We found Archie wandering in the street near the arch in Antigua on March 18th. He was clearly lost, scared, and confused. We fed him a little, and had to leave him as we had a meeting to attend. At the end of the meeting, we went looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found.
We continued to look for him over the course of the next few days, but without success. About ten days after we had seen him, a friend of a friend contacted us to say that she had found a dog, taken him in, but that her dogs were fighting with him. Lo and behold, it was Archie! We had him neutered, vaccinated, and wormed, and he moved up to the rescue on March 27, 2017.
Archie is about 3 years old months old. He is the shaggiest ragamuffin we have ever seen until he is groomed. Then he looks like a whole new dog! He is exceptionally cute and sweet. Archie has more character than 10 dogs and he is almost impossible do describe in a bio. He is a rescue favorite of dogs and humans alike. He gets along with all the other dogs and puppies. He had no training whatsoever when we got him, but he now is beautifully trained in all his basic behaviours. He has excellent house manners as he has been fostered on several occasions.
Archie loves people and is friendly to all. He was (and can still be) extremely dog-reactive on leash, and barked and lunged maniacally when he saw other dogs. His leash/barrier frustration was extreme. He still gets reactive and barks and gets very agitated when riding in the car if he sees other dogs on the street, so we crate him to drive him places. Archie also pulled very hard when walked on leash, even with a front-attach harness.
Archie has had hundreds, if not thousands of hours of work on impulse control (leave it, stay, wait), training to reduce his reactivity and reaction to other dogs, and has improved a thousandfold. He will always tend toward reactivity to other dogs when on leash, and so we are looking for a home for him with someone who can continue to implement the ‘leave it’ leash work we have practiced with him. We consider him to be ready for adoption, but his ideal home will be in a situation where he can be mainly walked off-leash in safe areas. He will not do well in urban settings where he would need to be leashed, and we are looking for a very specific home for him.
Archie is a fairly heavy shedder and we consider his coat to be high maintenance. He needs daily grooming. He is active and needs a good run or long off-leash walk daily. He is a social dog and loves company, both human and canine.
He is a truly spectacular dog in a thousand ways and will be such a great addition to the right family.
