Entered: 12/06/2014
Status: Adopted
Age: 6
Color: Liver/White
Weight: 32 lbs.
Gender: Altered Female
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ
Health: UTD, HW-, dental complete with 2 teeth to be monitored but requiring no further treatment at this time, gaining to a healthy weight
Temperament: Good with people as young as 7 (younger unknown), good with other dogs but occasionally a bit possessive of belongings, reportedly not good with cats
Update 01/08/2015:“This is no exaggeration: This girl LOVES hugs…from anyone…at any time…or all the time!”
Miss Lena Bean, as her foster mom has taken to calling her, is doing very well in MAESSR’s care. Over the holidays she visited a farm with her foster family. All of the sights and smells were a bit overwhelming for this shy girl but she was perfectly calm and quiet. She got to go to the chicken pen for a visit and was very unsure about those feathered beasts. In fact, she stayed very quiet and just kept backing away from the pen!
This little sweetie has spent a lot of time with the seven year-old resident human girl in her foster home and loves her. Lena politely allows her humans, both adult and child, to take toys from her and she is very gentle in her quest to hug everyone she meets. The resident human girl thinks this is just great since usually the foster dogs in her home are a bit more demanding and often jump up.
Occasionally Lena will guard her toys from a smaller dog in her foster home but not from the younger, stronger, and bigger Springer mix. She is perfectly content to share her humans with other dogs of all sizes. As long as she is getting some loving, she doesn’t care that others are getting the love as well and she’s happy to share the same lap. Good girl!
Lena was recently spayed and is healing nicely. While under anesthesia, the vet also cleaned her teeth and checked out her two lower incisors. These two teeth have exposed pulp but, upon reviewing the x-rays, it was clear that the roots are not affected at all and there is no abscess or any other issue. Lena is not in any pain and happily chomps on her elk antler or synthetic bone, so it’s obvious that she is doing just fine. The vet suggested that these two teeth just be watched into the future; sometimes teeth like these will re-seal themselves, so no further treatment is necessary at this time.
Lena LOVES her crate! In fact, her foster parents tried to get her to use a bigger crate after her surgery. She did the first night but, after that, she wasn’t having it and wanted to be in her smaller crate with her blankie. Her special crate is also a place where she likes to hoard toys.
On leash and walking about, Lena is still a bit nervous unless there is food involved or a toy. She LOVES toys. She LOVES food. Therefore, if either is on hand, she’ll do just about anything and forget about her anxiety over new experiences. She has been seen crawling under furniture, over furniture, and racing after toys in the yard as she loves to play fetch with a ball; if no toy is present, she rarely gets more than five feet away from her people. Lena bonds very quickly and goes to everyone she meets with the sheer desire and hope that they will hug her or pick her up like a baby. This is no exaggeration: This girl LOVES hugs…from anyone…at any time…or all the time!
Her foster parents are confident that Lena will continue to make great strides in her housetraining. She’s only had a couple of accidents in the house. She simply doesn’t signal clearly that she has to go out, so her foster parents watch her closely and take her out regularly. Working on teaching her and catching the signal is their priority before she goes to her forever home.
As for other house manners, her foster parents are confident that Lena would counter-surf or raid a table if any food was left unattended. She doesn’t usually beg from the table, but her foster family has been working to curb her attempts at climbing in their laps to share their food if they have a snack elsewhere. She’s improving, but this training will need to continue in her forever home.
Since Lena didn’t have a lot of family experiences until coming into foster care, it is highly recommended that her forever family take her to a positive reinforcement obedience class. This will help her learn proper behavior and help her family understand how Lena learns best. Training also will solidify the bond between her and her human. Lena is an incredibly sweet, loving, and eager-to-please little girl. She would love to have a lap to keep warm, but is perfectly happy to just be nearby her people. Doesn’t Lena sound like a perfect fit for your family?
Original: “Lena does a pretty ‘sit’ as well as an even prettier ‘sit up’ if she is really working it for a treat.”
