Harry Houdini

My story

Are you a super nervous cautious paranoid person? Does your OCD make you come back in the house 5x before you leave for work to make sure you actually locked all the doors and turned off the stove? Well then, you might be just the person we are looking for to adopt our aptly named little Harry Houdini! Through a combination of his illustrious escape artist ways, bad luck and timing, clumsiness, and sometimes just irresponsibility, little semi-feral Houdini has been lost at least 9 times that we know of before coming to our rescue: from 2 different rescues and 3 different locations. He is extremely timid and fearful, especially with new situations and people and panics easily, so once he has dashed out that open door, dug out of the fence, or gotten off of his collar or leash his instinct is to run from anyone (most recently for miles through 3 towns over 6 days). Our friends at Buddha Dog Rescue & Recovery trapped him twice and he has learned all the tricks now and won’t go near her traps again. Pretty impressive resume on this little 20lbs meek innocent looking guy, huh? Anxiety at the thought of losing him aside, he’s actually otherwise been a super easy pleasant dog to live with and by far our nicest dog. Houdini is shy but doesn’t seem to have a mean bone in his body, LOVES other dogs and being part of a “pack”, and now comes up wagging his tail looking for petting and treats and for leashing and unleashing. He will go home with his GPS collar (which won’t do much good other than knowing where to sit and cry if he ever gets loose again since he is way to smart to go near anyone or be trapped again and goes into survival mode immediately when he gets loose). He has quickly learned the routine of going out in a secure fenced yard on a martingale non-slip collar on a long chew proof cable and stopping at the door to be leashed and unleashed, but do not make the mistake others have in the past of becoming too complacent and thinking he won’t still run should circumstances align. He will and should never be an off-leash hiking dog, and if he does go for walks outside the yard (which he doesn’t particularly seem to enjoy actually, despite his traveling past, he’s a homebody who loves a routine), it’s on 2 leashes with them tied to you securely so just in case you fall and are knocked unconscious he will be tethered to your lifeless body. In foster care he quickly learned from the more social dogs and his tail is always up and wagging now (unless you point a camera on him- then he has to look terrified of course). A home with at least one other dog is a must for him to be able to relax and enjoy life. He has been well housebroken, not destructive, not a barker, and mostly just cuddles on the couch with a dog friend or 3, loves his dental bone chews and is very food motivated. Houdini is only 20lbs full grown, 4 years old so young and healthy (and fast!) and is some type of feist mix though has some whippet/Italian greyhound and even maybe border collie type qualities to him also. Even when he gets scared he’s never snapped, his instinct is flight ✈️ not fight 🥊 We have had Harry Houdini for a few weeks now and held off on posting him because honestly we are scared to adopt him out… there is no room for error with this guy- no “oops didn’t know the landscaper didn’t close the gate” or “the pet sitter didn’t clip the leash right”- anyone interacting with him or coming to your house needs to be equally aware of the rules and he’s crated, gated, or leashed to you before any door to the outside opens. But he’s a really sweet, easy to love little guy worth the extra stress and trouble and we are hoping to find someone like us whose life revolve around their dogs’ safety and security. If you are up to the challenge of not losing him for the 10th time and always being diligent and 2 steps ahead of him, email njwoof@cs.com to meet our special smart survivor in Northern NJ. (Also, please bring us some Xanax 💊 😴 or we will get no sleep the week he goes home 😱😉. So many people have lost so much sleep over this dog already) Due to COVID-19, we will not be holding our Sunday adoption events until further notice, but we can schedule socially distant appointments with a specific dog outdoors at our vet’s office: VCA Morris Plains Animal Hospital 3009 Rt 10 East Morris Plains (Denville on GPS) NJ 07950 Now is the perfect time to open your home to a needy dog! Submit an application from our website www.secondchance.petfinder.com to speed up the adoption process All our dogs reside in foster care in Northern NJ until adoption. We are a small all-volunteer organization focused on rescuing local dogs from area shelters, as well as accepting some surrenders and puppy mill rescues.

If you have any questions or would like to adopt Harry Houdini, please reach out to the adoption group directly. PetSmart Charities does not facilitate the adoption process. Thank you.