Listo (pronounced LEE-stow) (ADOPTED!) is a super loving, bright, eager to please, 7 year old, mini-sized 32 lb., cattle dog with a big personality. He is the best little companion, who is always up for whatever you want to do, including joining your yoga sessions! Listo has the classic traits that we love about this breed. He is an extremely intelligent, thinking boy, whose joy is pleasing his people, and is as devoted and loyal a “velcro” dog as they come. More than anything in life, Listo wants to partner and be with his own person/people. However, Listo needs an adult-only home (no children), in a quiet, non-urban setting. While is very good around other dogs in public, he should be an only dog at home, and is not good with cats.
He is a super cute, happy guy who will make you laugh, and seems almost human. After a walk on a wet day, he loves the toweling off ritual, and will roll in the towel. If you forget to do this, he will remind you by ‘nosing’ the towel. He is pretty much chill around a quiet house, and loves to cuddle. When his foster mom is busy during the day, enjoys being out in the yard, relaxing in the sun. Listo does not dig and is not destructive of anything in or around the house. When Listo sees you pick up his harness, he becomes very excited and dances around. He loves going outside, walks nicely on leash. Among a long list of commands, he knows “heel.” He goes through a few here: https://youtu.be/1U4mZICslvw
He is also highly trained and very obedient and trusting of his human(s). Listo also rides well in a car, and is completely housebroken. He is a quiet dog, who rarely barks, and has great manners. On walks, he is excited to meet new people and will run up to greet them. If off-leash in a park or beach, he enjoys a quick greeting other dogs before running to keep up with his people. Listo is the type of dog you can take with you anywhere. He would be great and can easily go on hikes, camping, kayaking, etc.
When in public, Listo interacts well with other dogs. If allowed to play with other dogs, Listo wants to control their movements and will use herding moves, which may annoy some dogs.
As an energetic guy with an active brain he needs to be exercised every day. He loves working/training and learning new tricks. Listo is very food motivated, and looks forward to his training sessions each day, working for treats to help keep his mind stimulated.
While our boy Listo is a joyful, loving, cuddly, best partner you could ever want, he needs a certain type of person and home. Listo requires someone who understands the nature of cattle dogs, and who will be committed to assisting Listo with his needs.
Listo is very anxiety in certain situations, and should not live in a busy urban/city environment or in a home with children. His love of the sun and the outdoors requires a yard to relax in and serve as his safe place if he cannot be with his person. Listo dislikes crates which he considers to be a jail. He is learning to sleep in a crate at night, but will panic in one during the day. Also, while fantastic meeting people and dogs in public, he needs to be an only dog at home. In his home, he has territorial issues and will compete with another dog. Currently, his foster mom is keeping Listo and her sweet, gentle female cattle dog separate when inside, as Listo will guard a variety of things and try to prevent his foster sister from approaching them, including his foster mom. When unknown people first enter his home, Listo is initially wary and protective of his home. When away from home, he looks to his foster sister to follow her lead and they get along great, and he is happy to meet new people.
Listo is very likely to eventually become a special needs dog. In 2019, an eye specialist noted that Listo's vision was diminishing due to a hereditary condition, which usually leads to blindness. It is estimated that he can currently see about 50%. His foster mom says Listo can see fine during the day, and when a place is well lit. He is very smart and adaptable to his surroundings, and has no problem in new areas. His diminishing vision may be a reason that he likes to regularly conduct a patrol through every room in his foster home. (Our rescue has helped two completely blind male cattle dogs before. Both of them quickly learned their homes and yards so well that you almost couldn’t tell they were blind. They love going to new places with their people and following their lead.)
We are hoping that Listo can find a quiet home with adventurous owners who will enjoy exercising and working with him daily, where the owners understand the special needs of this pup, as well as his cattle dog personality, and are adaptable to his vision loss. As with all cattle dogs, ongoing training with positive reinforcement, exercise, and stimulation are necessary for him to have a happy, healthy life. He is abundantly loving and he will always be by your side and would love to provide companionship to someone who can dedicate time to his needs. For all the reasons above, Listo needs a calm home in a quiet, non-urban, area.
Listo’s Story (by his last people):
Listo has been through a lot. Listo was around 1.5 years old, when rescued as a stray and we adopted him. From the start Listo had anxiety and difficultly calming down when triggers (loud noises, garbage trucks, skateboards, etc.) were present. He would bark, pace constantly, with occasional urinary incontinence. Listo was able to overcome all of this, after a great deal of time, training, patience, and love. He is a graduate of various manners and agility classes.
Working with a behavior specialist, Listo has been on daily doses of Clomicalm for over 4 years; and with continued training, he is now able to refocus even when most triggers are present. He consistently shows us that he is highly trainable as we are always working with him on new tricks and behavior changes.
Likely due to his poor vision and being unfamiliar with children, he only recently nipped at a child’s foot and at the heels of several adult guests in our home who Listo did not know well. Thankfully, no harm was done to anyone. We were working with a trainer in our home to address these issues, but due to the pandemic, were unable to continue with the trainer. The recent birth of our son has also caused an increase in anxiety for Listo at home, as well as overprotective behavior.
If you are interested in meeting Listo, please email us for our new adoption form at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or print and complete the form at the Adopt link (blue bar near top of the page): http://hittgv.org/index.php/adopt. If you have questions, please leave a message at (707) 583-9583.
