Meet Zuko, or Zuzu as his foster mom calls him. Zuko is an 11 month old chihuahua terrier mix. He is approximately 15 pounds. Zuko originally came to us from our rescue partners in Texas back when he was only 3 months old. He came in with his siblings, who have all found amazing families by now. We are hoping the same happens for our sweet guy Zuko. See when Zuko came in, his foster mom noticed that he was limping and favoring his one back leg. Turns out, that somehow Zuko broke it. On top of many months of rehabilitation for his leg, Zuko was also very fearful and nervous around people. We have been working hard to socialize little Zuko and we feel he is now confident enough to move on to the next step of his journey. Poor little guy definitely had a rough start but will find his happily ever after here in WNY. 

Zuko is a shy little guy. He doesn't trust easily, but once he does, he is your friend for life. Zuko started with what we call "drive by" kisses. He would run past you, smell you and give you a quick kiss. Then he would run away before you even noticed it was him. He slowly became more confident, to the point where now, he is jumping all over his foster mom and begging for attention. He jumps on her and paws at her legs giving kiss after kiss after kiss. Zuko loves to be near his family. He truly enjoys snuggling on the couch and sleeping in the "big bed" all night. He is often curled up against his foster mom or even lying on her back, sometimes he will even sleep on her side. Zuko loves to play with the soft toys, and tends to leave them all over the house.  Zuko is completely crate-trained. He doesn't always want to go in his crate so you have to pick him up and place him in it. When you go to pick Zuko up, that makes him a little nervous at first. His mama will put her hands out and gently say "stop, down". Zuko will stop and lay down so you can easily pick him up. 

Zuko gets along great with dogs cats, and other small animals. In fact, he relies on the other dogs in his foster home to help him build his confidence. Zuko does require another dog in his forever home. He enjoys a good game of chase in the yard, and man is he FAST.  As for house training, Zuko is doing great. He knows exactly what to do when he is outside, it is just up to you to let him out regularly when you are home. Zuko can hold it all night, up to 8 hours, so he will not wake you up to go in the middle of the night. Zuko does have a fully fenced-in yard in his foster home. Due to the fact that he is a skittish dog, a fully fenced-in yard is required in his forever home. Please no electric fences. We do expect him to have accidents in his new home, but once he learns your routine, Zuko will be just fine. 

Zuko has so much love to give and wants to make his people happy. He is a people pleaser. He is never mean or aggressive. His initial response is to walk away from anything he feels is a threat to him. He would probably do best in a home with older, more predictable children (12+). Don't worry though, if you have smaller children that come to visit, feel free to leave Zuko out but have a crate ready for him in case he starts to get overwhelmed. 

If you think you can give Zuko a forever home that gives him the time and patience to continue to grow and blossom, make sure you apply today. We guarantee you will not be disappointed. He has so much love to give. 

Zuko is neutered, up to date with vaccines, microchipped, flea/worm treated and tested neg. for heartworm.  His adoption fee is $400