Princess

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Update 07/09/12:

A young MAESSR dog known as Princess was adopted 9 years ago and renamed Skylar. After many years with her family, Skylar was returned to MAESSR through no fault of her own. With two young children, her family determined that they no longer could provide her with the time that this sweet girl deserves.

As a 10-year-old, Skylar is a calm, sweet lady with excellent manners. When she met her foster mother, she climbed right into the car and gave her kisses! When meeting new people, Skylar wiggles up to them and sits nicely at their feet until they pet her. This sweet girl craves affection; in fact, she’ll offer up her belly for a rub on first acquaintance! Skylar is a typical Velcro Springer who will follow her people everywhere. To show her excitement, she gives the softest woo woo woo.

Perfectly housetrained, Skylar will use the dog door to go outside, but prefers someone to accompany her out there. Unruffled by the sound of fire crackers set off by neighbors during holiday celebrations, Skylar merely cocked her head and then set about her business in the yard, completely undisturbed by the noise. During the day, Skylar sleeps on a dog bed in the living room to be near her foster mother. She sleeps, sometimes with a gentle snore, on a dog bed in the master bedroom at night. 

Skylar does not get up on the furniture (when someone is home), beg, counter-surf, or trash-pick. When her foster mother dropped a piece of steak on the floor, Skylar showed amazing restraint by looking at it without snatching it up. As a reward for such WONDERFUL manners, her foster mother put the steak in her bowl. There is no leash-pulling from this good girl. While she loves to follow her nose and roam off to the side while on a walk, simply shortening the lead guides her to heel perfectly. Skylar loves to ride in the car. She curls up on the seat, popping her head up when the car slows down or turns. 

When receiving her first bath, Skylar was the perfect lady. Her foster mother stood in the bathtub, called her name, and Skylar climbed right in! She stood patiently throughout the entire bath, and didn’t try to jump out until her foster mother gave her the OK. What a good girl!

Now, her foster mother thinks Skylar’s the perfect lady, but she has to admit there are two small things you should know. First, Skylar takes the stairs with a speed and agility that, frankly, her foster mother envies. Someone who is not used to sharing the stairs with a dog could be taken by surprise. Secondly, Skylar’s foster mother came home from running errands to find Skylar napping on the sofa. A total lady, Skylar immediately got off the sofa, and has stayed off without any prompting. She knows the no furniture rule, but clearly she will take advantage of an extended absence!

Her first vet visit went well. She was calm and patient during the exam, but she did not like having blood drawn! She yelped and pulled away, but that was the full extent of her protest. Skylar currently has an eye infection, and she may need some work done on her teeth. Once her infection clears up, she will receive a closer look at her dental needs. She has dry skin, so her foster mother has started her on a fish oil supplement. Skylar takes her medicine in a small piece of cheese with a gentle, soft mouth. Because Skylar was no longer receiving the attention she craved in her former home, she had been put on an anxiety medication. It is felt that she is not anxious, and therefore does not need the medication, so she is in the process of being weaned from it. 

Skylar desperately wants to catch the squirrel that lives in her front yard. She’s also very interested in the cat that lives next door and became quite excited, even wiggling for the cat. Unfortunately, her excitement level was too high for the kitty, which would have nothing to do with her. Skylar’s foster mother feels that she would likely chase cats, and therefore would do best in a feline-free environment.

Skylar is a perfect example of a wonderful, seasoned Springer with impeccable manners and so much love to give a family. If you are looking for a calm, affectionate girl who will follow you anywhere, Skylar is the girl for you!

Update 5/25/03:A family that is very excited to have Princess, has adopted her.

