Jazz 07-591 [1]

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Jazz is a VERY sweet boy. He is extremely soft and cuddly. He is a 6 year old that looks like he is a mix of Golden and likely Husky. It was originally thought that Jazz has Separation Anxiety, but after spending a week with him, I and others do not feel that he has this any longer. He is still currently on a small dose of medications for this, that he has been on for quite some time, but likely could be taken off over time. We leave him home for 4-5 hours at a time with no problems at all. We give him his Kong with some peanut butter in it before we leave, and when we come back, the Kong is half cleaned out and he is patiently waiting at the bedroom door. Have not had a single thing chewed up or destroyed. He also likes his Nylabones and a big stuffed bone toy that he got when he came from "Top Dog Country Club" from an extended stay there. His previous owners did note that he does not like the crate and scratches to get out. We do not crate him since we see no need to, as he is not destructive.

Jazz does not seem very fond of other dogs, and prefers to stay away from them. He has been known to snap at other dogs when they get too close to him by getting in his face. We have two very large dogs here (a Great Dane named Sally and a Saint Bernard named Chief). We carefully introduced Jazz to Chief first and had no problems at all. Chief is a very submissive boy and is very laid back. After Chief, we introduced Jazz to Sally. There also was no problem with Sally. He did try to stay away from Sally while she tried to check him out, but I brought them together and introduced them up close and personal. Sally is still a pup at heart since she is only just over a year old. She likes to get into other dogs faces to play with them, unless they tell her otherwise. She then backs off and leaves them alone (most of the time). We have kept a close eye on Jazz while he is outside with the other two dogs, and have not had a single instance of aggression. The only time we had an issue, was when Sally was in the basement in close quarters with Jazz, and when Jazz gave a quick snap to tell her to get away, she got a small nick on her nose and they had to be separated, but both were quickly corrected. No instances since to speak of, but she has been leaving more room for him.

We feel that Jazz gets attached to people quickly and if not corrected, gets possessive and might bring on the dog on dog aggression. I have to say that he has shown NO aggression towards people or children. It has been isolated to just dogs. I think if the next owner is dog savvy and works with him to socialize him to other dogs correctly, he will eventually get over it. He has been around many dogs while at "Top Dog" and was good with most of them. He just doesn't seem to like dominant dogs in his face. But speaking on his behalf, he has been no more aggressive than most other dogs I have seen, and we go to the dog park all the time to socialize my dogs. I think Jazz would be best as an only dog with continued exposure to other dogs. But if someone had a dog that was laid back, I think he would be fine if he knows the boundaries and rules.

It was originally thought that he did not like cats and that he had a high prey drive. But after we introduced him to our cat that is not scared of anything, we found that was not the case. He was interested in the cat when we introduced them, but just followed him around and sniffed him. He has shown NO agression towards the cat. We even have a picture of him when he slept with Lucky (the cat) next to him. If the next owner had a cat, Jazz would have to be closely supervised if the cat was scared of him, because that might trip a "chase prey" in him, until the cat warms up and is used to him. Our cat does not run around and is very laid back.

Jazz walks well on the leash after he was corrected not to pull. I have walked my dogs with him at the same time, and have had no problems at all. He loves walks and would be a must for the next owner.

Jazz does like to bark at things that he sees as being out of place. We have been working with him to try to curb that. He has been very respectful of our belongings and does not counter surf or jump on furniture. He has his own bed on the floor that he sleeps on at night and doesn't mind it. He has no problems with being possessive of food or toys.

Jazz is in great health and has been neutered and chipped. He is up to date on his shots. He does listen very well to commands.