Choco was found just about dark, huddled against a wall in a field between some homes in Jardines de Antigua by Jihae Park and the Berninger family who were fostering our puppy Snickers.
The puppy was paralyzed with fear, and his rescuers were able to throw a towel over him and scoop him into Snicker’s crate. He passed the night with Jihae, unmoving and pressed into the back of his crate. In the morning we went over and picked him up.
We estimate that he was between two and a half and three months old on intake. Choco was feral, and froze or snapped if we tried to handle him. We did the minimum handling necessary and pretty much left him alone for several days. He would not eat at all for two days, even when the most delicious food was left in his crate. Finally, we started to force feed him a meat gruel. After about 3 days he began to venture out of his crate and started looking around. He was interested in the other dogs, but clearly terrified of humans. If he caught sight of us he ran and hid in his crate.
Choco slowly began to hide less and he slowly began to associate us and our hands with food. Within a week he was actually following us around and taking food from our hands. From then on, he became more and more trusting and confident.
He is now a sweet, friendly, playful little pup. He approaches people happily in his known spaces and is great with men, children, and other dogs. He runs happily in the coffee farm, rides calmly in the car. He can still be a bit wary of new people and dogs outside of his comfort spaces, but us getting bolder and more confident every day.
This funny little guy has great basic obedience including a sit, down, and stand all on verbal cues, a leave it, and he walks great on and off leash. He is neutered and is up to date on his puppy vaccines. He is ready for his family to find him.
