Lilly 7

Update 04/20/09: Lilly has been medically cleared by the vet and is ready to start looking in earnest for her new family. She has lost almost six pounds and is now down to a svelte 54 pounds!! She continues to be a high energy little girl who must be kept busy at all times. She can be at day care for 10 hours and still want to come home to play ball with her foster mom. She is initiating play activities more frequently with her people. She still is not so good with the “drop it” command, preferring to play tug of war with the ball. Obedience classes remain a part of Lilly’s routine and will be a requirement of her adoptive family.

Now that there have been some warmer days and the front door has been kept open, Lilly enjoys sitting at attention looking out the door. She loves to watch the world go by. She will bark but is easily quieted. She is a girl who loves the outdoors. Her foster family took her on a visit to the family farm. Lilly thoroughly enjoyed running through the fields, in the woods and even jumped in the creek for a brief swim!

Lilly is ready to find her furever home. Could it be with you?

Update 04/03/09: Miss Lilly Belle, as she is affectionately known by her foster family, continues to be an energetic and loving girl. She is her foster mom’s shadow. Lilly has her next vet appointment in a few days. She continues on her diet and will have her big weigh-in on the vet’s scales. It is hoped that all of her time at day care has helped with her weight loss program.

Lilly usually goes to day care three days a week. As she has started to feel more comfortable there, some of her home behaviors have become apparent at day care. She has had two instances where she felt the need to let another dog know who is boss. The day care staff was able to redirect her to more appropriate behavior with very little problem……very nice to see.

Because her foster mom felt that day care has helped with Lilly’s social skills and behaviors, it was decided to take things one step further. Lilly now attends behavior training classes to help build her confidence. Lilly does know the basic commands of come, sit, down, wait, stay, and off. In obedience class she is working on heel and leave it. She is a very smart little girl who is a quick learner!! Because of Lilly’s personality, a requirement of her adoption will be that she attends obedience classes with her furever family. It is hoped that this will help Lilly with the adjustment process of moving to a new home. Stay tuned more to come on this sweetie!

Update 02/23/09: Lilly will be with her foster family for a bit longer. She has developed some health issues that need to be cleared up prior to her adoption. Her foster family has been treating her as prescribed by the vet and she is making great progress. Lilly has been quite the trooper with taking her medicine. Her energy level has not been affected in any way, shape or form. Lilly is a busy girl who needs a job to do at all times. As such, she has been started in a doggie day care which she attends two to three days a week. Because she enjoys her days there so much, she has started jumping into the car on her own without any assistance from her humans. She is always very tired after a day playing with her foster sister and the other dogs there. The staff has said how well behaved and sweet she is while in their presence good girl!!!

At home Lilly continues to be a dominant little girl who has a tendency to hoard all of the toys. She will allow her foster mom to take things from her without a fuss. This is a good thing and makes it easier to work with her on learning to share.

She continues to be very food driven and needs to lose about ten pounds. She has been put on a diet, and, it is hoped that the weight loss will help with some of her health issues. Despite her love of food, she is not food aggressive and will allow her humans to take food from her without a problem. The counter surfing continues to be an issue for Lilly, especially at meal times. Her foster mom is happy because no human food has been lost in quite some time.

Lilly is becoming quite the love bug and will give kisses when asked. She does get jealous if attention is being paid to the other dogs in the household. If another dog is being petted, Lilly will worm her way in so you cannot help but pet her. She is a Velcro dog in the sense that she must know where her humans are at all times.

Her training continues and, as the weather improves, a main focus of her foster family will be her leash manners. When on a walk, her nose is to the ground the entire time. She enjoys smelling all of the smells so much that she is distracted and has difficulty concentrating on walking “nice.” A Gentle Leader has been purchased to help with improving her leash walking skills.

Keep watching for updates. Once she is a healthy girl, Lilly will again be looking for that home to call her own.

Update 01/26/09: Lilly continues to be the ultimate, energetic Springer Spaniel puppy. She continues to make progress in her behaviors and the anti-anxiety medicine seems to be helping. Her foster mom says that Lilly is not the same little girl who came to live with her two months ago. Lilly’s jumping and mouthing behaviors have decreased quite a bit. She does still exhibit these behaviors when she is hungry or wants attention. Lilly is a very food-driven little girl and continues to counter surf. On the plus side, she only counter surfs when there is food to be had. She does not jump up unless there is food there, so that means no leaving food unattended!!

Lilly’s play with her foster siblings has also become more appropriate. She has even started to bring toys to her people to initiate games of fetch. Lilly loves stuffed Kongs and will immediately run in her crate when a stuffed Kong is produced.

