Entered: 09/06/2014
Status: Adopted
Age: 3
Color: Liver/White
Weight: 50 lbs.
Gender: Altered Female
Location: Goochland, VA
Health: UTD, HW-, benefiting from an inexpensive supplement to acidify her urine which is a lifetime requirement; treatments for UTI, kennel cough, and worming complete
Temperament: Good with adults, reportedly not good with young children, good with other dogs, good with cats
Update 03/15/2015: “If you have been waiting patiently for that special pup, Piper is NOW ready for a family of her own!”
Piper has spent her extended time in foster care being loved on and learning that the world is not such a scary place. She has made great strides! She spent extended time in a couple of different homes to help her expand her horizons and it has worked wonders. This little girl now has much more confidence and faces most scary things…such as new people and new situations…by allowing them to happen instead of running away from them.
Piper does not like strangers reaching for her head. While she is much better with this, it still scares her. If new people wait and allow her to come to them, she willingly investigates them in about 60 seconds; then she just wants to be petted. Piper just needs a little time to adjust to a new situation.
Problems with accidents in the house have gone away. Once Piper’s urinary tract infection cleared, tests showed that crystals still remained in her urine. She began an inexpensive supplement that acidifies her urine and this has made a big difference. She will need to continue on the supplement for the rest of her life.
Piper’s adoptive family will need to understand that she does not like to go outside by herself. Her foster mom believes that Piper thinks she will be left outside. This means that her new family must always be willing to go outside with her for potty breaks. This could change once she settles into her new home but, perhaps not, so this must be a consideration for potential adopters.
Piper’s foster families have worked patiently with her, helping her to feel better physically as well as emotionally more confident. If you have been waiting patiently for that special pup, Piper is NOW ready for a family of her own!
Original: “An extremely shy, quiet, loving little lady, Piper often sits beside her foster mom with her head in her lap just watching her. There is such trust and hope in her beautiful eyes!”
When her owners’ grandchildren were pestering Piper and getting “in her face,” Piper snapped at them in warning but did not bite. Rather than admonishing the children for their bad behavior and teaching them how to interact properly with a dog, Piper’s owners relinquished her to a local Virginia shelter. The shelter staff said she was terrified and needed to get her out ASAP. That’s when MAESSR came to Piper’s rescue.
Piper continues to be frightened by new things. When a violent thunderstorm blew through, she was terrified and her whole body was trembling. Living with a dominant, jealous resident ESS, Piper tries to make herself seem invisible to him. They had gotten into a nasty spat over a bone when she first arrived. Now, he is showing his dominance and she is intimidated by him. In contrast, Piper gets along well with the little resident poodle and the family’s cat.
An extremely shy, quiet, loving little lady, Piper often sits beside her foster mom with her head in her lap just watching her. There is such trust and hope in her beautiful eyes! Piper is very quiet in the house. She has her own crate where the door stays open. Sometimes, she just goes in and lies down quietly. Other times, she seem to prefer the resident Springer’s crate.
Piper is a very good girl at home and does not counter-surf, get into the trash, or chew inappropriately. She eats her food well and is well-behaved. If invited up by her foster mom, Piper gets on the furniture to sit with her if the resident Springer is not around. Now, she plays ball outside a little when the resident male and her foster mom go out. At first she was so intimidated by him that she did not participate at all, but she is slowly coming around. Right now she sleeps in a dog bed beside her foster mom’s bed. She longs to jump up on the bed but again is afraid that the resident Springer will go after her. She likes her new dog bed and she sleeps there or sometimes gets up and goes to her crate.
Housetraining is the only thing that still is an issue with Piper. She goes to the back door, but does nothing more to indicate she needs to go out, no whimpering or scratching at the door. Her foster mom also has a bell hanging on the door that the resident dogs use to let her know that they need to go out. Piper has not learned this signaling method yet. So, if her foster mom does not actually see her at the door, Piper will urinate in the house. She does drink a lot of water which may be a result of her UTI or nervousness or fear of making any noise—her foster mom is not sure. Piper will return to the vet for a recheck soon and this will be discussed. By 6 p.m. the water bowl is removed from the floor so that Piper will not urinate in the house at night. When her foster mom is not at home, all of the dogs are crated. If she cannot hold it, Piper will urinate in the crate.
When she came into foster care, Piper was recovering from a case of kennel cough and she had a UTI. The vet put her on a course of antibiotics for the UTI and she is also on the second round of worm meds. Once that treatment is complete, she will be taken back to the vet to see if both problems have cleared up.
Piper attended the last MAESSR picnic of the season and rode well to and from this big event. She was leashed at the picnic and she does tend to pull– something her foster mom is now working to correct. Because of Piper’s shyness and insecurities, her foster mom has not worked with her on obedience training yet.
All in all, this sweet, mild-mannered girl just wants to be loved. A quiet home with no young children and no intimidating, dominant dogs would suit her best. She will stay right by her people’s side.
Watch for more on Piper as she regains her health and confidence!