**COCO**

Coco is a 1-year-old, 15-pound male terrier mix who arrived at the shelter alone. Now awaiting his forever home with his foster, his foster mom noticed Coco's difficulties with going to the bathroom and raising his tail. Coco was taken to the vet, where X-rays revealed he had fractured is L4 vertebra. The cause of this break is unknown. He was taken to a specialist, where an MRI confirmed the findings and further revealed that the fracture had also healed incorrectly, causing degeneration of the spinal cord below L4. This explains why Coco had difficulties going to the bathroom. Thankfully, there was no extensive damage that effected his mobility, so the vets assured us that Coco would run and walk normally. Surgical correction was deemed too risky and unlikely to significantly improve Coco's quality of life. As a consequence of the spinal fracture, Coco experiences urinary incontinence. He currently uses manners belts for urine leakage, and he tends to urinate about 4-5 times a day. He may also defecate during walks in the yard or indoors, sometimes on pillows when resting or sleeping. His tail lifts at a right angle before urinating, allowing for redirection to a urine mat. Basically, because of Coco's injury, he has no idea that he's even going number 1 or 2. Coco is cautious around unfamiliar people, regardless of gender, and may bark when they approach. However, after being introduced a few times, he relaxes and interacts calmly, demonstrating a smart and adaptable nature. He interacts well with other large dogs in his foster home (including a Bulldog and a Husky). He is affectionate and loves giving kisses. Coco enjoys walks and loves to hang out with his foster family. Despite a rough start in life, Coco truly deserves a loving and patient home! ------ HDP Policies: We do not recommend dogs to be left alone for over 3 hours and strongly recommend that all of our adopters look into a doggy daycare if they will be away for more than 3 hours. Please keep in mind that we are unable to consider applicants that are not within a 45 minute driving distance from Springfield, Virginia at this time. Adoption fee $675. *Coco is currently at a foster home in Korea. We transport our dogs after an adopter has been secured, so unfortunately, we do not provide meet and greets. Instead, we do our best to provide as much description, pictures and videos as possible. *** We typically do not adopt to homes with children under 8 years old. A home check is mandatory before adoption. We adopt to residents of Northern VA and Washington DC suburbs only. Applicants must be at least 25 years old. Has a social media account for us to monitor pets after adoption; (Please note, we monitor all pets after adoption); We ask you to submit a copy of identification via secured app and/or we screen check once your adoption application is approved. *** If you would like to adopt the pet, please fill out our online application at https://sites.google.com/view/donghaepaws/. An HDP volunteer will reach out for more information after a careful review of your application. Please understand this may take a few days. Thank you! Prior to rescue, many of our dogs have experienced minimal socialization and it takes time for them to learn about life as a family pet. Common skills such as house training and leash walking may often take a little extra time. Patience, understanding and a gentle hand are a must. The great news is, most of these dogs come around rather quickly and being a part of their rehabilitation is an extremely rewarding experience. *** About us *** Hope For Donghae Paws(HDP) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to bringing rescue dogs from Korea to the US and finding permanent homes for them. It is true there are many animal lovers in Korea, but still many dogs suffer and are killed for food. Our mission is to find US homes for mixed-breed dogs whose chances of being adopted in their native Korea are very low. Find more about us on Facebook and Instagram! https://www.facebook.com/donghaepaws/ https://www.instagram.com/donghaepaws/