Entered: 06/15/2014
Status: Adopted
Age: 5 Months
Color: Liver/White Spanish Water Dog
Weight: 18 lbs.
Gender: Altered Female
Location: Mechanicsville, VA
Health: UTD, HW-, healthy puppy
Temperament: Good with people as young as 4, good with other dogs, good with cats
Original: “She occupies her time inside by taking her tennis ball and then pushing it off of the couch to retrieve.”
A Spanish Water Dog, Sansa came to MAESSR as a result of a kennel closing in Maryland. SWDs are a rare breed in the US and are medium-sized, multipurpose dogs often used for herding sheep, cattle, and goats or as fishermen’s helpers in their native country. These particular dogs are normally not brushed; instead, their corded coats are clipped once or twice a year.
A bouncy, fun girl, Sansa has lots of love to give. She gets along well with other dogs once she gets over the initial meet and greet. She tends to be standoffish at first but will eventually warm up. Sansa is good with cats although she currently does not live with any. She is wonderful with the two children in her foster home, aged 4 and 8. Becoming comfortable with meeting new people is a work in progress and she will require a good amount of additional socialization. She is not overjoyed to be at the vet but she does fine and will let the vet/vet techs do examinations.
Sansa loves toys of any kind! She occupies her time inside by taking her tennis ball and then pushing it off of the couch to retrieve. Smart girl! With little effort, she learns quickly and has mastered “sit,” “come,” and “wait,” along with “up” to jump in her foster mom’s arms. Leash walks are a work in progress. Sansa will tolerate being leash walked but she is still working on where she needs to be; as her foster mom says, “Sansa is mindless on a leash and prefers to be off leash.” She’s still a puppy and will learn with time and training.
Please note that MAESSR only places puppies in homes that are committed to training and bonding with the pup in obedience classes. Puppies require a lot of care, attention, and patience, and they do chew on things! The decision to get a puppy and raise it to be a healthy, happy, and well-adjusted dog is a serious commitment. To reinforce this commitment, MAESSR requires all adopters of dogs under 1 year old to enroll their puppy in obedience classes within 60 days of adoption. Sansa will be a star pupil.
Crate trained and about 90% housetrained, Sansa is busy learning what is expected of her as a good house dog. She is tempted to counter-surf but is being taught that good puppies don’t take things from the counter or table. Sansa doesn’t bother with the trash, though. When her foster parents are not at home, Sansa is crated in the living room. At night she sleeps in her living room crate or in her foster parents’ bed. Sansa is beginning to signal her need to go out by sitting at the door. Good girl!
Sansa would make a great addition to any family that is willing to put in the time in socializing, training, and exercising this busy girl.