Chiko ~ Toy Poodle ~ male (On Trial 11/7/17)

Meet Chiko! Chiko is a 5 year old toy poodle, and is looking for his perfect match!

He is a very handsome boy, with his curly black coat and soulful brown eyes. We like to think of him as being an 'extreme' version of a typical poodle personality- he is extremely loyal, extremely cuddly, and extremely sweet! Also typical of poodles, he can be very sensitive to change and any conflict going on around him. We think he would best fit a nice calm house to give him the best chance of settling in.

Chiko is currently living with 3 other small to medium sized older dogs, and gets on well with them. He is much more people focused though, so another dog for company is not a necessity. As his foster carers work full time, we think having another dog has prevented him from being anxious during the day, so this will need to be considered if you have no other dogs and work a lot.

Chiko is quite shy when meeting new people. When we have people over, he will happily sit and take treats, but takes a while to warm up enough for them to pat him. He is a good guard dog and only barks when someone is at the door, or if he is extremely excited.

He has had some issues with snapping, and food aggression. Although we have trained him to no longer be aggressive around food or snap at us, it's likely that the anxiety of moving to his forever home would cause these issues to reappear while he adjusts. For this reason, he is not suitable to go to a home with children, and he also needs a home with someone who is dedicated to his training and willing to take the time to listen to our qualified trainers while he settles in. Ideally we would like him to be adopted in the Newcastle/ Lake Macquarie area so we can do a slow introduction to his new home.

As you may notice from his photos, grooming is not at the top of Chiko's favourite activities! He will be groomed again prior to going to his new home, but at the moment this needs to be done by a professional who is familiar with very frightened dogs. We aren't sure what has caused his grooming aversion, but his foster carer has been working to resolve this. He is now able to tolerate a bath and blow dry, and is slowly coming around to being brushed.

Although Chiko is still young and (sometimes!) energetic, he stays inside during the day while we are at work. We have never come home to any destruction or other naughty behaviour, and would like him to continue to be a fully inside dog at his new home. He has never been left outside before so we don't think he would do well with this. He does thoroughly enjoy a walk whenever you are able to give him one, and walks beautifully on lead.

If you think that you can give this beautiful little boy the perfect home, please contact his foster carer Regina on reginaweiley85@gmail.com or 0473 051 985 outside of regular work hours.
Chiko is in foster care in Wallsend, NSW (Newcastle) and is available for adoption interstate.

Chiko's adoption fee is $450 and he is desexed, vaccinated, treated for fleas and worms, microchipped, and lifetime registered. You can see all our available dogs at www.dogrescuenewcastle.com.au