has to use the drag leash to get him where he needs to be without being able to run away, and then work gently and slowly with him.
When he is really, really scared (like during a thunderstorm) Wesley will jump up on the couch to be close to his foster mom. Has learned to trust her and love her in his own way, as best as he can, but he just doesn’t like to be touched. Of course, we will continue to work with him, but some dogs like Wesley don’t come around completely. Any potential adopter must be willing to accept him as he is, in case he is one of those cases that can’t progress to becoming the kind of pet that most other dogs are.
Wesley is a hard case, though no fault of his own. We realize there aren’t many people who want to adopt a dog who hates to be petted or touched. But we also believe that he can’t help the situation he came from that made him who he is, and he deserves a happy life as much as any other dog, maybe even more.
It would also be helpful if an adopter lived close enough to Youngstown so that the groomer that he’s used to would be able to continue to groom him every couple of months. His breed is our best guess, btw. He’s definitely a poodle mix of sorts. Given his coloring, size, and body type, Westie was our best guess as to his other heritage.
Wesley is what we sometimes call a “project dog.” He’s definitely not one that many people could take on, but for someone that does, every little accomplishment he makes is a huge milestone. The rewards for being a part of that kind of journey can be tremendous. In many ways, he’s an easy dog to have around - he doesn’t require much, he’s well-behaved, gets along with others of his kind, and overall is pretty independent.
If there’s something about Wesley or his story that speaks to you, and you feel you are ready, willing and able to bring him into your life, we’d love to have you fill out an application to adopt him! A human failed him long ago, but we hope there’s a human out there who is willing to accept him for who he is and still give him a chance at a happy ever after.
You can easily fill out an adoption application by clicking here: adoption application .
For anyone viewing this on Petfinder, if you are interested in adopting this animal you will need to go to our website .rosesrescue to fill out the online adoption application. You can usually find more pictures of the animals there too. Click on our name "Roses Rescue" in blue above to be taken directly to our website.