Billy

Introducing Billy, an 8yo Maltese x boy, who is looking for his forever home.

Billy is a friendly, happy-go-lucky boy, who is confident and outgoing. He is social with dogs, cats, and people, including children. He is confident with people and likes to interact, though can be a bit overexcited, and is still learning not to jump up. He likes other dogs and would be fine to live with a confident cat.

Sounds perfect doesn’t he!

He does have a couple of limitations, however. Billy greets other dogs by trying to hump them sometimes, and is still learning that this isn’t ok, and isn’t to be tolerated. He was desexed only recently (whilst in foster care) so this is a long established behaviour that needs ongoing supervision. Once he knows the dog and is comfortable with them, he doesn’t try, so he could certainly live with another dog but a calm, mature, well-balanced dog who wouldn’t easily take offence would be a good choice.

Billy is also a serial marker, and initially in an environment, will mark on anything and everything – a leftover from having been entire until 8 years of age – but has been learning recently that he isn’t allowed to mark in certain places or situations. Initially in foster care he would mark a lot in the outdoor patio area, but no longer does so. He also could not be trusted to not mark in the house, and whilst this has improved immensely, it is not yet perfectly sorted, and some initial mistakes are to be expected (though not accepted). He also is so keen to mark over the top of another dog peeing that he would potentially mark on the other dog in his overzealousness.

Initially in foster care it became clear that Billy did not know how to be inside a house. He would be keen to come inside – we have been working on him not scratching on the door or vocalising – but when let inside would be overexcited, not know what to do, and run and sit by the back door wanting to go back outside again. He has had to be shown that he could come to the loungeroom, that he could find comfort on a dog bed, that he could play. He did not show any interest in toys until a couple of weeks ago, but now loves to have a play and try to “kill” the toys. This has evolved as his confidence has grown. He is gradually starting to enjoy a lap cuddle but is not a lap dog.

Initially in foster care, Billy also displayed some barking, and I would expect that as he settles into a new forever home, that a bit of barking could be on the cards. However, he is not a continual barker when in a comfortable environment. When staying briefly in a kennel environment, he barked a lot, but returned to his foster home and did not. Understand however that though some of his outward behaviours could be labelled as separation anxiety, he does not have separation anxiety.

Medically, Billy is now well, desexed and has had a dental. He has recovered from a lingering ear infection and from an eye infection. He does, however, have a grade 4 heart murmur and this must be taken into consideration. He currently does not take any medication for this, but in the future, he may need medication. He cannot tolerate long walks but would like to go for short ones in good weather.

Billy’s ideal home will have a good yard, excellent fencing, and a patient family who understand that it will take a while for him to settle down and settle in. They will not be super energetic but maybe like a stroll around the block. They might have another tolerant older dog or a confident cat for his company. They won’t need to be home all day every day, but he would certainly love to hang out with his people if they are enjoying gardening or similar, and they will need to be tolerant of some potential mistakes in the house and be prepared to guide him.