Kato is approximately 4 years old that was given to rescue by a shelter in Rochester, NY after he was brought in by law enforcement in December 2025. We don’t know much about his background, but he arrived neutered, but overweight with his hindquarters shaved by the shelter and very little muscle tone, so we can only imagine that he was kept confined for a very long time.
Very soon after Kato arrived, it became clear that he was terrified about going outside and that he had no experience being walked on a lead, so his foster home made arrangements for him to be able to do his business mainly in the laundry room and made sure he would wear a male diaper otherwise. It was interesting that if he did have an accident in the rest of the house, he would never go on the carpet but ONLY go in the same spot every time. At first, he had to be carried to learn where to go, but now, Kato likes having his “dress” put on and gladly goes to “his room” or to “bed” which means going to his crate in the bedroom at night. His diaper will stay dry if the routine stays consistent.
It has been a cold winter so work on going outside is progressing slowly; however, he has started stepping out onto the porch when mom goes out to shovel snow. He is a typical Sheltie in his desire to herd the snow shovel or the vacuum, and he barks at machine noises such as the hair dryer, blender or power tools. We think if he does learn to go out, he will enjoy snapping at water from the hose because he now stands at the door of the shower and snaps at water drops tossed his way.
Kato is a very sweet sheltie without a mean bone in his body. He can be handled or carried as needed without a fuss (he is still over 30 lbs and not all carries are easy!) and he gets along great with all the other dogs, even ones that boss him around a bit. He is showing signs of really wanting a playful playmate, so we think his ideal home would have a playful and confident companion to help teach him and build his confidence with play. He has shown that he can be very responsive to positive shaping behavior training so his new home will need to continue to use these techniques to learn new habits, while being patient and able to deal with the fact that he does not have consistent potty routines yet. This means using belly wraps (usually with incontinence pads in them) and cleaning up accidents that may happen outside of his designated potty spaces. Crate training is encouraged, especially at night, but we don’t want to see him having to live in a crate most of his life like he was before. It would help for new owners to be home most days to work with him on his routines.
Kato is located in the Finger Lakes region of NY and his adoption will be facilitated by Long Island Shetland Sheepdog Rescue (LISSR). He is neutered, chipped and up to date on all vaccines. Please go to the website at www.lissr.org to find an adoption application and submit by email to adoption@lissr.org.
Kato’s foster home will be taking an extended vacation between April to May so if we do not find an adopter before that time, we will be looking for a temporary foster placement for Kato to continue his progress through the spring to get even more ready for his forever home. Foster to adopt would be an ideal situation for Kato.