23-037 Canelo  originally came into Rescue in May 2022 at age 6 – the husband had become disabled and the wife, with work and kids to care for, did not have time for the dog. We adopted him out to a single man, who had the dog just over a year – he returned  Canelo  to us because he was moving to Costa Rica. During that  year,  Canelo  developed some separation anxiety and other behavior issues – he became hard to handle, especially around other dogs and humans he didn’t know. We boarded him at one of our partner veterinarians  for over 6 months, as we had no approved families interested in him, despite featuring him in our August-September 2023 newsletter  and on our Facebook page. We asked the vet  start him on fluoxetine to help reduce his anxiety. This drug has been extremely effective with several other dogs we have had that had serious anxiety issues and was instrumental in helping  Canelo  become more receptive to training and behavior modification. We finally placed him in a board-and-train program with a professional trainer in Phoenix . She had done some training with  Canelo  when he was with his adopter, so the dog was familiar with her. The trainer knew just how to manage this boy, who quickly found a place in her home (with her other three dogs) and her heart. She has adopted him! The adopter commented: 

He loves to lie on his side and do the full Monty the entire time... he lifts his rear leg and just keeps it up in the air for the longest time while he relaxes. He loves being in the back yard most of the day, he is so "dog"... He  loves a great camp fire and is an extremely affectionate and won derful dog! 

We are so happy  Canelo  and the adopter found each other!