Niko

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Niko Has Been Adopted!

Hi! My name is Niko, and I am a very sweet, incredibly adorable, playful and fun-loving, 2 year old, neutered male Xoloitzcuintli mix! That’s a mouthful, right? You pronounce it “show-low-eats-queen-tlee” which is why everyone just refers to this breed as a "Xolo," (show-low), for short!. This is an ancient, natural breed from Mexico, though I’m actually from Nicargua!

Background:

Here’s my very unusual (for this region) story!

I was originally owned by a family in Nicaragua, but they couldn’t take care of me, so they sent me out to live on my own on the streets, with a lot of other street dogs. It sounds awful, but the weather’s not bad there and many of the street dogs are nice enough, but it was kind of lonely and scary and I went hungry a lot. A super nice lady from North Carolina came down to Nicaragua to help run veterinary clinics for street dogs like me, and she saw how special I am, and didn’t want to leave me there to live out my life on the streets. She got me all cleaned up and got me medical care, and then called her friend in Ithaca and said, “hey, if I can bring this dog back to the states, will you and the rescue you work with take him into your rescue program?” Luckily they said yes, and thus began my long adventure to America!

I had a real hard time leaving the family in North Carolina, after being temporarily fostered with them for a few months. I was very attached to them and their kids and thought they were going to be my new family. So when I was taken away from them to come here, it was very hard on me, and I cried a lot for the first bunch of days. My new foster family is awfully nice though, and have explained to me what’s going on, and that helps a lot. I am being fostered with a super nice couple and their dog and 2 cats. I get along well with everyone, though I wish the dog and the cats would play with me more! I am bonding with them very much too, so it will probably be another hard transition when I find my forever home, but the rescue folks promise that they’ll make sure that it will be my true forever home so that makes me feel very hopeful!

Personality

I am very friendly, very affectionate, very loving, and very curious and smart! My foster mom says that I am “a complete mush!” I love to give kisses and I love to cuddle on the couch with my foster dad or snuggle in a big comfy chair with my foster mom.

My foster parents say that I am very smart and learn new things fast! I have already learned “Sit” and am learning all of the new routines around here quite well.

I love kids, and I love a home with some good, vibrant energy, maybe one that has a few kids in it, or a young, playful dog! And I love to have someone to hang around with…sometimes the other dog in the house goes into his crate to hang out, and I sneak in there with him, just for the company!

Having gone hungry when I was on the streets, it is no surprise that I LOVE meal time! I practically dance for joy when it's time to eat - I get super excited and trot right on over to my crate (which is where I eat my meals) and the entire time I am eating, my tail is wagging-wagging-wagging!

I am very athletic and nimble – and folks think I would make a great agility dog! I would love that! And I love running around in fenced in areas!

Favorite Activities

I am a very playful boy and really need a good amount of play time every day--either with you, or with other dogs (or cats)! My favorite game of the moment is “chase the light!” My foster mom has a laser pointer, and she shines it around the house and I absolutely love love love to chase it! She says that I am so smart, because I figured out that the light comes from the thing in her hand, and so sometimes I go find the thing to see if it will play with me!

I love love love being outside, I like to sniff everything! I am also a bird watcher (they are so fascinating!), and love going for long leashed walks. Since I was homeless on the streets in Nicaragua in my “youth,” I am quite comfortable wandering around on my own, and since I never want to be lost or homeless every again, I would love it if you kept me on leash! And I’m good on a leash, so that works, right?

I love going to the dog park, and I am now going to Canine Comfort Doggy Daycare once a week and wow…it is a sight to see to see me there. SUCH JOY!! Playing with other dogs is SO much fun!!

Cohabitation

I love people and am awesome with them.

I love dogs and am awesome with them.

I love cats, and want to play with them, and will bark a bit at them to try to get them to play, but am very respectful if they prefer not.

Medical Concerns/Special Needs

I’m very healthy with no issues. My only special need is that I will need a lot of gentle patience and understanding for the first few weeks after you adopt me. I am likely to be very out of sorts and confused about why I have lost yet another wonderful family and home. If you live near Ithaca, maybe we could have several meetings and playdates before you take me home for good, so that we’re already friends, and it’s not so scary or confusing for me.

I seem a bit scared about being in the car (not terribly so, but you can tell I’m worried about it). We’re not sure if it’s because the car “took me away” from my last family, or if I just have little experience with cars, so it’s just new and confusing. My foster parents are taking me for short rides with fun destinations (the dogpark! doggy daycare!), so that should over time change my feelings about the car quite nicely!

Summary

I’m a wonderful, playful, happy and loving young guy, and I’m looking for a fun-loving, playful, caring and stable home with a family who will cherish me and keep me with them for the rest of my life. My first 2 years have been pretty chaotic, but I am sooooooo excited about finding my forever family!

If you are interested in me, please read about the adoption process today and live EITHER within 30 minutes of Ithaca OR very close to Syracuse, Binghamton, or Owego. We do home visits on every applicant, and can't do home visits where we don't have local volunteers.

Because of the high rate of accidents between dogs and young children, we rarely adopt out our dogs or puppies into homes with young children.  If you think your particular situation might warrant an exception, please feel free to inquire with us.

link to adoption page

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