Calling all BIG Dog Lovers!

URGENT!! Magnificent Max seeks Foster or Forever Family!
He is an old soul and we need to place him ASAP! His foster is relocating and has written full details on him below.

If you are interested in learning about fostering or adopting him, please email safehavendogsil@yahoo.com for details.

Maximus
Max is a 4-5 year old 95 pound male black lab.
When he arrived at our rescue he was 20 pounds underweight, unaltered, and was experiencing horrible ear infections. Maximus was extremely head shy – you could not touch his head or ears or he would growl at you. Max, paced for hours a day when he arrived in our home and could not relax. Maximus is terrified of water. (I have never seen a dog so afraid of water). Therefore, it has been impossible to give him a bath, even sedated by the vet.
Max has been with me as a foster for 17 days. He has been treated for the ear infection is altered and up to date on all shots. Max will now let me touch his head, ears, neck and all parts of his body. Max is a wonderful dog 95% of the time. His major area needing correction is getting over excited and mouthing
Positive/Negative observations
1. Maximus walks beautiful when on a pinch collar. He has clearly had previous experience with one and immediately heels to your left side. You do not even need to attach the leash to the pinch, it can attach to his normal collar and he behaves like an angel. I walk him 2 miles before work and 1 mile after work on a daily basis. He loves to walk and is relaxed and friendly to people and dogs that he meets. If you do not have the pinch collar on, he will chase rabbits and can pull you down. He will not chase cats, dogs, people, cars, or bikes…he ignores them all..but he will pull your arm off if he sees a rabbit.
2. Maximus loves people, everyone is his friend. He does not jump, wags his tail and will greet men, women and children with a good attitude. However he is still hesitant to have his collar held and therefore we are not recommending for small children. When I am putting his leash on for a walk, I make him sit to attach to his collar. If you reach for his collar quickly or grab it to pull him – he will pull back or snap his head around and “mouth” you. He does not bite but he will grab your wrist with his mouth and pull.
3. Maximus is fine with my small and medium female dogs. He shares ½ of the house with them and I have had no issues. My small is 8 pounds and my medium dog is 40 pounds. Max does not play with them but easily tolerates them. I was also fostering a puppy and Max allowed the puppy to chew his face, ears, and legs. However, I have a 70 pound alpha female that went after Max and he did not back down. He did NOT cause the altercation, he simply walked by and she jumped on him. My daughter grabbed our dog and I grabbed Max’s tail to pull them apart. Max swung quickly to react to me pulling his tail and immediately stopped when he saw it was me. Again, he did not start it but he did not submit to her grabbing him and went after her. He has since interacted with her fine…
4. Head and Ear Shy – Max is no longer head or ear shy. He in fact, comes to you for pets and loves to have his ears, neck and head rubbed. Two weeks ago, he would growl if you touched his head. The vet believes this hesitancy was only due to the extreme pain he is in with his ears. The damage is so great, he believes he may be deaf in his left ear. The vet touched, prodded and flexed his whole body and only got a reaction from the ears.
5. Max crates beautifully ….. He is quiet, will sleep through the night and will crate when you leave during the day. I walk him to the crate, with a treat, and tell him house. He will go in and wait for his treat.
6. Max is food motivated – Max will sit and lay for treats. He is very food motivated. I feed him in his crate and separate from my dogs. Not because there has been an issue but because I did not want to create one. Max was so thin when he arrived and was hungry all of the time. We have put 9 pounds on him in a little over two weeks. Max will counter surf if given the chance. We correctly with a loud noise or “no” command.
7. Max is quiet in the house. He is content to sit quietly and watch TV
8. As a rule Max is not interested in furniture or getting on furniture.
9. Max does not bark. He is very quiet and has only barked when my dogs start barking at the mail man etc. He is very quiet.
10. Max is great in the car. He is excited at first and will try to get in front. Block his way and say NO and he settles in back.
11. Marking – Max came unaltered and marked a lot when he first arrived. Since he has been altered and we corrected this behavior it has reduced dramatically is only happening on a rare basis. However, it could start again in a new environment.
12. Max does not know how to play. He has no interest in balls, toys or a rawhide.
13. “Mouthing” Max does not know how to control his excitement. When you are petting him he will often wiggle his entire body and starting mouthing your short or wrist. It is almost like he is grooming you….He never hurts and he never breaks skin but he will grab your hand, your arm, hair, etc. when you are petting him. When you stop he will try to crawl in your lap and it is hard to stop him. He is 95 pounds and will try to bulldoze into your lap. We are working on both behaviors and praising and petting when he sits calmly.

He really is a sweet dog. He is looking for a leader of the pack and wants to be someone’s best friend. He will need continued work on “mouthing” and needs a bath….until he fully trusts someone a bath could be difficult.