Hickori

---

Original:

Hickori was a stray that was brought into a South Carolina shelter and then, she became a MAESSR girl.

When her foster mom saw how very timid and thin she was, she knew that Hickori needed some extra TLC! For the first day or two, Hickori shied away from everyone. She would sleep under the bed or lie under the table, watching whatever was going on in front of her. When going out on the leash, she would try to walk between the legs of her foster mom or dad. She didn’t even make a sound when the resident dogs would bark; she would just watch and listen. When given a treat, she would slowly come up, grab it, and then go back under the bed or table.

Hickori is no longer that timid little pup. She has come out of her shell and now starting to show her true personality. She does have some training issues that need to be tackled. She is an instigator, roughly playing with the other resident dogs by pulling on their ears, paws, neck or mouth. She is being taught not to play roughly with the smaller resident dog. Then, she turns to the bigger dog for play and when he gets rough with her, she yelps and backs off. The process repeats itself when she goes in for more rough play.

Learning not to jump up on her foster parents is another thing on Hickori’s “Needs Improvement” list. She also is a counter-surfer, looking for any morsel that may be within her reach. As a result of both of these behaviors, she is learning what “no” means. When given a treat initially, she would grab it, but now she just nibbles like her foster mom taught her; this still doesn’t stop her from trying to grab the treats from the other dogs. Like all MAESSR dogs a year and younger, Hickori is required to take obedience lessons with her forever family.

On the positive side, Hickori knows the word “sit” even when her foster parents don’t say it. All they have to do is hold up a treat and she will sit and wait for it. She loves to car ride and as soon as she settles in for the ride, she takes a nap, Once in a while, she will pop her head up between the seats to see what is going on. Totally housetrained, Hickori has the run of the house when her foster family is gone, mainly because foster dad doesn’t want to crate her. Although she is leash trained, Hickori still pulls a little, but she is getting better at that. She is an excellent watchdog because when she hears strange noises outside, she lets her foster family know about it.

Hickori loves being outdoors, especially when it’s cooler. With her good tracking nose, she is always sniffing out something. Her favorite toys are anything that she can find: ball on a rope, rubber bones, stuffed animals, shoes, the couch cushion, and her foster dad’s socks. Obviously, her foster parents are always looking for appropriate toys that are well made to keep this pup occupied. At night she curls up next to her foster mom to sleep and at times she lies down on top of the bigger resident dog to be near her mom.

This sweet, active puppy girl is looking for a forever home where she will be loved and learn to be a responsible family member.