Entered: 09/04/2020
Status: Adopted
Age: 2
Color: Black/White/Tan
Weight: 41 lbs.
Gender: Altered Female
Location: Alexandria, VA
Health: UTD, HW-, blood work normal, treatment for worms completed
Temperament: Good with people as young as 5 (younger unknown), good with other smaller dogs but fearful of large ones, good with cats
Update 09/30/2020: “She is totally fine with the cat now and they have been found sleeping on the same bed together.”
Now in MAESSR’s care for almost a month, Ollie (Donna) continues to progress. She has definitely become more social with people, and even sits and waits patiently if they carry on a short conversation. She does remain very afraid of any dog that is even slightly bigger than she is and will stand steadfast in her steps until she perceives the “danger” is over.
Her “puppy” is also very much alive…Ollie needs time during the day to just run. Sometimes she gets this with a family member during a run around the block and other days she is let off leash at the school yard a couple times a day. She is VERY fast, even when running around the entire school yard in a circle. This active pup LOVES to chase squirrels and birds so when out on walks (not at the schoolyard), she is not off leash and a tight grip on the leash is necessary if she sees those animals. Her puppy spring is showing more, and she has a nice trot up some of the biggest hills around her foster home.
Ollie continues to work on housetraining. The good news: she consistently poops on her walks and has not had a pooping accident in the house for a week. As for urine…that has been more difficult. She had been on a two-hour schedule to go out during the day and, for the most part, that worked until the evening. After dinner, she is now on a one-hour schedule to go outside. Her foster family will continue to work on this with Ollie.
A follow-up appointment at the vet completed Ollie’s vaccines. She did present with a mild ear infection; she now is receiving treatment and regular ear cleaning. Her spay appointment is in a week.
Ollie LOVES the other Springer in the house. She is totally fine with the cat now and they have been found sleeping on the same bed together. Other times one can find her curled up in the cat’s tiny round bed!
Ollie’s foster parents have seen an increase in her desire to chew plastic. This includes her crate tray; she would also prefer to chew on plastic toys. In an effort to curb this behavior, her foster parents continue to introduce softer toys, but she has shown no interest in them. Just recently Ollie acknowledged a thrown tennis ball, so there is hope that more appropriate toys will excite her.
She continues to GENTLY jump up on her people for affection but responds well to “off.” Ollie continues to eat well and there still is no sign of counter-surfing. She loves to jump on furniture, so that is a work in progress, too. Ollie is pretty consistent with the command “sit” and is gaining consistency with “come.” Her foster parents have begun taking her off leash at the park with the resident dog to run, and she has consistently returned if she strays farther than they are comfortable with. Ollie is a very smart dog and now when she let her off leash at the end of the walk, runs as fast as she can for the entire block on the sidewalk. She recognizes her house and goes to the door to wait for her foster parents.
Life is good for this young Springer! She continues to be a lovebug to her foster family and looks forward to the day when she can join her forever home.
Original: “Initially, Olli was very difficult on the leash; however, that changed when she was coupled to the resident Springer on a split leash.”
Donna came into MAESSR’s care when a Springer breeder in Maryland developed serious health problems and had to rehome his dogs.
Since “Donna” did not know her name when she came to her foster home, she is now known as Olive, Olli for short. Having lived outdoors for all of her life, she came to her foster parents with a sweet demeanor but with a lot of ticks and parasites. As well as receiving a de-worming treatment, getting the ticks off of her and starting her on flea and tick preventative were some of the first priorities for making this little girl feel more comfortable. She was a poster child at the vet for her checkup and nail trim. The vet actually asked if she could adopt Olli because she was one of the sweetest dogs she had ever met.
Olli is indeed a sweetheart! The 5 and 6 year old neighborhood children just love her and she loves their company. Even though she has not met any younger children, her foster mom believes Olli would maintain her sweet demeanor. She had absolutely no issues coming into her foster home with its resident seven year old female Springer. Olli also interacted well with two Golden Retriever pups in the neighborhood. However, when she is being walked and she sees larger dogs, she will stop in her tracks and refuse to move until either they pass or she and her person cross the street. Her foster parents are working on this issue.
Olli and the resident cat are a happy sister and brother team even though they chase each other occasionally. Initially, the cat hissed at Olli and she thought that was an invitation to play with him. He just ran from her but now they are fine.
For not having been raised in a home, Olli’s house manners are pretty good. Crate training is going well with her family keeping her on a schedule. She spends some crated time in the dining room during the day and then she spends the night in a smaller crate that sits beside the adult daughter’s bed. When she cries or barks or whines, her people just softly say, “Olli…no noise”. That often works. If not, hands are clapped loudly and softly her person repeats the same thing. Then, she usually settles in. When her foster family is not at home, Olli stays in the daytime crate in the dining room; however, due to the COVID situation, her family rarely leaves the house.
So far, Olli has not attempted to counter-surf or get into the trash. She does get on the couches and bed despite her family’s unsuccessful attempts to keep her off with some commercially available products. She doesn’t do any inappropriate chewing and she is not interested in toys or balls. Olli does jump up on people but very gently. When she jumps up, she is told, “Off” and then complies. For the first couple of days, stairs really scared her but she quickly learned to navigate a whole flight to get to the second floor bedrooms.
A good eater, Olli doesn’t mind being touched while she eats and she is not food possessive with the resident dog. She has no interest in people food and her family does not offer it to her.
Initially, Olli was very difficult on the leash; however, that changed when she was coupled to the resident Springer on a split leash. That comforted Olli and she is now really doing well on a leash walk with her foster sister. If she pulls at all, it is very gentle EXCEPT when she sees a squirrel at which time one needs to hold tight. She loves to meet people on her walks but not dogs. This sweetie definitely has the energy of a two year old Springer and she has brought some puppy life in the resident gal. She encourages her to play wrestle with her! Olli is learning “sit” with a treat and is slowly making progress with “off,” “come,” “lie down.”
Housetraining Olli has been the most difficult part of fostering her. She just wasn’t getting the idea that eliminating in the house is NOT what a well-trained Springer does. She would go on 1 to 2 mile walks with the resident dog who regularly modeled pee and poop but she did not go. Her foster parents kept her out back for about an hour after the walk and even used “attractants” spray. Still she would wait until she got back in the house when she would immediately eliminate. Day 10 was the magic day when Olli got it! She peed and pooped on her morning walk for the very first time. Good girl, Olli! Keep it up!
Olli will need a forever home that can give her the love, training, exercise, and attention she so desires and needs. She loves the 3 formal walks she takes each day in addition to her time playing outside with her foster family. Given these basics, Olli will quickly assimilate into her new family. She is a diamond in the rough. Help her to shine!