Jones the Foster Dog

It sorta sounds like a super hero name, doesn't it?  Jones, the Foster Dog! Da-da-da-DA-da-daaaAAA!

Ok, maybe not. He IS pretty super though. And he's our new foster dog through Secondhand Hounds, in Minnesota.

Here's what we know about Jones:


He's about 2 years old, and weighs about 10 lbs. (think two Pablos put together!)
He's the most beautiful brindle I've ever seen. No joke.
He's a chihuahua mixed with....we have no idea. We've been brainstorming for days. I'm convinced he's part hyena (because of his face, not his personality).

He came from a rescue in MO, and Secondhand Hounds transported him here.
He's a huge snuggle bug. He also likes to trick you by licking your ears, then sneaking in a tiny little nibble...
He is in love with Suvi. Seriously. He will not stop following her around, playing, tugging, sniffing, smooching.
He's super smart. He knows his name, comes running frantically when he hears "Jones, come!," is learning "Sit," and is doing really well at crate training, which we think is brand-new to him. He's also taking cues very well from the older dogs - he's still very puppy-playful, and when told "no" with a quick poke or a growl from one of the resident three, he listens quite well!

Why aren't WE keeping him? 
We set out to foster for a couple of reasons - the main reason being to help out the local rescue community in yet another way. We love to practice what we preach, and so reached out to a few MN-based organizations to find out about fostering. We have a great opportunity to help train, love, and facilitate the adoption of great dogs - why not open up our home?

The side benefit of this is that we also get to continue socializing our dogs, and since we don't have a ginormous house, we felt a Pablo-sized buddy would be an excellent fit! Pablo also gets a little more play time as well (don't worry, he doesn't need a buddy to get attention, it's just another perk!), and...Jones is so damn cute, who could refuse?!

How can we possibly help to raise, love, and train a dog, then give him up?
Not an easy thing to do, for sure. We went into this with the full realisation that we might become "foster failures," meaning we adopt the dog we're fostering, leaving us with no room to continue helping the rescue through fostering. We're keeping in mind that we're doing GOOD through this process. Some amazing family will adopt the dog(s) we foster, and we'll get to do it all over again - helping to give homes to that many more dogs that might have stayed in shelters, or worse, been euthanized. We're freeing up space, and helping some dogs to become really amazing family members!

ARE we going to get another dog?
We may end up with a fourth dog some day. It likely won't be Jones - if we do decide to adopt, we would like another teeny-tiny pup, around 6 lbs. At 10 lbs, Jones is about twice Pablo's size. As all dog lovers know, there are tons of other considerations, too - like waiting until we have a house with a fenced yard - how we'll handle 4 dogs when we have kids - city ordinances, should we decide to move, etc.  So for now, fostering is the perfect option, and who knows, maybe we'll end up as foster failures someday!

How to express interest in adopting Jones:
Right now, we are committed to finding Jones the perfect family - so please feel free to share with your Midwestern friends!! In order to be considered for adoption, you'll need to fill out an application with Secondhand Hounds. And of course, if you're interested in fostering, we know a few great organizations we'd love to recommend - just shoot us an email!