Zion
Breed: English Bulldog
Age: 3 years old
Sex: Male
Weight: 48 lbs
Adoption Fee: $500.00
4/16/2024 Update:
Zion has had some fun outings lately: late-evening walks (with and without foster doggie-siblings), car rides, NBBR events, a visit to a brewery with foster dad, a bbq place where he got lots of pets and attention, and a weekend stay over at a cool dog-sitter’s, while foster family was out of town.
Zion got a glowing “report-card” after his weekend stay over at the sitter’s! He was the only dog in the household, received all the attention, cuddles, treats, walks, and even slept on the couch, and the human bed! He barked a few times, only when there was a knock on the door, otherwise he was cool and collected. He did great going for short potty-break walks, and got to sniff some new friends near the dog park. Mr. Z enjoyed a chill, great weekend, in a different environment.
Neuter surgery has been set for May 2nd. After his recovery from surgery, going through heartworm treatment, and having been rescued from roaming the scorching outdoors, lost, Zion will be ready to go to his forever home with his forever family.
Come meet this adorable hunk at the last few NBBR events of spring ’24!
3/25/2024 Update:
Zion updates:
– He finalized his heartworm treatment, and activity restriction, around mid-February. Boy was he excited to finally get some time to run outside! He’ll be going in for re-testing soon. We’re rooting for that negative!
– He received treatment for a skin bacteria. He was a champ with his baths (even walks himself into the shower, no resistance!). He grew a beautiful, thick set of hair, and his skin is looking it’s best.
– He’s loving the cool, spring weather, and getting some nice breezy walks
– Zion’s a wonderful walker. He walks on a good, loose leash the majority of the time, and tugs on it if something startles him like a fast car or a loud noise.
– He loves sticking his head in the snuffle matts to search for treats.
– He did great at the first event of this 2024 at Truckyard. Come find us at the next few events! He’s looking forward to meeting more people, getting some pets, and meet whom might eventually take him to his forever home!
Opportunities for behavioral work:
Zion struggles when our 2 small dogs bark at him (they are barky!). He gets anxious, spooks, and to avoid the commotion, runs back to his favorite spot (his bed), where his chews are. At the moment, he’s kept separated from the other pups, given the barking does noticeably stress him. He has a place to retreat to when needed, and we all avoid any unfortunate incidents between them. He’ll peacefully lie in the big donut bed he has by the gate. Our other pups prefer the separation as well.
Zion would greatly benefit from behavior modification/training around boundaries, resource guarding his things, and reacting to visitors that approach the door. He’s an amazing companion, and extremely loyal to his human.
1/16/2024 Update:
Zion had a great time going out in the snow yesterday. He wanted to roll in it everytime he went out! Unfortunately, he’s still on leashed potty, and on low heart rate activity so rolling has been kept to a minimum.
We’ve noticed he does not like when our small dogs bark at him when they see him (honestly, who would?!). It makes him stressed and he wants to rush back to his bed, and away from them. He’s a lot more calm and at ease when they aren’t barking near his face, so their interactions are kept minimal at the moment, to avoid him getting overly excited.
Zion’s a big, goofy, sweet lug, who just outgrew his first harness! We had originally ordered 2 sizes to try them on him. The smallest of both was the best for him back in October, and we happened to never return the larger one. We tried the larger one on him yesterday, given his neck and body have filled out (while keeping his muscular build), and that one is now the better fit! He’s looking handsome as ever, and will soon be ready for Spring activities, and more time outdoors!
1/2/2024 Update:
Zion is on week 5 of his heartworm treatment. He went in for part 2 of treatment on 12/29. They have been pretty uneventful weeks, as he rests, and spends most of the day inside the office/room, with his chews and toys. He’s doing well with his reduced activity, and staying calm. When the energy bug hits, he gets some treats which he scavenges in a towel or box, and some lick mats with frozen yogurt and other yummy foods.
Notes from Zion:
I love finding something on my way to go potty! It doesn’t matter what it is (shoe, toy, sock), I’ll pick it up and take it with me! I love it when foster dad works, because he spends all day in the office with me! Foster mom keeps trying to get me to push a bobble toy with my head to get a treat, but all i want to do is chew on it and fight with it.. no treats come out that way, but it’s still fun!
