Entered: 04/13/2015
Status: Adopted
Age: 6 months
Color: Liver/White/Tan
Weight: 28 lbs.
Gender: Altered Female
Location: Goochland, VA
Health: UTD, HW-, treatment for an ear infection complete
Temperament: Good with people as young as six (younger unknown), good with other dogs, unknown with cats
Original: “A very smart little girl, Snickers is going to need a forever home committed to doing a lot of training with her and playing with her.”
Snickers needed a new home since she liked everyone in her Pennsylvania family except for the mom for some unknown reason. This Springer pup resource guarded the husband and would not let the wife get near him. If the wife approached her spouse, Snickers would growl and snap but would not bite. Ironically, the wife worked from home and Snickers would be fine spending the whole day with her. For household harmony to reign, the couple thought it best for Snickers to be re-homed through MAESSR.
Housetrained and crate trained, Snickers has full freedom in the home with just the bedroom and bathroom doors closed when her foster parents are not home. She won’t chew on anything when her foster family is gone, but she does like to move objects around. She seems to understand what is acceptable to chew on now so coffee table legs are safe now. Curious about what is up on the counters, Snickers is learning that counter-surfing is not allowed in her foster home. Although generally not much of a barker, Snickers will bark at brooms and vacuum cleaners and when she is left outside.
In her original home, she was good with the nine year old twins, enjoying rough play time with them. Snickers is very friendly with other dogs and is generally submissive towards them. She is delighted with the multiple resident and foster dogs in her foster home, enjoying running and playing those inclined to join her. Chase and tug-of-war are two of her favorite games! Snickers doesn’t quite get the idea of fetch yet; she will chase after a Frisbee or ball but won’t always bring it back. She likes to chase the birds outside in her fenced yard but pays no heed to the rabbits and squirrels. No fence jumping has been attempted although Snickers is an athletic puppy who likes to jump. In her original home, Snickers would help with the gardening by digging in the flower beds and yard, but that phase seems to have passed.
Snickers does not beg for food but when feeding time would near in her original home, she would bring her bowl to the owner to be fed. She does not resource guard food or toys (just the husband with the wife in her first home.) The only thing Snickers does not like about being groomed is having her nails clipped; she will gnaw lightly on the groomer’s hands when this is being done but does not bite.
Earlier, Snickers had gone to puppy kindergarten for socialization and does know “sit” and “down.” She will not “come” unless she’s ready to and does not “stay.” Polite leash walking is still a work in progress as Snickers does pull when walked. When greeting people, she does jump up. Snickers does ride well in the car, however. Please note that MAESSR will be requiring two sets of obedience classes for her within six months of adoption. Besides improving her training, this will help with her bonding to her new family.