Axel is 7 years old and a big boy. He was an owner surrender from Texas and spent the first 7 years of his life living outdoors. Due to this Axel had chronic ear and skin infections. When he came into the rescue, he also had a large infected wound on his face. Axel has receive months of antibiotics, wound care and had surgery and his ears and wound are finally healed. He has been neutered and is ready to find his forever home where he can spend all of his time receiving and giving affection.

He is currently 95lbs. He is a super sweet lover of a dog and just likes to be around his humans. He will destroy any stuffed dog toys you give him with a big smile on his face and will chew on your pillows and blankets. He hasn’t chewed furniture yet *knock on wood*. He loves all humans and just wants to hang out with you. He does not know his size so he will try to climb into your lap and walk across you. He LOVES toys of all kinds and constantly has a toy in his mouth. Rubber type toys he does well with. Stuffies are exploded within a few days. He is an expert counter surfer, loves food and will steal food right off your dinner plate while you’re eating.

Medical: Axel is heartworm negative and on monthly prevention. He has significant hearing loss from his chronic infections and TECA surgery. He has mild hip dysplasia but does not require surgery. Weight loss, low impact exercise and joint supplements will manage this well. He is already on Dasaquin which he should on long term. He also takes Rimadyl twice a day. He does stairs just fine 95% of the time but will get moving too fast and lose his back feet. He has a history of chronic ear infections and had a TECA on his right ear. He is all healed from surgery. As a result of scratching his ears, he cut his face and which turned into an abscess. He had surgery on this as well which is now healed.Due to his ears, he has a significant hearing impairment. His left ear does produce a lot of wax and needs to be cleaned once a week. Just use a damn paper towel and wipe his ear out. He LOVEs when you clean and rub his ear.

Other Animals: Axel is selective with other dogs. Axel does not know his own size and can be very annoying to other dogs becauae he wants to be in their face. He is not aggressive however some dogs don’t tolerate how he plays and will growl back to tell him no. Axel will then react to their growling which can cause a dog fight. He has met and does well with small and large dogs but only IF they tolerate him being overly friendly and trying to lick their teeth all day. Axel is overly interested in cats, just as he is with other dogs so placement with a cat would be situational. He has low to no prey drive while in the yard or when looking out the window except for when he wants to play with other dogs. While at the vets office or on a walk on the leash, Axel becomes very protective of his foster Mom towards other dogs. When we get to the vet, he has to wait in an exam room as he is very vocal toward other animals in the lobby.

Kids: Axel loves humans of all sizes. He loves to give hugs and kissed and will tackle tiny humans to give hugs 

Food: He must stay on a chicken and corn free diet. This was the source of his chronic skin and ear infections. His primary protein is salmon. This includes treats. If he gets treats with chicken or corn, he gets diarrhea for days, his feet get itchy and he scratches his ears. He currently eats Purina Pro Plan Sensative Skin and Stomach Salmon and Rice formula and does well with this. 

Crate: He is 85% crate trained. The more time he spends out of his crate with his humans, the better he does in his crate. He does require being crated when left alone. He will get into, eat and shred things he finds. He will climb and push over baby gates and is a major counter surfer. H will do this right in front of you as well. He is a BIG boy and needs a 54” wire crate or larger. Note that the typical GSD wire crate people get is the 48”. This is too small for him. He will bend the bars of the flimsier wire crates trying to get out once you put him in it and be very vocal biting at the bars for about five to ten minutes. He will also melt into a doggie puddle then roll over on his back and use his mouth to gator you in protest if he thinks you’re going to put him in his crate. He does not destroy his bed in his crate and once he settles, he sleeps through the night

Training: Axel is housebroken but occasionally marks in the house. He was neutered in May so hopefully this helps. Axel knows how to sit and walks well on a prong collar.

Axel is a very sweet good boy who is just looking for his forever home where he can spend as much time with his people as possible!