Health Condition:

Roscoe completed heartworm treatment when he first arrived at MPR. He is now healthy and ready for adoption. 

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Note: Roscoe displayed some anxiety when he first came to us. We gave him anxiety meds to help him adjust. Once adapted to his new life at the shelter, we were able to taper him off the meds. This boy likes routine, consistency, and structure. He might need a few weeks of adaptation to decompress in a new home. Once he's used to a new routine though, he is very easy-going and chill.

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Physical Description:  

A little larger than average. He's tall, big boned and muscular – larger than a lap dog but doesn’t know it!  He might have a bit of American Bulldog in him. Roscoe is gorgeous in person. Pictures don't do him justice. He has the epitome of "puppy dog eyes." His eyes are the most inquisitive you’ll ever see. Roscoe has one ear that flops over "normally" and one "wonky ear," that moves around as he listens and learns. When you call his name, both ears perk up. Roscoe has adorable freckles around his nose and down his back. He does an adorable hop-run when he's excited, but his most precious trait is the little tippy taps that his feet do when he's happy to see you or ready to play. 😊

 

Current Living Situation:  

Roscoe, like many homeless dogs that get shuffled around, took a few weeks to settle into his living situation when he first arrived at MPR shelter. He was unsure whether he was allowed on the furniture, if he could eat slowly or if he'd run out of food, and whether he was allowed to run freely in the big yard, etc. Since he was never a welcomed indoor pet before, he was confused by the smallest things. He has since learned that all ground surfaces are safe and appliance noises don't phase him anymore. It's been such a treat watching him learn the luxuries of indoor life!

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Roscoe scored himself a foster home at the beginning of the year. Now this handsome boy lives in home with two adults and a 4-year-old doggy sister. He is crate trained, where he stays at night and when home alone. Roscoe lets his foster parents know when he needs to go potty but has occasional accidents indoors, which makes sense for a dog who grew up outside. The medium yard is fenced, but there’s a farm next door with lots of animals so he is supervised when outside.

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He gets plenty of exercise at his foster home. Roscoe goes on one-mile walks at least five days a week and goes on weekly car rides just for fun.

 

Personality:   

Roscoe is a silly, happy boy who has THE best bounce throughout the backyard. Since we know he grew up stuck to a chain outside, its easy to understand why he now loves being free to run and romp until his heart's content. He likes being inside for cuddles too, but truly enjoys the fresh air. He is curious and alert, but also a little clumsy at times.

 

Roscoe is a fun combination that never ceases to crack us up. He is like a little kid that doesn't want to stop playing when it's dinner time. Once he's with his people though, he is all love. He fancies snuggling on the couch and chewing on his bones near his humans. Butt scratches are a must!   

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Regarding his anxiety, foster mom said Roscoe was pretty anxious/restless for his first 7-10 days, as expected after being used to his shelter routine for so long. But each day he showed tremendous progress and has almost no anxiety at this point - but a new change of environment could exacerbate that slightly again. As long as he feels safe and loved, he adapts easily! 

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Behavior with people: 

Roscoe has such an awesome disposition with people. He's outgoing but not pushy, friendly, and loving, but not overbearing. Roscoe will take any and all attention that you want to give him, but he is respectful if you have guests over that aren't 'dog people.'  Roscoe is confident and well-behaved when greeting new people. He doesn't seem to have a preference toward men or women and does well with direction from everyone.

 

Behavior with children:  

We haven't seen Roscoe around kiddos, but he has not exhibited any resource guarding or hyperactivity, so we think he would be a great family dog. Due to his size and strength however, older kids would probably be best.

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Behavior with other dogs:  

Roscoe was rejected by another rescue for "flunking" his dog test. We were told that he lived with a large female German Shepherd before landing at the pound, but the dogs were kept on chains and might not have had much interaction, if any. 

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At the MPR shelter, Roscoe was introduced to a large, tolerant, yet dominant female and did very well with her. Due to this successful greeting, Roscoe was transferred to a foster home with a built-in playmate. 

 

Note from foster mom: “After a few weeks of slow, intentional, structured intros, he is now integrated with his foster sister living the good life! He has shown a mostly submissive demeanor when playing. Roscoe does like to initiate play, but quickly rolls on his back in a submissive position. If he has the choice between playing or cuddling, he will choose cuddling. His foster sister is confident and self-assured (meaning, she doesn't "need" or want to play all the time), so I think Roscoe would benefit from that type of companion to continue to teach him to be a "house dog."

 

Roscoe’s owner(s) will need to be very bully-breed savvy and know how to properly introduce dogs and supervise. On walks Roscoe has shown a positive demeanor toward the neighborhood dogs and redirects easily. But note that he has engaged in fence-to-fence conflicts with other dogs before, when they were willing participants. The right home for him should have a tall privacy fence and/or no adjacent neighbor dogs.

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Behavior with other animals:  

Roscoe is interested in squirrels, bunnies, and other small critters, so he would do best in a home without cats or other small animals.

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Training: 

Roscoe is mostly housetrained, kennel-trained, and knows some easy commands such as: sit, look, touch, and wait. He is eager to please and treat-motivated, so we are working on “stay” in hopes that he will learn to love his dog-bed on the floor, instead of plopping his big ol' self on a human's lap!

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When it comes to housebreaking, foster mom says he's 97% housebroken. He has some tendencies to mark his territory inside but responds well when caught trying. All accidents inside have been related to this urge to mark. Since being fully integrated with his foster sister though, he has stopped this behavior.

 

Roscoe will ring a bell or whine to go outside to potty. He has had zero kennel accidents.

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Best Attribute:

Roscoe is expressive and animated.  He wears his heart on his sleeve - you can always tell how curious he is, or excited, or sleepy, or worried... He's emotional and sensitive. Foster mom says her favorite thing about Roscoe is his quirky demeanor. He's so silly, goofy, and fun. You can tell this dog is absolutely high on life and just so grateful to be loved and safe. It is so fun to see him run and play and learn to be a dog with his foster sister.

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Even if you can’t adopt this sweetheart, you can still help by donating for their care.