Nico is a 2-year, 2-month-old male Boerboel Mastiff X Great Dane. He is a wonderfully loving and loyal boy, who adores food and going for walks, often reminding you when it’s time for these activities.
Nico enjoys having his family at home, playing searching games, and engaging with his toys, particularly his snake and squeaky ball.
He has a unique habit of preferring to sleep on his back. Rather unusually, Nico doesn’t drink water from a bowl but will drink from other vessels in the garden or directly from a hosepipe.
He loves lying in the garden with company and likes to get close to anything interesting, especially noisy hand tools, so caution is advised. Nico thoroughly enjoys the company of both dog and human visitors to the house.
At home and in the garden, he is extremely well-behaved, showing no reaction to neighbouring dogs, voices, or other noises, even though there are multiple dogs around, including one that frequently barks at him through the fence.
Nico is comfortable with having his nails done, ears cleaned, and takes medication well. He has had two vet visits, during which he enjoyed the attention and was widely admired for his looks and beautiful nature.
Although travelling in the car excites Nico, making him distractingly loud and fidgety, especially when he spots other dogs, this behaviour is improving over time.
A sensitive boy, Nico dislikes being laughed at and can become overly worried if told off. His foster dad has to pretend to be pleased, especially during football games, as Nico gets concerned about raised voices or swearing.
Nico is dog-friendly but not suitable to live with cats or small animals, although he has previously lived with cats. He has not been around children but would be suitable for a household with older children due to his large breed.
Crate-trained, Nico can be left at home for up to three hours without issue. Initially, he would panic when left alone, marking and stealing items for comfort, but these problems have subsided as he settled down.
He prefers his crate, choosing to sleep there overnight. Walking on the lead was initially challenging for Nico, but he has significantly improved, now waiting, concentrating, and listening well during walks.
Despite this, he can still react to other dogs, cats, foxes, e-scooters, and unpredictable stimuli due to excitement, not aggression. Because of his size and strength, he needs to continue improving to avoid causing danger to himself and his handler.
Upon arrival, Nico was very skinny and developed a bit of an obsession with food, eating very quickly. He should not be given bones or similar items as he panics and displays aggression if he can’t eat something quickly enough to protect it.
Nico also tries to eat rather than chew certain softer toys and can become panicked if he thinks you want to take them away. These are the only signs of aggression he has shown.
Nico is fed a raw food diet, consuming 1.5 kg per day. He stands 26 inches to the withers and weighs 60 kg.
