Macy

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Update 01/31/08:

Macy Grace was a little ball of stress when she moved to her foster home. Her vet felt that starting her on an anti-anxiety medication would help calm her enough to realize she wasn’t going to be abandoned just because someone put on a coat or walked out of the room and closed the door. Now that the meds have had time to work, Macy is doing much better. Her confidence continues to improve. She eats and takes naps in her crate and has been left in her foster home for 3.5 hours without incident. Macy’s medication is a twice daily pill and costs about $35.00 for a one month supply. She will need some time to adjust in her new home, but the hope, though not a promise, is that she will eventually be able to be weaned off of it once she is settled.

Along with settling in her foster home, Macy has learned many new good Springer behaviors. She is starting to obey more often than she doesn’t!! She lies down and sits well. She knows no, outside and in the grass as the right place to do her business. She is very well on her way to being completely house-trained. She will go in her crate at will and will crate with the door closed when asked. She will whine if she thinks no one is around or if left for longer periods of time in her crate but, by contrast, she has been left alone with the run of the house several times in recent days with no accidents. Macy still jumps and counter surfs in her youthful eagerness to not miss out on a thing.

When out on a leash, Macy has a fascination with cars and will pull toward them. She is super fast, really curious and, understandably, can not be trusted outside of a fenced area at this point. She has two distinct play times daily when she wants all your attention and will stop at nothing to get it. Fetch is a favorite with her and she thinks anything she can get in her mouth is an acceptable toy for the game. She recently put a Sports Cup in her foster mom’s lap to get things started. Macy is still a Velcro dog but will normally occupy herself with her toys or the resident Springer when her foster mom asks for some space. At day’s end Macy sleeps at the foot of her foster mom’s bed on a doggie pillow and doesn’t stir until morning when she joins the resident Springer in many laps around the yard. 

While Macy does enjoy the companionship of the resident Springer, she enjoys the attention of her humans more and isn’t the best at sharing the attention. She will do best with a laid back, submissive canine companion in her forever home or with no dog at all. She will most certainly go through another adjustment with a new family to learn how to trust, but with patience and lots of love, she will be the best companion you could ever hope for.

Original:

Macy Grace’s original owner did not have adequate time to spend with her. As a result, she was crated for long periods of time. Her owner felt she deserved an active home where she could run, play, and release all of the energy a young Springer has. So, he relinquished her to MAESSR. 

This tiny tornado is an active young Springer who will need an active forever family. Not one to be ignored, Macy loves to be with her people interacting with them. She enjoys playing fetch and is starting to learn “drop it” because she knows that doing so will enable her foster mom and brother to throw the ball back to her more quickly. Macy is persistent in pestering people to play with her. She has been known to put all of her toys on her foster mom’s lap at one time and sail over the couch to retrieve them. Then, she loves to have her toys thrown to her! Macy is good with the submissive, resident female Springer who is seven years old, and likes to play roughly when they are running around together. 

Due to the excessive amount of time that Macy had previously been crated in her original home, her foster family has been hesitant to crate her since that gets her quite anxious. Gating her into a section of the house has not worked, though, since she easily leaps over the tallest baby gate available. So, her foster mom is working to re-introduce her to the crate in a positive way. Macy is not quite housebroken and gets quite anxious when left alone also. This causes her to drink a lot more water than her small body needs. She has had accidents at night and when left alone for more than a few hours. She has not been destructive when she has been left alone, however. 

Her foster family is helping Macy to learn proper house behavior, too. She is given a firm “no” when she counter surfs and she responds appropriately. Macy knows the commands sit, down, outside, and no but she will still need work with obedience training since she does not consistently respond to them. She pulls on the leash but will stop when reminded. When being fed treats, she is gentle and she is not possessive about her food. She allows her foster mom to touch her food while she is eating and does not fuss. Macy does not like to spend much time eating since eating is not as much fun as playing! So, for now, her foster mom stays nearby while she eats so she will finish her food. Macy rides well in the car with a harness on, but she could not be trusted without one as she would be up on the dashboard! There are so many manners that a young Springer has to learn! Her foster family has begun this education process and her forever home will have to continue it so Macy learns to be a well-behaved member of the family. 

Macy Grace has a sweet disposition and has been good with the young children she has been exposed to. But, since she is a high energy dog who loves to race around and play, she should be placed with a family that has older children or teenagers whom she wouldn’t knock down accidentally. Macy would be a good candidate for agility training since she loves to run and leap. Her forever home must be committed to giving her plenty of attention and exercise daily. She would definitely be happiest with another active dog in the household to play with and to keep her company when she is left alone. 

Do you have the time, love, patience, and energy to keep this Springer a tired and happy girl?