09/06/2026
❤️ Meet Meatball
The video will show you who he is. But if you watched it and found yourself thinking, “I could love this dog,” please keep reading—because Meatball deserves someone who understands all of him.
Meatball is about 5 years old, and he is funny, affectionate, playful and incredibly connected to the people he loves. He LOVES the water—swimming may very well be his favorite thing on earth. He enjoys adventures, loves his people, and has a particularly special relationship with his 13-year-old foster brother.
He also currently lives with three other dogs. So yes, Meatball can live with another dog. But the match matters. The right canine companion and a home with good structure can work beautifully for him.
And then there is the other part of Meatball.
Meatball lives with anxiety.
Certain things in his world can feel much bigger and scarier to him than they might to another dog. Storms are hard. Bicycles and motorcycles can be hard. Even something as ordinary as a bouncing ball can trigger fear and an outsized reaction.
If you’ve ever lived with anxiety yourself—or loved someone who has—you may understand something about Meatball. Anxiety doesn’t erase everything wonderful about a person, and it doesn’t erase everything wonderful about this dog. It simply means there are things he has had to learn to manage, and he needs people willing to help him do that.
Meatball has had significant training and professional support, including evaluation by a veterinary behaviorist. What he needs now isn’t someone who thinks love alone will “fix” him. He needs a calm, confident person who will provide structure, consistency, appropriate boundaries and continued management, while also appreciating the affectionate, hilarious, water-loving dog underneath the anxiety.
He has done wonderfully with his 13-year-old foster brother and loves children, but because of Meatball’s sensitivities and the unpredictability that naturally comes with very young children, we believe a home with children 12 and older is the right fit for him.
We also want to be clear:
Meatball isn’t going to be the right dog for every home.
And that’s okay.
We’re not looking for every home.
We’re looking for his home.
His foster family and rescue have invested more than two years of love, training, veterinary care and commitment into helping Meatball become the dog he is today. Now we’re hoping there is someone out there who can look beyond the word anxiety and see the entire dog.
The beautiful one-blue-eye, one-brown-eye boy.
The swimmer.
The adventurer.
The snuggler.
The ridiculous dog who gets his head stuck in boxes. 😂
The dog who loves his people deeply.
Meatball doesn’t need a perfect home.
He just needs the right one. ❤️
Could that be you?
If you think you might be Meatball’s person and would like to learn more about him, please contact Elsa’s Pride at [email protected]. We’re happy to talk honestly about Meatball, answer your questions, and help determine whether your home could be the right fit.
❤️ Can’t adopt Meatball but want to be part of his story?
If you’d like to donate toward Meatball’s continued care, training and behavioral support while he waits for his person, we would be incredibly grateful. Every gift—no matter the amount—helps us continue giving Meatball the support he needs.
Venmo:
And if you can’t adopt or donate, please share Meatball’s story. Somewhere out there is the person who may see one of those shares and realize that Meatball is exactly the dog they’ve been waiting for.
His person may be one share away.
