Rocket is a 5 year old, 45 lb. spayed female in Newtown, VA.
Rocket is an amazing Australian Cattle Dog. We adopted her at 7 months old after her original owners couldn’t pay for her care after a car hit her. She doesn't have lasting damage, but there is a chunk missing from her back leg.
She needs a fenced yard, 4 foot minimum. She could also work in an apartment with a good walk daily. She is crate trained and knows her basic commands. She is relatively low energy after she calms down from greeting you. She is friendly with most other submissive dogs. She loves playing with our male frenchie. We have two cats that she lives with, but I cannot guarantee that she won’t chase your cats.
Rocket has great prey drive and this is the reason we need to rehome her. We moved to a free-range poultry farm two years ago. Rocket loves to catch ducks and chickens that wander into our fence. This prey drive has caused her time outside to be limited and unfair.
Rocket once bit another dog and broke the skin on the ears. She was having a playdate with the dog and the other dog’s owner dropped her food on the ground. The other dog and Rocket both went for the food and the other dog became very food aggressive and bit at Rocket. Rocket also bit back. The other dog ended up with an ear cut. This was 3 years ago.
I have female and male french bulldogs. Rocket loves to play with the male frenchie. The female frenchie is dog aggressive and attacks Rocket endlessly. It was not bad until we moved and both dogs reclaimed territory. Now the frenchie bites at Rocket's face and acts as if she is going to kill Rocket. We have gotten to the point that we don’t let them interact - after Rocket defended herself and cut the french bulldogs ear. This only happened after the Frenchie cut Rocket’s face. But the male frenchie and Rocket continue to be buddies and play nicely.
Other behavior- Rocket has typical nipping habits where she nips a heel and runs when she plays with other dogs at the dog park. We used to go quite often, but havent been in two years because we moved and dog parks are far away.
Otherwise- she is prey driven and loves to chase and catch our chickens- doesn't understand why we get mad at her. She doesn't bite or chase our two cats, but they don't run and it took a few weeks of training with her when we first got her to make her not chase them.
Adopters will be evaluated for suitable environment. I am happy to bring Rocket to meet you at a location that is halfway between us. If you have other dogs, this might be a great opportunity to have them meet. Then, we can assess between the two of us if Rocket is the correct fit. There is a small adoption fee of 50 dollars to cover the transportation.