Jumpy

My story

Long story short: Jumpy is a sweet, playful young dog who has bounced back from a tough start with an affectionate, happy-go-lucky personality. He loves all people and other dogs of all sizes, enjoys cuddles and lap time, and adapted well to apartment living with minimal fuss over city noise. While he gets bursts of zoomies, he balances that with long naps and is content entertaining himself with toys. Jumpy is crate-trained, housebroken, non-destructive, and improving on leash manners, with a preference for daily walks and outside time but flexibility when schedules are tight. Jumpy thrives with playful companions and is steadily learning the social norms of the dog world. Jumpy is a loyal, goofy, and easy-going pup who would make a wonderful companion, especially in a home with another dog to play with.   Personality and Health: Jumpy is a sweetheart to his core, who despite his rough start to life has a lot of trust and love for the people and dogs around him. He seems to be the happiest pressed to my side, or playing with other dogs. His favorite evening activity is laying belly-up in your lap, snoring like a trucker. His name definitely comes from his enthusiasm when greeting people, which while adorable, is a train-able thing that we are working on with him and he is showing progress with. Ironically, he has not shown any interest in actually jumping on or over anything - even a counter with steak on it. Jumpy does a lot of adorable head tilts, especially when you call him a goofy goober, which he has a weirdly strong reaction to. He thinks he is a lapdog, and mainly just wants to sit in your lap and be where you are. Jumpy currently lives in a 1 bedroom apartment in downtown DC with a WFH workaholic, and ignores pretty much all city noise, neighbor footsteps, fireworks, etc., though he loves to people watch out the window (very nosy). We've determined he is at his best behavior when he gets a 20 minute morning walk (will sleep all day), but has no issues with a quick morning pee break if you're in a rush (more common). He is a young happy boy who deserves a good amount of outside time, but won't go nuts if he has to be cooped up for a day or two due to weather or other commitments (like meetings until 7pm). He has been left alone in the crate for a full workday with no issues, but we know he would happily spend that whole time on the couch if his forever home allows it. When he arrived from the shelter, Jumpy was extremely underweight and had a couple spots where his hair was thinning, likely due to previous stress and malnourishment. We have brought him up to a healthy 50lbs and his skin is improving with time and care -  and we got his DNA tested, showing he is clear for all 260+ genetic health issues that Wisdom Panel screens for. With his happy go lucky personality, he doesn't even seem to notice anything is wrong, though he does seem to realize that life is uphill from here.    Energy Level and Activity: While he has young dog zoomies at playtime, he has just as much of an affinity for naptime on the couch and lazy cuddles.  When I am WFH, cooking, or doing anything that is not to do with him, he likes to be able to see me, but won't follow me around - typically will just lay on the armchair or bed and stare at me. If he gets the zoomies while I am busy, he has shown that he's able to play alone and self-soothe with a bone or a stuffy. He looooves to squeak his toys during meetings when I have to talk, and my coworkers find him very funny - but if it's a serious one, he does fine in the crate or other room. His favorite type of toy is a new one, and he will try them all out. Of course, he has an XL lambchop he cuddles with every day. He is good with sharing with other dogs and does not guard or hog his toys. He can pull a bit on the leash and likes to play tug-of-war to sort of walk himself with it when we are leaving or returning from walks. I've noticed this happens more in my apartment hallway than any place with a short distance to outside like my mom's house -  he is just excited to go and then has to wait for an elevator! While again, adorable - his leash manners are something he is being trained on and quickly improving on. When let loose in a fenced yard, Jumpy sniffs and explores and has not done any digging or chasing of any squirrels etc.    Other Dogs and Kids: Jumpy excels with dogs and would love to play with other playful pups. We have had a few dogs come through our home while we've had Jumpy and he loved them all and was happy to share the space. He always wants to be around them and if tired out from playing, tries to start cuddle piles to sleep next to each other. We have found he is best matched with a similarly sized dog, but he has played well with dogs of all sizes, to include Goldens (bigger), other bully mixes, and Cavapoos. He is a vocal player and likes to wrestle, which can seem scary if you are not used to it / not as versed on dog body language, but he is really just trying to communicate his excitement, and it has never led to any escalation or aggression during playtime - he is actually more of a submissive guy. When we had a small