Pyrex

Pyrex may be small, but she’s big on personality!

Here’s some of what her current guardians have to say about her.

She has 3 legs, one of which was lost due to a car accident just before we adopted her, she is very capable and her lost limb has very little impact on her life (except she is a little clumsy at times, which doesn't bother her in the slightest) although she gets tired after walking for about a block/2-300 m, which I believe could improve with more walking.

She has proven to be very receptive to training. Her commands are: sit (including for crossing streets and before being fed), cross, 'where's your toy?', 'where's your ball?', 'not your toy', come, down (from chair), 'outside' - when asked to leave a room. She loves a soft toy to chew and to have thrown, and loves tennis balls, but only likes throwing games at times, not obsessively. She also likes rope toys and tug of war.

When I took her on, she was very aggressive and stranger averse. It was apparent that she had been abused and doesn't like to be approached. After working with her, I discovered that when meeting a new person, all it takes is for the stranger to sit down in and allow Pyrex to smell them in her own time, without being approached at all (including hands being offered). Within 15 minutes of being ignored, she will approve of the stranger and be willing to be gentle approached with a hand and soon after that she will jump up on their lap and demand attention! If the new friend stands up quickly, Pyrex may get spooked and a little aggressive, and all it will take is for the person to sit down again and ignore her and she'll get comfortable again.

I recommend someone with dog experience and no young children take her on as she needs a little more understanding than a dog with no anxiety. Behavioural training would be able to take her further, I was only able to do so a few times, but she is so willing to learn I can see her making further progress.

She currently sleeps inside, but in her own bed away from family bedrooms and doesn't cause any fuss at night. She would make a great guard dog as she barks if she hears a stranger approach the house (but not garbage trucks or family members). She eats raw pet mince at night with a few leftover veggies and/or rice thrown in, and a small bone most mornings. She needs to watch her weight as she isn't as active as more able dogs (she's quite the couch potato during the day!) and too much weight will cause her trouble with load bearing on her one front leg.

She is part basenji, part fox terrier. Due to the basenji, she doesn't smell very doggy at all, and doesn't require bathing quite as often as a regular dog! She isn't' fond of bathing, but it isn't impossible. She hasn't let me trim her claws, but the vet sent me a link to help me desensitise her, so we'll see how that goes.