NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — There's a young pup looking for a new family to play with.

 

iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.

 

Onyx is a year-old, male American bulldog mix at No Paws Left Behind.

 

Kennel assistant Rileigh Norcross introduced us to Onyx.

 

"He's very goofy. He likes to play a lot. Sometimes he's a little too intense. Sometimes will get a little mouthy, but he doesn't mean to, he's just a little puppy," she said.

 

Onyx has been at the shelter for six months because his owners couldn't move with him.

 

"His previous owners were moving, and they couldn't take him with them. Nothing to do with him, just their housing situation," she said. 

 

Some of Onyx's favorite things are playing fetch and tug of war as well as finding sticks. Onyx also loves to run around and explore outside.

 

"He loves to play with sticks and walk around and sniff and he just loves to play with toys outside. He loves to run around."

 

Onyx can be with cats that are good with dogs, as well as another dog. SIne he can play rough, he'd be better with older children.

 

"The perfect home for Onyx would be in a home with kids, if applicable, preferably 12 years and older, as he can get a little intense playing. We don't want anything to happen to younger kids," said Norcross. "And then he can go home with easygoing cats, and then he can also go home with, preferably another female dog, pending introduction."

 

Onyx has been working on his faults and has become good with commands, though he still gets a little too excited on his leash.

 

"We're working on his leash walking, for sure, he is a bit pully. He just gets so excited when he sees things outside. Also working on him biting the leash, just his puppy antics. Those are kind of the things that he really needs work on," Norcross said. "But he knows 'sit,' he knows 'down.' He's pretty good with commands, and he's really good at giving you some lovin's, that's for sure."

 

Onyx gets fed a sensitive skin and stomach diet. He also gets irritated by the sun and bees.

 

"We did learn that he is allergic to bees, he got a little puffy face," she said. "And then he also gets super red when he goes outside. So I think it's a sensitivity to the sun, sunscreen, doggy sunscreen could probably help with that."

 

But Norcross says he is a great dog who loves to snuggle. Once you meet him, he'll sinks into your legs to get pet. Since he is still learning, he would need someone to help guide him and set boundaries.

 

"He's just a super great dog. Just gets a little crazy sometimes. So he just needs somebody who will really set boundaries with him and not let him push past their limits. He really likes to test boundaries with new people. So if people really don't let him get away with things, he can really thrive in that environment, he just needs some guidance," she laughed.