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Lombardo figured the pup would be low maintenance and more subdued than others.
That was not the case at all for Lombardo's Hodor, who she named after the beloved "Game of Thrones" character.
"He pivots on his back leg," Lombardo said. "He lunges down the stairs on the deck to chase the feral cats."
"He uses it as an advantage."
And with some training, Lombardo hopes her tripod pup will make the perfect therapy dog.
It hadn't been a year since Lombardo lost her 12-year-old German Shepherd Roxy before she saw Hodor's picture on Bergen County Protect and Rescue's Facebook page.
Hodor's previous owners, who named him Hunter, surrendered him to the Cliffside Park shelter after he'd escaped.
Animal control officers found him limping along Route 4 and brought him to BCPR.
"His previous owners bought him and a golden retriever for $1,800 and kept them in a yard," Lombardo said. "At some point, the other dog bit his leg and they never took him for medical attention."
Hodor stayed the night at BCPR where he received the medical attention he needed, including a leg amputation due to the infected bite.
Lombardo, formerly volunteer and officer at Garden State German Shepherd Rescue, couldn't resist his familiar face. She adopted him last May.
"He has three legs but he can do everything everyone else does and he even does stuff better," Lombardo said. "There's nothing he can't do."
Hodor is in Obedience 1 training and after he completes Obedience 2, he can take the test to become a therapy dog.
"We don't know if he'll pass it," Lombardo said. "But we're going to try."
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