Frito

Frito

Pocket American Bully

4 year old male

Neutered, Fully Vetted

Has Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH)


Some dogs walk into a room… Frito sort of wobbles, stumbles, occasionally crashes into something, gets back up, & THEN walks into the room😂 This short little dude has an enormous personality, LOVES his humans, LOVES his dog friends, & has no idea he’s “different”. Here is Frito’s LONG (😬) bio! Lots of words for a little fella w a big personality!


Frito has CH, which means the part of his brain responsible for coordination (Cerebellum) didn’t develop normally. Basically… Frito is a wobbly dog! He falls. He gets back up. He gets excited, loses even MORE control of his body, falls again, & carries on w his day. Do NOT look at him w pity when this happens… he is fully convinced he is an incredibly athletic & perfectly coordinated.


🐶Dogs: Currently being fostered w many dogs! VERY dog friendly and LOVES having friends. His foster frequently brings shelter dogs home for sleepovers, so Frito has been around MANY dogs. He is actually one of the dogs his foster uses to help gauge the dog-to-dog behavior of shelter dogs! He also LOVES carrying toys around, shoving them directly into another dog’s face, & vocally enticing them to play. Frito can be adopted w other dogs, or be your only! Whichever works for him!🙂


🐱Cats: Maybe! Frito currently lives w 5 cats & does well majority of the time. He can walk past them, relax while they walk past him, chew a toy nearby, & has even peacefully shared opposite ends of the couch. Where things get tricky is when a cat gets too close to him or corrects him. Sometimes he takes correction perfectly & respects it. Other times he becomes over aroused, barks back, & tries to pursue the cat. However… The more excited Frito becomes, the less his body cooperates… so pursuing a cat becomes a pretty difficult activity for him. We would PREFER a home w/o cats, but a home w plenty of cat only space, & humans comfortable w management may work!


👶Kids: Frito is looking for an adult only home. This isn’t necessarily because he dislikes children! His CH causes unpredictable body movements, & he becomes even less coordinated when excited. He also does NOT reliably take treats gently. Frito knows there’s a treat somewhere near your fingers… determining exactly which part is treat & which part is finger is where things occasionally go wrong. Long treats or even offering treats from a spatula is ideal! An adult can understand that he isn’t intentionally being rough, recognize when he is becoming over-aroused, read his body language, & remember not to reach into his mouth for food or toys. Those simply aren’t expectations trusted with children.


🏠Home Life: Frito is AMAZING in his crate & does not have accidents while crated & has not shown signs of sep anxiety! He is mostly potty trained & also knows how to use a doggy door. When he’s loose in the house, he does need frequent opportunities to go outside. Once Frito learns the layout of an environment, he actually navigates it mostly “normal”! When he gets really excited… his coordination decreases & occasionally an innocent object becomes collateral damage. His foster’s unsecured decorative blanket ladder has learned this lesson😂


Keeping fragile/breakable items out of Frito’s flight path is a good idea! ✈️🚀🐥🦅


🦴Resources: Frito does resource guard food, treats, & toys from other dogs, but meals & bully sticks being fed in the crate is all the management that’s needed. He can receive treats around other dogs & have toys around other dogs w/o issue… he just doesn’t like a dog trying to take something that already belongs to him. Rightfully so! Frito has also shown some RG behavior toward humans, although his CH & tendency to become VERY excited complicate the picture. If someone tries to physically take a toy or bone from his mouth, he may become overly excited about getting it back & has less control over exactly where his mouth goes. Thankfully, this has been extremely easy for humans to manage… we simply don’t take things out of his mouth! Frito is easy to redirect or trade for something else.


‼️His adopter should be comfortable continuing that practice rather than unnecessarily challenging him over resources.


🧠Medical: Frito’s CH looks dramatic, but it does NOT require medication, surgery, or ongoing treatment. It is non progressive, it’s simply how his body/brain works! He does tend to become overheated & physically/emotionally overwhelmed easily, so he is NOT your summertime adventure buddy or 10 mile hiking partner. Although… he probably has the mindset of it! Think a little more French Bulldog lifestyle. He can absolutely play & enjoy adventures, but his humans need to recognize when he has had enough. Which is easy. This boy is all the drama & has no secrets… he will make his discomfort clear & known lol


He is currently taking anxiety meds to see if it helps decrease some of his overstimulation in his busy foster home. We aren’t convinced he is a dog who will need anxiety meds forever, & his adopter can work w their vet to continue or wean him off. We are currently considering weaning him off… but want to see how things are once it’s in full effect! Prozac takes about a month to “kick in”.


❤️Humans: Frito is RIDICULOUSLY affectionate. This man does not simply want to cuddle next to you. He would prefer to unzip your body, climb inside, & somehow become 1 w you. Personal space is simply not something Frito believes in. He has been friendly w essentially every1 he has gotten to know while in foster care & currently lives w a man & woman. He is particularly obsessed w the man in his foster home! Frito was originally fostered by his current foster several years ago through another rescue & was adopted. After his adopter became pregnant, the dynamics within the home changed. Reportedly, Frito unexpectedly became uncomfortable w the husband, the relationship w his dog sister changed, & once a newborn entered the picture, managing every1 became increasingly difficult.


We even sent a trainer into the home before accepting Frito back so we could better understand what was happening & hopefully help the family make things work. Ultimately, the trainer felt there were MANY different dynamics contributing to the situation rather than this simply being a case of Frito being a “bad dog.” The wife was willing to continue working w him, but the whole household wasn’t, so he returned to his former foster. & when he did??? He basically picked up exactly where he left off years ago. We have seen 1 concerning interaction w a stranger since he returned. About 2 hours into an adoption event, Frito was hot, exhausted, heavily panting, & clearly overstimulated. A man reached down to pet him after Frito had a fall, Frito initially accepted the interaction, & then suddenly snapped toward him. We have NOT seen this behavior w the humans he knows & trusts in his foster home or during other public outings, but it tells us something important about Frito: his humans need to listen when he says he has had enough. Also! You have stairs in your home or yard? No biggie. He may not be perfect with them… but he used them as carefully as possible or just avoids them when possible! He mostly knows his limits 😉


❤️Personality: Frito is cuddly, playful, vocal, goofy, dramatic, dog obsessed, & completely unapologetic about being Frito. He LOVES toys. He LOVES playing w other dogs. He LOVES his humans even more. & despite falling over approximately 400% more often than the average dog, he has absolutely 0 interest in being treated like a disabled dog.


When Frito falls? He gets back up. When his legs stop cooperating because he’s too excited? He keeps trying. When you look at him & think, “Ohhhh, poor baby!”? He’s already halfway across the room chasing his ball. Frito isn’t going to be the right dog for every home.


He needs forever humans who respect & advocate his boundaries, & can laugh when his brain says GO but his legs say TIMBER.


In return, you get one of the cuddliest, funniest, most loving little weirdos you’ll ever meet. Frito doesn’t need someone to feel sorry for him. He certainly doesn’t feel sorry for himself. All of our adoptions begin with an app, a meet/greet, & a min 2 week trial adoption to ensure it’s a good fit! Filling out an application doesn’t obligate you in anyway. Let’s find Frito’s forever people!


Dog Adoption: https://petstablished.com/adoption_form/53715/generic