11/14/2023 Update:
Zion had a vet follow-up to get his vaccines and some preliminary tests before his neuter. Unfortunately, Zion tested positive for heartworm.
He’s about halfway through the antibiotic round, before the first heartworm injection on the 29th. He does amazing taking his pills! By far the easiest of the 4 dogs in our house! He “asks no questions” and just swallows them inside ANY treat, or piece of food given.
– We have been decreasing his level of activity, and use a leash to avoid his running efforts in the backyard. He does get a lot more antsy now, given we are not playing fetch, tug-of-war, or flirt pole.. instead, he is getting more challenging treats (frozen things to lick, longer-lasting chews, and we’ll add some brain games).
– From the pictures: he had a great day at the Truckyard event people-watching, and getting pets and attention all day / “if I fits, I sits” curls up into a little ball in the small doggie beds at home (even though he has his larger beds!) / He’s looking handsome as ever, with new skin rolls down his back!
10/30/2023 Update:
The easy positives!
– He’s a WONDERFUL human companion…. just the right pup for someone looking for a dog to have around them, go on walks, play fetch, lounge around and chill. When he sees us after we haven’t been with him for a while, his entire body wiggles with excitement.. the sweetest thing! He loves to put his face on the couch or on our laps for some good pets/rubs, and paws gently when he wants some scratches. We have said with my husband (Angel) that in a parallel world, he would have been our perfect, only dog in our household. When none of our dogs are in the same room with him, he is incredibly peaceful, and will just lounge around any human that is there with him. He loves the companionship of being around any of us (loves my husband the most!!)
– Staying home alone: we leave him in Angel’s home office with the doors closed, his crate open, and he has access to that room. That is where he spends a lot of the time in the day as well, where he has his water, and where he eats. We have a camera in that room, and can see that he stays completely calm, sleeps while we’re gone, has no stress or anxiety staying alone. There’s also a bench where he hops up and window-watches the front of the house. He does not react to people or activity, he just calmly takes it all in and then hops off to rest again.
– Food: Zion has done great with his food, he’s eating twice a day, a grain-free dry food and I add some fresh toppers, and water to the bowl for extra hydration. So far he likes: pumpkin puree, sweet potato (in bits or mixed with food), sardines in pieces for extra omega, frozen blueberries, avocado, cantaloupe, any bland cooked meats I have which I cook for my other dogs, plain goat kefir or plain yogurt. He gets some snacks and treats throughout the days, like chews of different kinds, and training bits. He loves to be given training treats while attempting to learn new things.
– Leash: Zion does great on leash. I’ve taken him out around 7-8pm, when there is less traffic or people, since I have seen he does get a bit scared of the noises. He does amazing on his walks, very gentle, calm, pulls just a few times, but quickly goes back to calm… nowhere near what he could do with those 50lbs! My 20lb lady pulls WAY stronger than him! We’ll be taking him to some quiet parks for a walk, and explore going to a non-crowded patio to have him there while we eat, and see how he does.
– Our other dogs: we’ve slowed down the interactions with our dogs, after a few challenges I’ll mention below. He does pretty well with our 2 chihuahua-mixes. They all sniff each other, he wants to be around us and them, wants to hog the attention for himself, but also allows us to pet them and him by turns. He’s very eager, and his presence is strong, so the little ones sometimes get scared, but overall the interactions have gone well. I see he gets a bit scared or stressed when the chihs bark (which they do many times in the day), he pants and starts walking around, or runs toward the gate that leads him to his “room”. It seems he doesn’t like the added stress of the barking, and it feels as if he wants to move away from it, instead of reacting or barking.
