Happy Tails

Cowboy (ADOPTED!) is a playful, happy, enthusiastic, loving, gentle spirit, with a wonderful personality. We estimate that he is around 15-18 months old and weighs 45-50 lbs. He is a classic, “Old School” Australian Cattle Dog. As a young dog, Cowboy is energetic, mostly in short spurts, and may be a bit out of shape from lack of prior exercise. He is an extremely sweet, happy boy, who is great with other dogs and people. Cowboy loves playing with other dogs, and would thrive in a multi-dog home. He does seem to warm up to women more quickly than men, but he is good with both.

He is a velcro dog who always makes sure he knows where his person is. More than anything, Cowboy wants his own person/people to bond with and to be with forever. At this writing we have had Cowboy for less than a week, and right now, he very much wants to be with his foster person constantly. He craves human attention and is looking for love. Cowboy will roll on his back for belly scratches, and to get your attention will slowly try to crawl onto your lap.

Cowboy is very intelligent, a quick study, and eager to please. So far, we have learned that he knows Sit, Down and Lie Down, and Stay. He will follow commands, and if he understands what you want, he will will try to do it. Cowboy is completely housebroken, and knows how to use a dog door. He loves being in the car, and rides nicely in the back seat with head out the window. Our boy also sleeps quietly through the night on a bed just outside his foster’s bedroom.

Although Cowboy is a healthy adult sized cattle dog, we need to remind ourselves that he is mentally still very much a puppy. He is a sensitive soul. If someone (especially a man) raises their voice, Cowboy will cower. Sometimes he can get a little mouthy, to get your attention by using his mouth to take your hand or arm. When playing ball or following a command, he can be easily distracted if he sees birds or the mail truck drives up.

Cowboy enjoys toys, especially the squeaky ones. Our boy is very gentle with his toys and will carry them around, but will NOT chew or destroy them. He enjoyed the knuckle bone his foster Dad gave him, but otherwise Cowboy is not a chewer. He does NOT chew things inappropriately. He takes treats with a gentle, soft mouth. His foster Dad says he has “zero aggression” and does NOT have any guarding behavior with food or toys.

Cowboy also loves to play fetch, but mostly as a way to interact with and please his person. He will play ball for a while and then stop to rest of hang with his person. Cowboy is a quiet dog, unless he is upset, and howls a bit. He almost never barks. He is quiet around the dogs next door, across the fence, and is also quiet when playing with other dogs. We have not yet seen Cowboy around children or cats.

He rides quietly and very nicely in the car. However, if you leave him alone in the car to run an errand, he will complain about being left behind, with his high pitched, cattle dog stress bark. He walks well on leash, and would be the perfect dog for almost any home, except for this bit of separation anxiety. When left completely alone Cowboy will rearrange interesting smelling items in the house, knock down chairs, etc. He does NOT chew up or destroy things, he just moves things around. Motivated to be with his person, Cowboy is an escape artist. He will climb fences and can figure out how to open gate latches in an attempt to be with you.

We absolutely love and adore this dog! He is a phenomenally wonderful soul, who will make the right person/people the best companion anyone could wish for. When he is with his people, he is the happiest, most contented dog in the world. We are seeking loving and patient people, who can take Cowboy with them to works or be with him during the day, and who can begin teaching him how to feel comfortable when left alone for a few hours.

We believe that he may be an excellent emotional support dog for someone who needs a dog to be with them at all times. Cowboy and his human would understand and could support each other, and slowly work to gain confidence together.  

Once settled in a home and routine for a few months, Cowboy may outgrow his worry about not being with his person. We believe our foster home is at least the third home he has been in, and he was at the shelter twice. His last home was senior person who realized that a young playful herding dog was not the right fit for her. He needs someone willing to commit months and years to him to show him that he will not be surrendered or abandoned again, and enable him to feel he can trust and rely on his person/people to always return. We are seeking serious inquiries only, who can and will have Cowboy with someone most of the day, and who are experienced with, or willing to learn, how to slowly condition him to be calm when his people are not with him.

If you are interested in meeting Cowbpy, please begin by completing our adoption form at this link: http://hittgv.org/index.php/adopt. Please download and print the form to be completed. If you have questions, email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or leave a message at (707) 583-9583.

