Entered: 06/28/2014
Status: Adopted
Age: 5
Color: Black/White
Weight: 43 lbs.
Gender: Altered Female
Location: Alexandria, VA
Health: UTD, HW-, treatment for ear infections complete, dental cleaning complete, overall good health
Temperament: Good with adults, unknown with children, good with dogs, good with cats but may bark upon first meeting
Update 07/15/2014: “Her name so aptly describes her lovely disposition.”
Merry was spayed recently and is recovering nicely from her surgery. While under anesthesia she also received a dental cleaning so her teeth are now a pearly white! Her foster mom continues to treat Merry’s ear infections but she is otherwise in excellent health.
This sweet girl continues to blossom in her foster home. She’s becoming more relaxed and is learning new things. Although she was unfamiliar with toys, Merry learned to grab one to mimic the resident Springer. She playfully makes growling, funny noises as if she’s giving her toy a sound, since she hasn’t quite figured out how to squeak the toy.
Continuing to be charming and sweet to everyone she meets, Merry barks just once to alert her family that someone is approaching. Once she realizes they are okay, she does the adorable Springer whole body wiggle. Although she occasionally still jumps up gently on people for extra loving, she is learning to curb this behavior and is doing it less and less. A smart girl, Merry has quickly learned to sit before getting her food bowl. She’s working on giving a paw for handshakes.
This beautiful girl will soon be ready for her forever family. Her name so aptly describes her lovely disposition. Add a little happiness to your life by including Merry as a new family member.
Original: “New to a leash, Merry is very quickly learning that it means she’s going out for a walk and that often leads to meeting new people that will want to pet her!”
Merry came from a breeder kennel in Maryland that was closing and MAESSR was able to help with the placement of the dogs.
This sweet, smart girl is quickly adjusting to urban life with all the noises and people surrounding her. New sounds and sights may initially scare her but she quickly adjusts. Initially skittish of the garage door sound, she looked to her human or the resident dog and quickly calmed down. She had the same reaction with grooming clippers but after her foster mom trimmed the resident Springer, Merry allowed a few minutes of minor trimming. Although not ready to have a blow dryer directed towards her, she quickly adjusted to the noise of one running so that she didn’t jump. Good girl, Merry!
Merry is either new to showering/bathing or she’s been out of practice recently. The water spray and sound scared her, but she quickly realized the massaging part of her bath was pretty nice. Despite this, Merry was excellent at letting her foster mom clean her very dirty ears. Merry has a very soft, silky coat that had relatively few tangles on a few leg feathers despite the lack of recent grooming.
New to a leash, Merry is very quickly learning that it means she’s going out for a walk and that often leads to meeting new people that will want to pet her! She currently shows no signs of pulling, just sudden stops to smell new smells. Being such a fast learner, this girl will respond quickly to obedience training. She doesn’t know any commands but she watches the resident female’s actions and follows her lead, Merry and her adopting family would really benefit from a series of obedience lessons or two. Knowing commands enhances canine-human communication and the lessons themselves will help in the bonding process.
Enjoying attention, Merry currently may give a paw to shake in her desire for attention, not on command from training. She sometimes paws at your legs trying to request more petting and occasionally jumps up gently to give a shy kiss. If you are seated and petting her, Merry may gently try to crawl in your lap! This love-bug thrives on attention from people. She has not really interacted with any children while she’s been in foster care. While on a walk, Merry and her foster mom came upon a toddler who was just learning to walk. Merry just stood calmly and watched and sniffed.
Merry appears to be housetrained as there have been no accidents inside the house. When she needs to be taken outside, Merry chats a bit. If her foster mom doesn’t see her standing at the door wanting to go out, she will start talking to her like she’s trying to have a conversation to let her know her needs. Although she’s good in a car, Merry doesn’t know to jump into the vehicle as she isn’t familiar with the concept. So, it takes a moment to put her front feet up and encourage her into the vehicle. She can jump, but doesn’t yet understand that’s what’s wanted. A few more car rides and she’ll comprehend that opening the door means “let’s go for a ride.” She’s sweet as can be, just naïve from lack of experience with things. She doesn’t know what toys are for yet either.
At her vet appointment, the tech was able to clip her nails on her front paws but she got nervous when they attempted to clip the rear ones. So, the back ones will be done when she is spayed. Otherwise, Merry was very good getting her vaccinations and with the blood draw. Other than getting nervous over her back paws and briefly being shy with a one year old Portuguese Water Dog who wanted to play, Merry entertained the vet’s office by being the most relaxed they’d ever seen. She wanted to chill and lie on the cool floor and get belly rubs. The staff had to help her foster mom coax Merry to get up so they could leave as she was quite content and comfy while the bill was being paid.
Keep an eye out for updates on Merry as this girl will make a wonderful, sweet companion.