Definitive Guide to Rochester

Updated: 07Feb15

Age: ~2 years
Weight: ~20lbs
Food: 1 cup Purina One dry dog food given in the morning.  He's also in the past eaten Pedigree and Eukanuba foods.
Treats: Rochester will eat anything.  He likes milkbones, pup-eroni, greenies.  He will eat any food I drop on the floor (chips, lettuce, etc).  He also loves popcorn, and will sit as close to me as he can while I'm eating it in hopes that I'll drop some.
Good with Men: yes - after a short introduction period
Good with Women: yes - after a short introduction period
Good with Children: Rochester is terrified of high energy people...so children (especially small ones) are not the best situation for him.
Good with Dogs: yes
Good with Cats: unknown
Housebroken: yes
Crate Trained: yes
Leash Trained: yes
Other Skills: Rochester will sit on command.  He is also learning "down."  Here is a video of him doing sit twice.  Notice that I did not coax him with treats, all he got was a little positive feedback and a chin scratch.  (He does also do down in the video, but I think that was just luck as he isn't 100% on that yet.)

Personality: Rochester was a dog from a hoarder group, so he is very nervous around people when he first meets them.  But he is significantly better than when I first brought him home.   I've found that when I have people over, it takes about 15 minutes for him to warm up enough to stop growling (all he does is growl, he doesn't nip or attack anyone).  Then with another hour or so of hanging out, he's probably napping in someone's lap.  To me, Rochester is very loyal.  He follows me everywhere around the house, and is quick to jump to my protection if he feels something is unsafe.  He is generally a low-key dog, preferring to lay down while I go about my daily business.  But he does have high energy moments, where he will want to play with all the dogs and all the toys at the same time. 
Toys: Rochester will play with any toys, but he prefers stuffed squeaky toys.
Nicknames: Rocky, Rock, Rochester Michael
Ideal Family: Rocky would like a family with no kids or older kids.  He wants someone who is willing to put in the effort to train him.  He would also like a family who can spend some time playing and also spend some time relaxing.