Cooper (ADOPTED!) is a 6 month old, 28 lb., Australian cattle dog and border collie mix. Besides being cute as can be, he is a sweet, loving, happy, playful pup, who is fun, energetic, and full of life. With the right training and slow exposure to new things, Cooper will be a great dog. He is keenly observant, curious, and smart as they come.
 
Cooper wants to be with his people whenever he can. He loves snuggling next to someone on the sofa and doze off for a nap. If you let him, he would sleep on the bed with you. Cooper is a sweet natured boy, who does want to please and do the right thing. He needs people who have the time to work with him on basic obedience, rules and how to be polite. He is very treat motivated, and with some positive (treat and praise based) training, he will try to do what you want. Knowing a household routine and training will give him confidence, when he realizes he can control or predict what will happen when he follows commands.

Before we got him, he was not socialized or exposed to very much, and he had only be taught to “sit.”  As a result, he is a little nervous when he encounters new things and situations. Cooper left the only home he knew, and it took several days for him to begin to trust his foster mom. He seems to favor men, and immediately began following his foster dad.

He is a fairly calm boy when it is quiet around the house, but when playing, he is a wild man with energy to spare, and needs room to run. When he gets too wild in his playing, he will respond to a strong, yet calm voice and body language, and gradually stop and calm himself. He is also learning that rude behavior does not get him what he wants, and that polite behavior will work for him. He will sit politely at the door before going out, and is learning to “Wait.”

When Cooper is comfortable, he is very playful and bold. He seems to have a little angel on one shoulder, telling them to do the right thing, and a little devil on the other telling him that he’s the little boss who does what he wants. He is extremely smart and definitely has his own ideas about what he wants to do. As with most cattle dogs, Cooper needs patience and calm yet unrelenting consistency. Negative or punishment based (including prong collars or spray bottles) training will NOT work with Cooper, and will never win him over.

Although clearly part border collie, Cooper’s personality is all cattle dog. He definitely has herding instinct, frequently grabbing the rear legs of another dog while playing. He is a little mouthy, and likes to mouth at hands when trying to play with people. We have been working with him on his mouthiness.

Right now, he is the equivalent of a 2-year old child, testing everyone to try and get his way. When on leash, if he wants to do something that you don’t want him to, he will lie down and refuse to move, or begin biting the leash. His person must discourage any stubborn or rude behavior by simply not giving him the attention he wants.

Our boy is nearly housebroken, and will try to let you know when he needs to go out, but as a puppy, when he is excited or scared he may squirt out pee. Currently, during his waking hours, to avoid an accident, he needs to be taken out every hour.  He does sleep through the night without accidents.  Cooper is NOT crate trained and does not like going into crates, especially plastic (airplane transport type) ones. He fought for his life not to get into a plastic crate when he was being transported, and had a meltdown in it, peeing all over himself.

Cooper is a very happy and friendly pup, once he feels secure and trusts someone. Unfortunately, when he was a small pup, Cooper had to resort to snapping at people to stop them from ‘playing with’ him against his will. As a result, he can be a little cautious if he thinks you are up to no good. If you try to put a collar or harness on him, he may either pee in fear or struggle to protect himself, by air snapping or nipping at your hands.  He is also afraid of small children, and does not like to be picked up against his will, and will growl and get snappy. The only time he is ok being picked up is when he lifts his front paws asking to be lifted in or out of the car.

To work on his snapping, we are not initiating attention that he doesn’t ask for, and we let him approach us for petting and attention, to help him realize that he is safe and does not need to protect himself. Once he trusts a person to not manhandle him, he is much more accepting of being ‘handled’ but will still object to being picked up. After three weeks at his foster home, Cooper is happy, relaxed and initiating a lot of interaction with his foster mom and dad and their dogs.

Because he never truly met other dogs before, Cooper’s first instinct is to be afraid. He seems to be fairly good with smaller dogs, but will growl and bark at larger dogs out of fear. It took almost three days before Cooper figured out what a canine invitation to play was. The first several times that my playful male, who is taller than Cooper, did a play bow, Cooper would run and hide in the bushes. Now, he plays like a normal puppy, chasing, and wrestling. He has also learned to play tug with another dog.  

It may take a while for Cooper to feel comfortable with each dog he meets. If a dog is easy going and/or playful, he will eventually realize it and be fine. However, when on walks, when he sees unknown dogs, especially larger ones, he will try to growl and try to bark them away. Cooper needs active socialization with other friendly and playful dogs. Every meeting with another dog must be a positive fun experience for him.

