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Huey is a 4 year old, 48 lb. neutered male in Topsham, ME

Huey is a wonderful, healthy, highly driven, high maintenance cattle dog. He is overfull of energy, extremely inteligent, sassy, stubborn and loving. He's a slightly neurotic, goofball police officer in dog clothing. We are so heartbroken to be here.

We've had Huey since he was about 5mo old. We've put a ton of work (and money) in to keep him fulfilled mentally and energetically. We've never truly been able to meet his exercise needs, but for a couple years we had a decent, if tenuous, handle on it. When I had our daughter 2 years ago, things took a turn for the worse. We've really struggled to get Huey the appropriate amount of exercise for him ever since. For context I (with my daughter in tow) spend 3 hours daily as standard walking, running, playing, and training with him. It's simply not enough, and the last 2 years have been a slow escalation into misbehavior and general rowdiness: regression in obedience, rough play, excessive barking, giving himself jobs that we don't want him to have, leash pulling, car chasing, and bouts of spatially oblivious sprinting.

This finally came to a head a few days ago when he started sprinting (chasing imaginary cows we call it) around the yard. He ran from behind directly into me at a dead sprint, launching me into the air. The resulting fall shattered my wrist, requiring surgical repair. This is a serious injury that will take nearly a year to fully heal from. There's simply no way I can continue to care for him (and silmultaneously my toddler) with one arm. We also no longer have expendable income for outsourcing his care.

Huey is house trained, crate trained, has an excellant recall, and knows sit, down, stay, shake, stand, jump, wait and with me all both verbally and with signs. He also knows leave it, get it, settle, and load up verbally. He is a QUICK, eager learner. We've got him into a routine where he "shuts down" at 8pm and "turns on" at 8am, with a rest time from 12-3pm-- although he certainly takes up any offer to add to his active hours.

He instinctively began herding our chickens, with minimal "no chasing" feedback. I genuinely believe he would thrive with a proper livestock job. He has always been good with children-- no herding and very patient, willing to give up toys and takes treats extra gently. He is not sure about cats. I chalk it up to boredom. He's never been aggressive but will herd and "police" our cats-- whining to let us know they're somewhere they aren't supposed to be (which is nowhere-- Huey has decided where he thinks they should or shouldn't be). I'm not sure this would continue if he was ran correctly. Some days when we are extra busy and he is tuckered he will completely ignore them. He currently lives with our other dog with no issue. Huey is definitely the boss of their dynamic though, and a bit of a bully. Our other dog is very chill and isn't bothered by being bossed around. Hue is really hit or miss with other dogs and will need to meet any potential "siblings" to feel it out.

 

Huey has only demonstrated aggression with some (not all) other dogs. He has never broken skin but he has lunged and snapped at unkown dogs. We have never allowed for an opportunity to bite. He does also nip at and herd dogs that he isn't aggressive towards. He is wary of strangers and will bark, growl, lunge and snap at some (not all) new humans. No skin contact bites. He will on occassion nip gently at ankles or wrists.

Huey is a true blue cattle dog. He loves his home property and his people. As long as he is properly tired out by his daily activties he is obedient, happy and loving.

Huey is not going to do okay in a home where he is left alone for entire work days/weeks. If that is your situation, he will need to be sent off to daycare or some equivalent, so you would need to be resourced well enough to afford that.

We're looking ideally for a family farm home for Huey. He's only ever lived in our house, so a good mix of work and comfort at end of the day would be his thing, He is purebred and has demonstrated the right instincts. He loves his ladies, the chickens. He's up for the challenge of sheep or cattle.

We'd also consider active oudoorsy folks (hiking, trail running, etc) who would be able to take him on big adventures often enough for him to thrive. Bonus points for professional or hobbyist dog trainers. Experience with cattle dogs highly preferred, experience with herding dogs necessary.

Please help us find our good guy the life of his dreams!

Email jboyerme@gmail.com

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