Entered: 04/01/2007
Status: Adopted
Age: 6
Color: Liver/White
Weight:
Gender: Altered Female
Location: Mechanicsville, VA
Health: UTD, HW-, good in all areas
Temperament: Good with people as young as four years, good with other dogs, learning not to chase cats
Original: Molly is a young gal with a pink nose and green eyes. Even though she is very slender and puppyish still, she is field-bred through and through and is a non-stop springer. She is fine with other dogs, very friendly and confident. Molly loves to play fetch and chase. She is affectionate and seems to be comfortable even in new situations.
Molly is housebroken up to a point. She has had some accidents in the house and is reliable for 6.5 hours at this time. She immediately learned to respond to “hurry up” so her foster mom thinks bladder control is a maturation issue at this point. Molly is crate trained and is fine for four-hour stints with her toys and Kongs. Her foster family does not crate her at night, and, so far, she has handled that quite well. When her family is gone, they do not leave Molly loose in the house. When they are home, they can more or less leave Molly free, but she doesn’t ever get too far from her foster mom or dad.
Molly is very smart and responsive but is seemingly unacquainted with the word “no” so she does present some training challenges. She really has a mind of her own and will definitely need puppy classes or private training so she can learn where the boundaries are. Molly does respond to “sit” after some coaching and usually responds to “come.” She is good in the car and on the leash. Molly is a chewer on both appropriate and inappropriate things. She can be distracted with an appropriate toy, however, if her foster family catches her in time. She will chew the wrong things if left un-monitored. Molly has the propensity to counter-surf and has grabbed a few things. Her foster family has been working with her on this issue. She loves to investigate the trash, too, so that is another area of behavioral modification as well.
One challenge for Molly is learning that the resident cat is not something to chase and torment, but a part of the household to be respected. Molly apparently has never lived with cats and is having a hard time understanding how to coexist with the kitty but she is learning.
All in all, Molly is a very engaging little springer with a winning personality and lots of energy. She needs an experienced, hands-on family with plenty of patience and energy for walking, playing and training. With the right training, she’s going to be a super dog.