Cooper is a wonderful pup with great potential. He is still a very impressionable puppy, and his personality is still developing. He needs a very nurturing situation, with adopters who have the time to spend with him daily to teach him how to feel comfortable and confident in new situations. Cooper needs to make up for lost time to learn about the world, other animals, and people.

Currently, we are unable to take him to public places, as he received his very first vaccinations very recently, and should not be exposed to public places until he has developed proper immunity in several more weeks. We are socializing him with friends, dogs, and homes that we feel are healthy and safe.

Because of his need to make up for lost time in socialization and training, we are seeking adopters who will NOT leave him alone during the workday, and will begin working on his socialization and training immediately.

Cooper would benefit from having a friendly, playful, polite adult dog to act as a good example to learn from. Observing another dog that he trusts will help him learn how to respond appropriately when encountering other dogs and new situations.

If you are interested in meeting Cooper, please begin by completing our adoption form at this link: http://hittgv.org/index.php/adopt. Please download and print the form to be completed. If you have questions, email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or leave a message at (707) 583-9583.

Maddie (ADOPTED!) is an approximately 12 year old, female, cattle dog, whose elderly owner passed away last year. At 40 lbs., our girl is a few pounds more than she should be. Maddie has a very easy, mellow personality. She is a 'people' dog, who wants to be around people whenever possible. She is also fine with other dogs in the house, and plays a bit with her much younger, cattle dog foster sister.

For a dog her age, Maddie is proving to be quite playful and active at her foster home.  She likes squeaky plush toys, and likes to trot around the house carrying her 'skunk' in her mouth. She also likes to carry around a rubber ball. During leash walks, Maddie walks nicely at your side at a normal pace. She likes to stop and sniff along the way, and is not bothered by anything that may happen on the street. As a mellow dog, Maddie doesn't react to cats, skateboards, bicycles, cars, etc. She just enjoys her walk.

She does love food and treats, which might explain her weight and round shape. In the several weeks that she has been in her new foster home, Maddie has managed to get a waistline again. She is getting more exercise, and getting stronger everyday. She is now able to climb a flight of stairs without assistance, and jump up onto the sofa.

Maddie is completely housebroken. If she needs to go out she will stand at the door and woof softly to ask to go out. She is otherwise a very quiet girl. She never barks on her own, but may join in if other dogs in the house begin barking.  Her favorite thing is to be in a room with people. At her foster home, her preferred person is her foster grandmother. Maddie follows her everywhere and is never more than 5 feet away from her. However, if people leave the house, she is also fine with that. Our girl also is a good car passenger, and rides nicely.  

Although our fosters have not seen Maddie around children, relatives of her former person said that she is good around children and will retreat if the situation gets too chaotic for her. They also said that her former home had a cat for a while and Maddie was fine with him. In her former home, they said that Maddie would often choose to spend time in her crate. Currently, she seems to enjoy being where ever members of her foster family are, or on the couch.

Maddie's foster mom says that she is the easiest possible dog, and a pleasure to have around. She is calm and easy going, and doesn't get excited or bothered by anything. Maddie would be an ideal, easy keeper in many ways. Although 12 years old sounds old for a dog, cattle dogs, on average, live to 15 years and many may live to 16 years or more.

If you have questions about Maddie, please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or leave a message at (707) 583-9583. If you would like to meet Maddie, please begin by completing our adoption form at this link: http://hittgv.org/index.php/adopt. Please download and print the form to be completed.

Sassy (ADOPTED!) is an 8 year old, female, cattle dog. Her owner passed away in August and unfortunately the family now needs to find her a home, as the owners house is being sold. Sassy is bonded with her sister, Maddie, and while we would prefer both dogs were adopted together, believe she would do fine on her own. Sassy takes a little while to warm up to people, but when she does, she loves belly rubs and attention. She is punctual for her 7:00 PM Treat (and was fed a few too many over the years). She is good around children and will retreat if the situation gets too chaotic for her. She is potty trained and will not have accidents as long as she is let out regularly. She walks well on a leash. She does not like crates or car rides. She is not destructive, nor a barker, but will let you know if someone is at the front door. Had one cat in the home for a year and a half and did OK with it. She is good with most other dogs. She hasn't been around many other large dogs besides her sister and has done fine with small dogs.