10/14/2026
From a client:
I am looking to find a great home for my sweet girl Nova. I adopted Nova when she was 2 years old and I have had her for 3.5 years. She has been a great dog in many ways but has developed aggressive behavior towards my cat over the last couple years. After trying extensive training, anxiety medication, and other things, I have sadly determined a house with a cat is just not the right fit for her long term. Breed: Australian Cattle Dog, Staffy, Lab Mix Age: 5.5 year old Weight: 45lbs City/County: Denver Vaccination status: up to date + spayed. Behavior with dogs: Does well off and on leash. Will very occasionally (roughly 15% of the time) be reactive on leash or behind a fence with certain dogs. Goes to daycare ~3 days a week while I’m at work and always does great there. Behavior with cats: high prey drive. not a good fit. Behavior with kids: good from the experience I have had observing her interactions with kids at restaurants/breweries/friends’ houses Nova comes with her remaining Simparica Trio, treats, toys, beds, blankets, crate, Fi collar, and training eCollar with remote. Nova is a very loving dog. She is well trained in many ways (knows sit, wait, lay down, come, crate, place, go, off, drop it, bring it, and more). She is very active and LOVES playing fetch with a ball. She also loves running off leash and meeting other dogs at the off leash dog park (we are there pretty much daily). She sometimes can be a little bit of an awkward player with other dogs but when she meets her match, she loves to do a silly little play bow and run around with her friends. She tends to like smaller dogs or dogs her size versus very big dogs like Great Danes or very physical dogs. She sometimes can be a little vocal and growly when playing but in a playful and non-aggressive way. Her recall is very good. She does well with other people and will go up to say hello to strangers at the dog park, but will especially love her owner. She is an anxious dog in some ways and has some quirks. She’s scared of flies, particularly if they’re inside the house. She has a little bit of separation anxiety in new situations. I noticed this most in situations like at a new daycare drop off, when I go inside at a restaurant and she has to wait with a friend for a little on the patio, etc. She is somewhat crate trained. She used to be crated nightly but I have been letting her sleep in her dog bed on the floor or in the crate with the door open. She will go into the crate without any issues but has developed some reactivity towards the crate door being closed at night. I have been working on this with training by giving her favorite treats (Greenies) to her in her crate and by distracting her with a treat before I close the crate door. Occasionally I will use a tool to close the crate door from a distance if she’s being very growly. She has exhibited guarding behavior when she has been allowed to sleep on the bed with me so I stopped allowing her on the bed to reduce her resource guarding tendencies. She also tends to have resource guarding with big chew bones that she thinks are extra valuable, so I have stopped giving her these to avoid triggering the resource guarding. She does well with small treats and greenie bones. She is fully potty trained and will usually ask to go out by scratching at the back door or sitting and giving you “the look.” She is treat-motivated and responds well to positive reinforcement training. She is not a dog that will scarf down their food the minute it’s in the bowl. Sometimes she won’t eat breakfast at all and will have 2 servings for dinner instead. Sometimes she tries to “bury” her food by making a hiding motion with her nose over the food dish. This is one of her little quirks but I usually just leave her food dish down and let her eat when she is hungry. Things to consider: She has an active prey drive. She should not live with small animals (cats, rodents etc). She is social with other dogs but in terms of living with another dog, she may be selective. She does bark occasionally at the doorbell or if she hears sounds outside the house and can't see what is causing it, but generally not a barker. She walks well on-leash and has lived in both apartments and houses with and without yards. I do think she would do better with a yard if possible, but not a requirement.
