We LOVE our Phoenix but feel he would be happier in a different environment. Phoenix is a 3-year-old neutered rat terrier. He is a purebred mini rat terrier born 8/25/2024 and weighs 20 lbs. Our hearts are breaking as we write this – Phoenix is a wonderful dog who deserves a loving family. We are not interested in “any” family for Phoenix, we need someone who will love him as much as we do and can offer him an environment where he can thrive.
We have three dogs and the smaller two (only 8 and 10 lbs) tend to bully him a bit. Phoenix enjoys to play tug and fetch but the other two sometimes take his toys from him. The other two also like to stalk and play-attack – which he 50/50 enjoys. He snuggles and plays well with both dogs but we think he would enjoy a break. Phoenix will happily play fetch for hours in a one-on-one environment. He loves fetch sooo much that he sometimes even drops a ball into mommy’s bath.
Phoenix is great with kids (our daughter is 10) and interacts well with our dogs and our family’s dogs, but he can be nervous meeting new dogs. Phoenix has never bitten, but sometimes likes to “play-chew” hands when he gets excited (annoying but not painful). Phoenix is housebroken. We think he would do well either as an only dog or as a younger brother to a calmer and/or larger dog. Phoenix has never interacted with cats. Phoenix likes walks but doesn’t get enough of them – we admittedly aren’t a super active family. Phoenix might also like hikes, camping, or farm life – as long as he is kept away from cars. We have a fenced in yard so he’s never been trained to avoid cars.
Phoenix likes to be close at all times but doesn’t always like being pet (he sometimes thinks it as play initiation vs. calming). When he is ready to chill he will accept pets w/o reaction. We both work from home and Phoenix like to spend the work day napping on a bed in one of our offices. He sometimes sleeps in rather comical positions. He prefers to sleep in bed with us but he is also crate trained. Phoenix is very tolerant of getting his nails clipped and grinded – as long as you reward him with a treat.
Phoenix takes 4mg of apoquel for his allergies. Our vet lets us quarter a 16mg tablet to bring the month cost down to about $22. We had him tested for allergies when he was about a year old and everything came back negative so we aren’t sure what he is allergic to. We’ve tried prescription food and it didn’t make a difference so we feed him regular food. Phoenix also takes 10mg of Prozac for anxiety but we do not think this would be necessary if he were in a calmer environment. His Prozac costs us about $2.50 a month. We would consider offering chewy.com credit to help with the first few months of his medication costs – for the right family.
If you have any questions and/or are interested in meeting him please contact us. We will require a meet-up before agreeing to any adoption.