chihuahua mix over, he did not chase her or try to be dominant over her - she actually intimidated him. When dogs came over who weren't fans of Jumpy's playful energy, we could easily separate them into different rooms, and he did not scratch at doors, bark, or get upset. He had a sitter once with a cat, where this approach worked fine and the cat just avoided him. We haven't tested him 1:1 with a cat, but I would bet good money he would try to play with them too. When he sees other pets on walks he definitely takes note but won't drag you over to them, sometimes he just gets low and waits for them to approach. He has not shown any signs of leash reactivity and has done well at the park, even if being ganged up on. Jumpy is oblivious in a very sweet way - he does not piece together when other dogs don't want to play or don't like him, he thinks all barking is play barking. He really thinks the world is full of butterflies and unicorns. We are working on socializing him with other dogs in new situations and better understanding their "no" signals, and he is getting better at learning when playtime is over or the other dog isn't interested. All said - if you have a playful dog at home, Jumpy is your best solution to tiring them out.    Jumpy has not been around too many children, beyond the ones we run into on the street. I take him down to the national mall on nice days to show off to all the tourists and roll in the grass, where he is in many crowds with many kids. He has been very gentle and given kisses to the toddlers and young ones who have asked to pet him on leash (all who had responsible parents with them), and did not engage with a younger child who was running around when he was off leash at the dog park. He has met babies in strollers and was not particularly interested in them, probably because they couldn't pet or play with him. All this said, because we don't have many kids around to test different interactions with, and because of his youth and how playful he is, I would say he'd probably be better in a home with kids in middle school or above who understand how to approach dogs and play safely.    In the home: He has shown to be 95% (if not fully able to guarantee) housebroken with minimal potty incidents and no marking in the home, including periods of more than 4 hours, and 10+ overnight. His only potty issue has come after chugging his whole water bowl after a long walk and not going out soon enough after - blaming myself there. He generally goes immediately once he is outside, with a preference for mulch/grass, meaning if a quick trip is all that is possible, he will make it work! He usually does not bark or whine while we are gone and he's in his crate, and when he does he stops and settles down after the first ~2-5 minutes (determined from cameras and 0 neighbor complaints). After a few weeks, we started letting him sleep on a regular dog bed in our room instead of the crate overnight, which he prefers, and on occasion our bed, which he adores (he gets down if we tell him to, though). He seems to be fine with sleeping in if needed - he has never woken us up crying or anything like that, and if he is sleeping on the bed with you, he won't want to get up until after you. We have left him alone while out of the crate, and he has not shown any destructive tendencies to furniture on the cameras. Generally if we will be gone longer than 30 min, we put him in the crate, just to avoid any issues with non dog-safe plants (which he ignores when we supervise him, but safety first). He hasn't realized he can beg for food yet but is certainly not a picky eater and would likely be fine with most kibbles.  He is currently eating the Hill's adult dog mix for sensitive skin while we figure out if his diet is causing his skin issues, but he also loves green beans, blueberries, and watermelon. He is a great vacuum eating all crumbs off the floor, but since he does not shed a significant amount, he can actually make your home cleaner!    If you’re looking for an easy-going pup to play and be a companion to a dog in your home, he would be a great addition!     Adoption fee: $525, includes all shots, sterilized, heartworm negative, dewormed, flea preventative, microchip   If you are interested in adopting, please fill out an application and a representative will get back to you shortly to answer any questions you may have. The adoption policies and applications can be found at the following links: https://fancycats.org/adopt-a-cat and https://fancycats.org/adopt-a-dog. Email us at  adoption@fancycats.org for general questions about our rescued cats. Email us at dogadoptions@fancycats.org for general questions about our rescued dogs. See our calendar of adoption events at https://fancycats.org/(scroll towards bottom) You can save animals like this one by becoming a foster! Fosters are like bridges between high kill shelters and forever homes. We need fosters so that we can save cats and dogs before they are euthanized at the shelters. If you are interested in becoming a foster, please visit: https://fancycats.org/volunteerAugust 19, 2025, 12:27 pm

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