Americano watched all five of his siblings find their forever homes before him. People showed interest in taking him home, but Americano was unbelievably shy. When potential adopters would come by to meet him, he would cower in the back of his kennel with his tail tucked between his legs.
Helen Woodward Animal Center’s animal care team worked with Americano for months to help him come out of his shell. One way our team worked to grow Americano’s confidence was to put him in the play yard with other dogs. This repeated exposure to his peers — for lack of a better term — as well as seeing their calm reactions to our animal care team, helped the Labrador Retriever blend trust strangers. While he still held a little apprehension for strangers, his confidence amongst those he knew grew substantially.
During one of Americano’s play sessions, he caught the eye of a family who had been coming to the Center for several weeks looking for the right pup. They requested a meeting with the six-month-old, and thanks to the work our team put into increasing his confidence, he let his bright personality shine. The family fell in love with Americano and took him home that day.
Since then, Americano — now Roscoe — had settled in wonderfully to his new home. He will occasionally get frightened by new things, but finds comfort and confidence in his new family. Roscoe now spends his days watching sports with his sports loving family.
