Adoption status: Adopted!
Joxer is a 7 year old, male, red Shiba Inu. See his Facebook album.

Hello everyone, my name is Joxer and I was named for the character in the Hercules/Xena Show. I am a fearful 7-year-old, Male, Shiba Inu. The first 2 years of my life I was treated very badly. I lived in a small cage in the garage of a family that only let me out a couple hours every night. There were children that would tease and torment me by pulling my tail. Thankfully, I was sent back to the breeder at the age of 2-years-old. That is when I got lucky. A caring family who already had a Shiba took the time to hire trainers to work with my severe fear issues. In the 4 years they had me I made so much progress and I love and trusted my family so much. But my dad got real sick and he knew he wasn’t going to get better so he looked for a good place for me and my sister to go to.

After a year of searching and interviewing places, my family finally found DC SIR. They set me up with all the things I needed from home and details about my fears, likes, and quirks to help me adjust to my foster home. So let me tell you a bit about myself. I am a fearful dog and I will pace around if I am nervous. Loud noises can scare me and I may jump up. But DC SIR volunteers saw how I would run to my parents when I got scared.

Luckily, DC SIR trains their foster homes in how to act around fearful dogs. I actually came up to the DC SIR volunteer for pets when she didn’t look directly at me but I was too nervous to take treats. When I met the other dogs at Shiba HQ this made me happy and my tail went up! I happily greeted everyone and thought that Katniss seemed really nice so I followed her a round for some time.

DC SIR said I will be required to go to a home with another friendly dog. They think I could probably go out on quiet hiking adventures but that I will not do well in a loud city environment. I do love to run and I enjoy being outdoors. I will need a safe space in my forever home and a quiet home with people who are savvy about canine body language. DC SIR may require a fearful dog training class for my adoption but they will tell you more after my 2-week assessment.

Location: Extended (SC/NC/VA/DC/MD/PA/DE/WV)
Dogs: REQUIRED friendly dog
Cats: Good
Weight: 22lbs
DOB: 12/09/09
Fearful dog requirements TBD
Intake date: 5/9/17
Available Date: 5/24/17

Follow Joxer’s progress in his Facebook Album!