Derby 2

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Update 01/23/2013:  “The resident female springer in her adopting home and Derby just could not see eye to eye at times.” 

Unfortunately Derby has come back to MAESSR once again. The resident female springer in her adopting home and Derby just could not see eye to eye at times. Their skirmishes became too frequent and her family felt it was in everyone’s best interest to let Derby find another home. 

Derby returned to a different foster home this time. Upon arrival, one of the first things her foster mom noticed was that Derby’s anxiety levels were very high. After spending some time talking to her previous family, they agreed that anxiety was a concern. After a consultation with the vet, Derby was started on an inexpensive medication to lower her anxiety levels. It has really helped Derby, as she now is much more calm and content. 

In Derby’s foster home, she lives with multiple other dogs and has done well with all of them. In fact, Derby is just a delightful dog to have around. She has perfect house manners and loves to be with her people. 

This sweet girl just needs a forever family that will love her and allow her to continue to explore life without so much anxiety. Can you be that calming influence in Derby’s life?

Update 01/16/2012:  “Derby returned to her former foster home after five months with her adoptive mother, who found Derby too strong to easily handle, especially on walks.” 

Derby returned to her former foster home after five months with her adoptive mother, who found Derby too strong to easily handle, especially on walks. Derby’s foster mom found her to be a delightful visitor the first time around and gladly welcomed her back. Her foster mom thinks Derby looks adorable with her hair growing in wavy all over. This natural look needed just a bit of tidying up and, since Derby continues to be sensitive about her ears, she was muzzled while her foster mom groomed that area. Derby thoroughly enjoyed being brushed everywhere else. Her foster mom had worked on desensitizing Derby’s ears before; this work will likely need to continue, as well as similar work with having her feet handled and toenails clipped. 

This mature lady is let out on a regular schedule but also will go to the door when she feels the need. She quickly takes care of personal matters outside and has had no accidents. Derby does not bother any of her foster mom’s possessions, get in the trash, counter-surf, or get up on the furniture without an invitation. What a good girl! 

Derby and her three canine companions have limited run of the house while her foster mom is away. She watches out the window as her foster mom leaves for and returns from work. Since she is trustworthy, she has not been crated. Showing no signs of separation anxiety, Derby accepts her foster mom’s departures but wishes she could go, too! Derby sleeps on a dog pillow through the night. 

With a moderate energy level, Derby moves well on a Gentle Leader for her foster mom, who loves to watch Derby trot alongside her. Without a Gentle Leader, Derby pulls like a team of horses in front of a plow! She has shown very little reaction to barking dogs in yards along her walking routes. Derby loves both walks and car rides and is a good passenger. She will chew on a bone and play with a rope on rare occasions. 

Miss Derby isn’t nearly as needy of attention as the two male Springers in her home, one a resident and the other a foster. She will often seek out a dog pillow to “chill” by herself. Her previous owner found Derby to be reactive toward other dogs at times and felt Derby was being protective of her. Back in foster care, Derby has acclimated well into the pack, co-existing peacefully overall with everyone. She has basically ignored the two male Springers and has not reacted at all to the foster Springer’s occasional invasive sniffing. She was reactive to the resident Beardie mix for the first few hours after her return but quickly renewed her friendship with her too. In her former home Derby learned to respect the dog-savvy cat and left it alone, earning her another “good girl!” 

With confronted with new experiences Derby can be a little shy. For example, she had to be coaxed into the basement where her foster mom grooms in cold weather. Derby can also be quite playful at times, which her foster mom finds adorable. She had a great time rolling in the snow that recently came through the area! Derby gives sweet kisses and cuddles; she will sometimes playfully mouth her foster mom’s hand while they are bonding. With patience, love, and consistent shaping of positive behaviors, Derby will be a great companion for a lucky owner.

Original:  “This sweet, calm, and loving girl has been a wonderful houseguest and has acclimated well to her foster home.” 

Derby has become a MAESSR girl due to her New Jersey owner’s lifestyle changes and increased work travel commitments, leaving Derby home alone more. She was relinquished as her owner felt Derby deserved better. 

This sweet, calm, and loving girl has been a wonderful houseguest and has acclimated well to her foster home. She gets along with the resident male Springer even though they compete for foster mom’s attention by seeing who can give her the most and best kisses! Don’t think the days of play are past for middle-aged Springers because Derby engages in horseplay with the resident female beardie mix. Springers of all ages love fun! 

Totally housetrained, Derby stands at the back door when she wants to go out and she has had no accidents since she arrived. When her foster mom goes to work, Derby displays no separation anxiety and has limited free reign of the house, as do the resident dogs. When she was younger, Derby was crate trained, but has not been for many years now. She will reluctantly go in the crate, but foster mom hasn’t left Derby in it for any length of time since she is a responsible girl. 

This little lady has good house manners and hasn’t touched any of her foster mom’s belongings, bothered the trash, or jumped on people since her arrival. There was one incident of counter-surfing when foster mom emptied her pocket onto the bathroom vanity; Derby quickly scarfed up a doggie delicacy, a tissue, and was not willing to drop her prize. Her foster mom will see if Derby can learn the trade game. Derby has stayed off the furniture but jumps up on foster mom’s bed when invited up to cuddle. At bedtime, she sleeps on a bed or on the floor of her foster mom’s bedroom and doesn’t make a peep. 

Derby is a moderate barker, woofing at people walking up the street. They surely can hear her with her loud bark, so her foster mom is working on the command “quiet.” This eight year old knows commands such as “sit,” “shake/paw,” and “lie down” and Derby comes when called. She will sit with prompting to get her treats and gently accepts them. A subtle beggar, Derby stares at her foster mom when she is eating and may whimper a little in an attempt to get foster mom to share. When she is given a special table treat, Derby has a tendency to be a little grabby, so her foster mom is working on getting her to accept people food gently. Initially when she came into foster care, Derby would guard her food and grumble if the resident dogs came close to her at mealtime; this behavior has subsided. 

According to her former owner, Derby loves the beach and walking. A Gentle Leader is being used on her daily walks as her foster mom does not like being dragged down the street. With the Gentle Leader, Derby walks like the fine lady that she is. At the end of a two-mile walk, she is trotting just as easily as when she began. Loving human attention, Derby likes to be petted and have her belly rubbed, and she playfully gnaws on foster mom’s hand. Her former owner reported that Derby doesn’t like strangers quickly approaching her face. To date, foster mom has only found Derby to be somewhat sensitive about having her ears/face touched when being brushed and is working on desensitizing her. An outdoor lover, Derby likes being in the yard and had an invisible fence at her former home. At her foster home, she has a four foot fence and has made no attempts to escape or climb it. In the car, she is a good traveler, enjoying the ride both in the front seat and back. 

Miss Derby is forty-five pounds of sweetness waiting to shower lots of love and kisses on her new forever family. Make her your own!