Onyx is a 5 year-old dog who is friendly, goofy, good-natured couch potato with occasional zoomies. His adoption fee is already covered by a generous community member. Onyx lived with grade school kids who loved him, and currently lives with teenagers. He should be the only pet in the house as he has some resource-guarding issues with other dogs from time to time. No cats unless they are outside barn cats who know how to use their claws.

He is 70lbs of muscle, but still thinks he is a lap dog. He likes to hang out with his people on the couch, and spends hours sleeping or looking out the window. He will jump up when excited and meeting new people. His foster family has been working on "off" and "down" training, and Willie has improved much at this over the last year or so.

Onyx is house-trained and is currently using a dog doorbell to signal when he needs to go outside. He knows sit and shake, as well as touch, watch, and wait. He is walking well on a leash using a Gentle Leader style harness. He has a strong prey drive, and will pull if he sees anything furry or other dogs. We control this urge by using Sniffari: he gets multiple treats if he looks at another dog or furry creature and then looks at us.

Onyx likes to lay in the sun or on the couch and has had fun exploring his foster family's backyard, chasing after squirrels and rabbits. He prefers the couch or his dog bed over going for walks, so for those looking forward to a canine companion but not long walks, Onyx would be a great fit.

While Onyx has been diagnosed with bilaterally torn cranial cruciate ligament, both legs appear to have scarred up such that he can race around the yard without any pain or limping. The cruciate ligament is found in the knee and is responsible for maintaining the stability of the knee joint (it is analogous to the ACL in people). When the ligament is strained or ruptured, the knee becomes painful and we can see swelling of the joint and lameness associated with the leg. Both of Onyx's knees have some loss of their normal range of motion and bony remodeling. They are weight-bearing fully on both limbs and will jump up readily with no overt sign of pain. At this time, we feel that Onyx has a good quality of life with just medical management. Underdog is currently in the process of getting training to be able to provide surgery that may help with this condition. If the future adopter is interested in Underdog providing this surgery with the understanding that we are not board certified surgeons and in the learning process, we can provide this surgery at no cost. Other options would be continuing with medical management or looking into getting surgery services with another clinic at the owner's own expense.

Interested in this sweet dog? Apply today at https://www.shelterluv.com/matchme/adopt/UPRW-A-586

**Please note: Our animals live in foster homes throughout the Madison area. We do not have a shelter where animals are available for daily viewing. Applying is the first step in our process.**

Dogs from Underdog Pet Rescue come with the following medical care already provided:
Spay/Neuter
Rabies, Distemper, and Bordetella Vaccinations (as age appropriate-puppy adopters may need to cover some vaccine boosters)
Heartworm Test (for dogs over 9mo)
Microchip
Deworming
Heartworm and Flea/Tick Preventative
Any other necessary medical treatment as recommended by veterinarian

Onyx's Adoption fee is waived due to a generous community member sponsoring him!

*Please note that all breeds noted are estimates or best guesses. We very rarely have information on our animals' actual breeds since they often come to the shelters we work with as strays*

WI DATCP Licensed Rescue #281765