Her foster family recently went away for the weekend, so Lilly and her foster sister were boarded. While at the kennel, Lilly was groomed. When her foster family went to pick her up, they asked how she was while at the kennel and for the grooming. The kennel staff said that Lilly and her foster sister are two of the sweetest Springers that they ever met!!! Her foster mom was so proud. Lilly also did well with the car ride to and from the kennel. She did not get sick in the car. Lilly continues to be fearful of strangers and new situations. Her foster family has made it a point to work on training for 15 to 30 minutes a night so that she gets the mental stimulation and is constantly being reinforced.

Lilly is growing up in all the right ways. She is looking for that special family to call her own. Could it be your family?

Update 12/23/08: Lilly continues to be an active little girl who is a diamond in the rough. Although she is 9 months old, the behaviors she exhibits are closer to that of a 4- or 5-month-old puppy. Her foster mom believes that Lilly had little early socialization and missed out on some of the formative training that benefits puppies. In juvenile fashion, Lilly will jump on her foster mom and nip at her when she is hungry or wants attention. Lilly is slowly learning this behavior is unacceptable. She is now asked to sit before getting any attention, treats, toys or her food. Lilly’s trainability is showing. She is nipping less and at times will sit without being told, very encouraging!

Like many youngsters Lilly has started to counter surf, especially when she thinks there is food to be had. She will get off when told but must be watched closely. It has also become evident that Lilly is a nervous little girl who is afraid of anything new. It helps if she is introduced slowl, to all things, she encounters for the first time. She does not like car rides and will get sick at times. It is believed this is associated with her nervousness. After her recent spaying, Lilly was started on a medication to help with this. Fingers crossed for a benefit over the coming weeks.

On the plus side for this pup, she has passed the refresher course for house training and has had no accidents in the house for two weeks. Lilly also continues to do well in her crate at night and when her foster family is away at work or on other outings.

Lilly loves to play with her foster sister but at times can play too rough. When this happens, Lilly receives a time out in her crate. Once she has settled and is let out, she is calmer and will play more appropriately. She loves stuffed bones and rawhide that she can chew on to her hearts content. Stuffed toys or vinyl toys only last a matter of minutes.

Lilly’s foster family continues working with her to teach appropriate behaviors. Day by day she is showing improvement. She loves pets and belly rubs. She would sit all day long with someone petting her if she could. Overall Lilly is a very lovable little girl who just needs a home to call her own and people who are committed to continuing her education. A basic obedience program with her adopting family would be the perfect way to move her training along and build her confidence. Could Lilly go to class with you???

Original: When Lilly’s mom became very ill, it was difficult for her dad to care for Lilly’s mom and Lilly at the same time. So, Lilly was relinquished to a shelter in Maryland. MAESSR stepped in and took Lilly into foster care.

Lilly has been to the vet for a check up. While at the vet, she was quite the curious little girl. She just wanted to meet and greet all of the other people and play with the other dogs. She is good about allowing her foster mom to administer the medication for her ear infections and allowing her to clean her ears.

In Lilly’s first foster home, there were six cats which Lilly became obsessed with, so she was moved to a foster home where there are no cats. Lilly’s current foster mom believes that all Lilly wanted to do was play with the cats because she is 100% puppy. She gets nervous when new things are brought into her home. She will bark and back away. Her foster mom will sit by the new object and coax Lilly to her side with a treat. Once Lilly has had the opportunity to sniff the new item, she is fine and could care less.

Lilly does know basic commands such as come, sit, and down. She also seems to know the command wait because when her foster mom goes outside and tells her to wait, Lilly will not try to bolt out the door. In her foster home, they are working on the commands of stay and off, and on leash manners, too. At first, Lilly was not able to sit still. She would sit, but she would be wiggling across the floor the entire time. She is now able to sit in one place for brief periods of time. When she is excited, she will jump up on people but knows to get down when the command off is used. Up to this point, she does not counter-surf or pick the trash. She sleeps in a crate in her foster mom’s bedroom and is crated during the day when no one is at home. She never has any accidents in her crate. She does have some accidents in the house and is receiving a refresher course in housebreaking. She has started to go to the door to signal that she needs to go outside.

In true Springer fashion, she needs to know where her people are at all times. She loves belly rubs, pets, and giving sloppy kisses. Lilly enjoys playing with her canine foster sister who is three weeks younger than she is. Her two favorite activities are chasing her foster sister and playing tug-of-war with a rope toy. Lilly knows to stay off of the furniture, except when playing with her foster sister. In her playful exuberance, she can forget and accidentally jump up on the couch but will remove herself as soon as she is told. Lilly also enjoys chewing on bones and rawhides. So far, she has not chewed on anything inappropriate. She is not a digger, either. She also enjoys balls that squeak and has started to retrieve them for her foster mom for games of fetch. Lilly enjoys her food and is a hardy eater.

Lilly is a very high energy girl and, as such, would do better in a home with children older than the age of ten. Lilly’s foster mom thinks that she is quite the little love bug who would bring much joy to any home. Could it be yours?