Lena came to MAESSR from Maryland family that no longer had time for her. She is an exceedingly sweet girl who loves attention from her humans – to her every person she meets is “her human!” Yes, she bonds THAT quickly to her new people, which is great! Lena approaches all people with a loving look and a soft way of climbing in their lap as if she is waiting for the invitation to climb right inside their skin with them. This petite girl loves her new life and melts the hearts of everyone she meets.
Her foster mom took her right to the do-it-yourself bathing spot on the way home from her transport. She got lots and lots of scrubs and got the mats out of her ears, legs and tail; then home to the clippers to get the rest of the mats out and her feet trimmed up. Lena took it all in stride like a pro and charmed all of the other people there!
Lena is becoming more outgoing with her foster family each day. They often have to call her out of crate and sometimes lock her out of her crate to get her to socialize. It’s important to have her break the cycle of crate living and become a part of a family.
While Lena is great going outside to walk around the yard with her foster family, she does not yet take off the “invisible leash,” meaning she does not want to go more than a few feet away from her foster parents unless it is to race back in the house! Her previous owner said that Lena was known to climb out of a six foot fence. This has not proven to be the case in her foster home. Her foster family has one section of four foot chain link and Lena has shown no interest in going away from her people when in the yard with them; nor has she ever shown interest in the fence. Her foster family has to walk around the yard with her to do her business. As soon as she is done and they say, “Good girl,” she bolts like her tail is on fire back into the house through the “entrance only” doggie door! Seems she has already recognized what living in a happy home is like and she is beyond thrilled! At the same time, Lena is working on housetraining. When she first comes out of her crate she prefers to go outside and does her business right away, but she doesn’t know how to signal that she has to go. Her foster family is taking a few steps to work with her on learning to signal.
Living a life indoors as part of a family is all new to Lena. She has to learn that when food comes out it is not appropriate to try to eat from the mouth of her humans! Achievement #1: Her foster mom was able to sit and eat a bowl of cereal in front of her and Lena sat, for the most part, off to the side watching. Good girl! She also has to learn that climbing up on the counters is not going to win her an A+ in good manners. This is a work in progress and probably will be for a while. Her foster family is working with her on “off” to keep her paws off of the counter and on the floor. Lena does a pretty “sit” as well as an even prettier “sit up” if she is really working it for a treat. She is learning “down,” but her family thinks it is really just following the treat at this point. Because she is very food motivated, Lena loves her training sessions with her foster mom!
Lena currently lives with five other dogs in her foster home. She gets along well with them but could potentially be a bit more assertive if she were living with a dog she could boss around. She is fine with the other canines in everyday living, but occasionally will grumble a little to guard her crate or one of her possessions inside of it. Lena is great with the seven year old female human resident and does not guard toys from her. Because she’s VERY food motivated, she might try to grab food from unsuspecting little ones. Lena does not live with cats and it was reported that she is not a fan of the kitties.
One of Lena’s favorite activities is playing ball. She has a favorite red spikey ball that she likes to carry around and keep in her crate with her. She also likes to play with tennis balls and will chase them and bring them back. The only time she takes off that “invisible leash” and goes a few yards away from her people is while fetching a ball. She chews on synthetic bones and is always allowed to have one in her crate with her. She’s only crated when her foster family goes to work, cannot be monitoring her, or overnight right now since her housetraining is a work-in-progress.
Lena is a pretty great traveler. She does not get carsick and she rides nicely tethered or crated. On her visit to the vet she was an easy patient, taking all of the poking and prodding with love in her eyes. Truly, she looks at everyone as if they are her long-lost love, even the vet! Lena has some worn down teeth and some inflammation around one of her molars. This will be checked out while she is under for her spay surgery.
Because Lena practically inhales her food, her family is feeding her with a brake-fast bowl. This is a bowl with large posts in it that she has to eat around, which forces her go eat slower. This has helped tremendously. In lieu of a special bowl, one could place a heavy metal cup, Kong, or ball in the middle of a regular bowl to get the same result.
Lena is looking for a home with a family that will be committed to continuing to work with her through positive reinforcement training methods. She would love an active family to take her out and show all the world has to offer. An extraordinarily loving girl, she is looking for a family who will give her those loving snuggles she so desires and enjoys. This special girl surely deserves some very special love!