Entered: 08/20/2012
Status: Adopted
Age: 3
Color: Black/White
Weight: 47 lbs.
Gender: Altered Female
Location: Elkridge, MD
Health: UTD, HW-, overall good health
Temperament: Good with adults, unknown with children, not good with other dogs, good with cats
Original:
For the first three years of her life, Molly was the only dog in a single adult home in Maryland. Much cherished and well-cared for by her original mom, Molly was used to having a close, one-on-one relationship with her owner. When her owner suddenly died, a close family friend took over Molly’s care. In her adoptive home, Molly ran into problems with the resident elderly Westie and was unfriendly towards him. Unable to solve the problem, her adoptive parents decided it was best to re-home Molly through MAESSR.
Molly’s foster mom just loves her! She is very smart, well-trained and cute to boot! Fully housetrained, Molly has had no accidents in her foster home. She is on a regular schedule of going out to the yard with the resident dog and another foster but will whine at the door if she needs to out otherwise. Molly has been crate trained and will go in willingly and often goes to the crate on her own to take a nap. She has good house manners generally and does not chew inappropriately, but she will counter-surf given the chance. On walks she will pull on the leash when allowed, but will “heel” when reminded.
Playing ball is one of Molly’s favorite activities and she is very good about dropping the ball at your feet. She is quite fast and agile and it is really fun to play ball with her. Her recall is pretty good most of the time, but if she is not ready to come back in the house, she will ignore a command to “come.” This would improve with work and bonding with her new family. She likes to carry around a toy at times but is not particularly attached to any certain toy.
Although Molly bonds most easily with women, she is fine with men, just a bit more distant. The right man in her life would change that! A Velcro girl, Molly would love to crawl into her foster mom’s lap and cuddle. When she lies at her feet, she lies ON her feet, desiring that contact. She does jump up to greet but does it lightly and her foster mom is working on changing this behavior. It seems that Molly slept in the bed with her original owner and will jump up on the bed to join her foster mom, but will get down when told. She has obviously been allowed on furniture and loves to cuddle on the sofa.
It was a pleasant surprise to find out that Molly is great with cats! Her foster home has two resident cats and they have all gotten along well. However, Molly has definite ideas regarding her personal space around dogs and is very reactive towards them in certain situations. She has been crabby towards both of the male dogs, giving them some attitude. When the other foster Springer – a senior boy who is pretty laid back with other dogs – wanted some petting from his foster mom too, Molly did not appreciate his trying to share their foster mom and she grumbled at him. Obviously resource guarding her foster mom, Molly also showed her displeasure with the resident male dog during a ball-toss session; she felt she should have a particular ball even though two balls were available. Now Molly and the resident male have separate ball-throwing sessions. The boys get their loving separately from Molly now too.
Given the fact that Molly is not keen on other dogs, she should be in a family where she is the only dog. Her family would also have to be vigilant in situations where she is around other dogs. While she is fine with the ten year old human boy in her foster home, she probably should not be around younger children who might not understand how to interact with her.
Molly is actually a great little girl as long as she has her own space and her own people. Given these parameters, Molly will make a wonderful addition to the right home.