Update 4/30/03:Princess is doing just great here. However, she has let it be known that she is, in fact, food aggressive and will protect her bowl. If I am watching and see her getting anxious and say “Princess, be good” in a very matter of fact tone she will just continue eating. I now feed her separately from the other dogs which she prefers because if they are in the same room she has a hard time concentrating on eating and watching to make sure they don’t come near her bowl. I have been able to take anything I want from her and I have tested her by picking up her bowl and moving it mid meal and she just wags her tail and then will sit nicely until I give it back. She also waits patiently while I fill the other dog bowls knowing which one is hers and that she gets hers last. She doesn’t go after their bowls unless they leave them unattended. Then, she might go in for a little nibble. She plays well with the other dogs though and will share her bones and toys with them and doesn’t care if they “steal” those or win them in a game of tug though. She will take her toys right up to their noses to entice them to play. She loves to be with other dogs and loves to play chase and race around the yard. She loves diving in the grass and wrestling with the other dogs too. She should be monitored when going down stairs though because in her excitement she sometimes will miss a step or two and could get hurt herself. She also leaps over baby gates as if they are not there. She would definitely counter-surf, trash pick, and will chew too if left unattended. She will also steal food right off your plate with you sitting right there! Yes, she did this to me, but when I said, “NO!” she dropped the coveted sandwich immediately. No fear of punishment with this girl, she has clearly been allowed to do whatever she wants! 

Princess sleeps in her crate in the bedroom every night and is crated in the family area with the other dogs during the day. She is very quiet day and night until I come home to let her out; then, she’ll give a little “hurry up, I have lots of playing to do” bark.

She will be spayed on May 6th and will be good to go to her forever home afterwards.

Original:Princess Mandy as her papers say has had many homes in her short one year of life. Fortunately for her, she is very adaptable, very welcoming and friendly and so super sweet you can’t help but love her. Princess has her AKC registration papers and is up to do date on her shots. Her previous owner was not allowed to have a puppy in her apartment and had to take her to the humane society. She then found a family to take Princess and went back for her. That family had 8 kids and a big dairy farm to work and didn’t have time for Princess so another man came to her rescue. He took Princess home with him; then the owner came back and took her for a week and got in trouble again. Finally she called to say she would bring Princess back to him. He finally got the owner to sign release forms for Princess so that he could get her to the vet and up to date on shots and turned her over to rescue. You can tell that she has been loved, but a little neglected in all these moves. She is too skinny. She has worms which could be partially to blame. She gets rice and dry food and is currently being fed three meals a day to get her to a more healthy weight. She eats her food right down and though she was reported to be food possessive to the man who rescued her. She has not demonstrated this at her foster home and, in fact, sort of watched a little bewildered when one of the resident dogs stuck his nose in her bowl for a bit of rice himself!

Princess wanted to be the alpha when she got here, but quickly realized the resident male was not going to have it. By day two she was taking correction from both the resident female and male with no squabble. She does have one funny quirk. If there is another dog around her when I pick her up, she will snap at them. I’m not sure if it’s because she feels vulnerable or because she is not spayed, but she’ll do it every time. I have worked around this by having the other dogs go away when I pick her up, and will be working with her to desensitize. If I’m sitting and holding her she is fine. Like I said, it’s a quirk! She is an enthusiastic wrestler and anytime she is pinned by the resident male, her little tail still goes like crazy. She just loves it! She likes to wrestle with people too I’m told; however she is still puppy mouthy so I will not let her do that with me. She needs to learn that people are not dogs and you can’t play with them like you do dogs. She likes to play tug of war, but doesn’t like that she can’t beat the resident female (little does she know, bigger dogs than she have tried to no avail). She quickly finds another toy though and loves the subsequent game of chase. 

Princess will likely make a great agility dog. She is very athletic and very speedy. She just needs training! She knows sit, and no, but actually responds better to your tone than anything else. This is probably due to all of the previous owners using different words with her. As smart as she is though she has come to learn that when she’s naughty, everyone uses the same tone! While playing outside she will constantly check back for a pat of reassurance. Although she doesn’t know come, if you take one step in the opposite direction she will sprint to catch up so as not to be left behind.

She loves lambskin toys and bones. She came with her own crate, but I think it’s a little too small for her. She apparently doesn’t think so because she’ll only truly settle down in that one, not the bigger one I prepared for her. We’ll keep trying.

Princess should not be placed with small children. She is a rambunctious, energetic girl who could knock over small children. She will need to go to obedience school as well. She would be great with children mature enough to know how to correct her properly and those that she couldn’t unintentionally hurt with her exuberance and love. She will also be spayed before being placed.

Do you have the time and dedication to teach this outgoing, happy girl some proper manners and how to channel that energy? She promises a permanent smile, unwavering loyalty and affection in return.