Cady

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Original:  “She enjoys hunting for sticks in the yard, admiring herself in a mirror, and trying to understand what these new people are saying to her.”

When Cady’s Pennsylvania family divorced, this love went to live with the husband who is away from home for long days. An older dog companion died three years ago, and, since then, Cady has spent too much time by herself.  Now, the husband is moving to a place where he cannot have a dog, the family turned to MAESSR for help and beautiful K-K-Cady found herself in a welcoming foster home where she is being given the attention she deserves and is learning about a wider range of experiences.

After just one week in foster care, Cady is opening up and relaxing with her foster family. She’s a pleasant, low key girl who makes few demands. She is not a snuggler yet, but wants to be in the room with people and at their feet.  She enjoys hunting for sticks in the yard, admiring herself in a mirror, and trying to understand what these new people are saying to her. 

Miss C is housetrained and sits by the door when she wants to go out. She will accept a crate, but doesn’t like it. So far, she’s been left alone in the foster house for six hours with no bad behavior or signs of separation anxiety. The foster family closes bathroom doors though because Cady is really interested in the waste basket.  She has beds on the floors of the family room, living room and foster mother’s room. She remains downstairs until it’s time for her to escort the last awake person to bed and then she sleeps soundly.

Cady doesn’t counter-surf or beg.  She does no chewing except for toys—and, speaking of which, she likes a full range of stuffed animals, tennis balls and rawhide sticks—thank you very much!!   If she thinks no one is looking, she’ll jump on furniture but gets down readily enough—good girl, Cady.

This senior’s training has been slim; she has a good “sit” and “give paw.” She’s working on “come” and “stay.” She needs leash work because she is so very excited to be out and about that she zigzags across the path.  But, she walks nicely past others, even reactive dogs.

She has barked to alert the foster family when startled by big noises such as firewood dumped on garage floor or that noisy trash truck that takes things away from “her” house.    She’s getting used to busy streets; when a large truck went by and sounded its air brakes, she collapsed on the sidewalk with great drama, but bounced right back up and moved along.  A busier, richer environment takes some adjustment.

Cady enjoys car rides and waits quietly without great anxiety.  She was also well behaved at both the groomers and veterinarian’s, letting everyone touch her all over.  Her ears are infected and still sore, so her foster mom goes easy there applying medicine.  She’s a bit weak in the hind legs and has trouble jumping but manages steps well. Daily walks are improving her strength and muscle tone. 

She’s cheerful with fighting over a squeaky toy and likes a quiet game of tug-of-war with her rope toy but gets tense with rough housing or grabbing. When the play energy level gets cranked up, she stiffens and looks afraid. Her previous owner had mentioned she didn’t like her rear being touched, and in her foster home, when she did snarl when she was twice pushed suddenly from behind.  Otherwise, she’s a very pleasant, easy going companion in her foster home of three adults.