Entered: 12/21/2014
Status: Adopted
Age: 10
Color: Liver/White
Weight: 43 lbs.
Gender: Altered Female
Location: Glen Burnie, MD
Health: UTD, HW-, needs her anal gland expressed regularly, overall good health
Temperament: Good with adults and older children, good with other dogs, unknown with cats
Original: “While her foster family was told Penny didn’t like toys, they have found that she LOVES them!”
Maryland girl Penny has had some bad luck, lately. When her owner went into the hospital, Penny was boarded at a kennel. Weeks turned to four months. Unfortunately, her owner will not be leaving the hospital and she wanted Penny to have a good rest of her life. So, Penny was relinquished to MAESSR.
After being kenneled for so long, Penny has some resource guarding issues, but she is getting better daily in her foster home. Now that she sees that everyone gets fed, everyone has a bed, and everyone has access to toys, she is relaxing a bit and has no need to guard her things. As a precaution, she is fed in a separate room, Although she has been around the foster family’s three year old nephew, her foster mom thinks she may be best as a single dog with a family with older children
Housetrained, Penny walks around and whines when she needs to go outside. She has not had a single accident since arriving in foster care. Penny enjoys sleeping in in the morning and doesn’t always want to go out at 6 in the morning when the rest of the family gets up. She sleeps soundly on a dog bed in the master bedroom dreaming of squirrels and rabbits. When her family is gone from the house, Penny and the resident dogs have free run of the house and she has been totally trustworthy. Since she was in a kennel for so long, her foster parents assume she is crate trained, but they have never crated her. Her safe place is where her bed is.
With good manners, Penny does not chew inappropriately nor does she counter-surf or get into the trash. Dogs aren’t allowed on the furniture in her foster home and she only tried to get up on the couch once. When told “no,” she got down and hasn’t tried again. Good girl, Penny!
As for commands, Penny knows how to “sit” and she responds to her name. She comes when she’s called unless there’s a distractor like another dog or squirrel around. She walks well on the leash but will pull if there’s another dog she wants to meet. Penny is awesome as a car rider, but she wants to sit in the front or back seat, not in the very back of the SUV.
While her foster family was told Penny didn’t like toys, they have found that she LOVES them! Penny loves to play with people, too, but playing with other dogs has been a challenge because of her resource guarding. This is getting better but her play person needs to make sure there are ample toys around because sharing isn’t her strong suit. Her favorite toy is a stuffed dragon that squeaks and when rummaging in the toy box, she selects soft toys every time. She is very vocal in her play, which can be startling at first, but as she is play growling, her tail is waging a mile a minute so one can tell she isn’t angry. For being 10 years old, her energy level is pretty high. She covets her walks and she is allowed to run free in an enclosed field. This makes her as happy as a clam. She has a good sleep after all of this exercise, though!
The vet said Penny was amazing! She is so sweet and let everyone do what they needed to do. Her only health concern is that her anal glands don’t always express by themselves which can lead to abscesses. This can be easily managed with a better diet and by getting them checked by the vet or groomer. Her foster mom cleaned her ears and she had no qualms about it. All around Penny is a VERY sweet and loving dog.
Penny’s foster mom thinks she would be best with an older couple, or a family with kids no younger than 10. She would love to have a yard to play and run in. Penny will make an awesome pet for whoever scoops this lovely lady up.