CHALLENGES
Resource guarding
– Zion strongly guards his area, the chews he has there, and absolutely any toy he finds whether in his room, or in the common area. He has gone to the extent of snapping and lunging angrily towards any dog that interacts with any toy he finds. We have had to separate rumbles and fights between him and our older shih tzu (Igor) more than once, and once with one of the chihs (when he saw he was carrying a toy in his mouth). There have been no signs of bite marks yet, but the fights could have been bad had we not quickly intervened. When toys are involved, his stare and body gets stiff if he sees any dog coming near it. We have always had eyes on all dogs whenever he’s been in the common area with them (as we got to know him), and because we are there, we have swiftly been able to lunge ourselves into the fight to separate the dogs.. they have been scary fights. Our 13 yr old shih tzu, Igor, has NEVER been aggressive towards any dog in the past.. he is a goofball, playful and highly social with dogs, although he is insistent on playing so he’s gotten the bad side of other less tolerant dogs in the past, but not attacked.
** He does NOT guard anything from us, not his toys, nor his food. He allows to be touched while eating (we don’t do it often, but I have tried just to see the reaction – and there is none), and I can put my hand in his plate to feed him from my hand any bit of food he left, he also takes treats by turns with our other dogs (so far with no problem), lets us take his toy to throw for fetch. I can say that with humans, he does not show any aggression or discomfort in guarding anything.
What we are doing with this situation of his guarding?
– We added a 2nd gate outside our bedroom (near the kitchen), to separate the common area even more. After his recent lunges towards Igor, we now place Igor inside our bedroom whenever we have to take Zion out to the backyard. We have absolutely eliminated all interactions between Igor and Zion. We have decided that they don’t like each other, and that they cannot be together in the same room.
– There are 0 toys or chews in the common area where we let Zion in to interact with the 2 chihuahuas, and both of us for brief moments. All the toys are now in our bedroom, where we are not allowing Zion in, given we place Igor there while Zion roams the kitchen and living room area.
– Our dogs are not allowed past the gate that separates the living room with the hallway and office, which at the moment is the area where Zion sleeps, eats, and spends most of the day.
– We cannot let him into the living room while we are watching tv, or relaxing given Igor is there around us, so he stays behind the gate, and cries for us to let him in. We have to alternate between him and Igor being there with us, which is not very sustainable.
– We both have to communicate really well when one of us allows Zion into the living room/kitchen, and Igor has to be put away, and also scan around and make sure no toys are on the floor (if any).
October 21, 2023 Update:
Please welcome Zion to No Borders Bulldog Rescue. Zion is a 3 yr old male Olde English Bulldog that weighs approximately 48 lbs.
Zon joins the NBBR family as a stray. A good Samarian family saw him running loose behind their house. They live in an area where there is a greenbelt behind their house with no homes nearby. The family kept seeing him running around alone but could not manage to catch him. They reached out to NBBR to see if we could help catch him and unfortunately we did not have the resources to help at that time. Not to be deterred, they continued to work on getting him to trust them. After a few more days they were SUCCESSFUL and were able to catch him. Once he was secured, they took him to the vet to check for a chip (nope) and to get his rabies vaccine. While all this was occurring, they started the process of locating his family. They asked around their neighborhood and checked local lost and found social media pages with no luck. They then contacted NBBR again and asked if we could help Zion find a new forever home. When they called, we didn’t have an available foster home. The family had a brief meeting and decided that THEY would be Zion’s foster family. They completed all the necessary paperwork and Zion become the newest NBBR member.
When Zion went to the vet for his chip check and to get his rabies vaccine, he was given a preliminary clean bill of health. He will be seen by our Vet to do additional screening for heartworms and intestinal parasites. In addition to this, Zion needs to be neutered. The clinic’s surgery schedule is still jam packed and we weren’t able to get him immediately (as we prefer) BUT have no fear he is on the schedule.
Zion has been through a lot in the last couple weeks but he is a very resilient little guy. While he can be a little shy at first, he warms up very quickly. He can be very energetic and loves to explore his surroundings. He is currently chilling with his foster family. Zion is currently living with other dogs and gets along with them. He can be a little “too much” when first meeting other dogs… it isn’t a matter of being aggressive, but he wants to meet them SOOOOO bad that he tends to lose all concept of personal space. He is working on that. Zion is also working on his manners towards humans as well. At times he wants to jump on those he meets so that they can see how great of a pup he truly is. Zion is a quick learner and really does want to please his people. Currently we think that a home with older children might be a good fit for him The kids will give him an outlet to burn off his extra energy (and vice versa). Stay tuned while we learn more about Mr. Z and what makes him tick.
