Rugby (Protege #0159)

Meet Rugby (#0159), a whole lot of Aussie love in a tiny little package! Rugby is an adorable 8 pound red mini Aussie. He is a one and a half year old neutered male.

Beware…once you see him and cuddle with him (he will tuck his little nose right along side your neck if you let him)…he is irresistable! Rugby didn’t have the best start to his life, so he has a few things he is working on (hey, nobody’s perfect, right?). Rugby is not currently comfortable pottying on leash, but he is slowly making progress on this and has now gone a few times on leash. He much prefers to potty off leash in a secure area. He has not had any accidents in his crate since coming to our house, nor has he had any accidents on the floor. Rugby is fearful of small children to the point of hiding from them. We are currently still testing to see if this is an issue that can be lessened over a long period of time with careful exposure, but we can for certain say that we feel it would be best if he went to a home without young children.

Rugby currently is fostered in a home with four other dogs and two cats, and he goes daily with his foster mom to doggie daycare where he interacts with 14 other dogs at a time that are sized from 5 pounds up to 35 pounds. He will stand up for himself if another dog gets pushy, but he has been getting along well with all of the other dogs, and with the cats as well. He and his foster brother, a 12 pound sheltie, have begun to enjoy chasing each other around the house.

Rugby is up to date on all vaccinations, and is currently on heartworm and flea/tick preventatives.

He is being fostered in Cedar Rapids. Contact Jayne at mcjayne@yahoo.com with questions and for more information. While we welcome your questions about this dog, all adopters are required to complete a Protege Adoption Application before being considered to adopt a Protege dog; our adoption fee is $200.