Sprite

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Updated 12/28/05:

Sprite enjoyed his Christmas very much.  He traveled to New Jersey with his foster family and enjoyed the ride.  Since the resident dogs remained at home, Sprite spent a few days as an “only” dog and did quite well.  His foster dad had a chance to take him to a local dog park, and boy, did he have fun!  Sprite has a ton of energy and enjoyed playing tag with all the dogs who were willing to chase him.  With his energy level, Sprite will need an active family to serve as an outlet, especially if there are no other dogs around to play with.

As with so many other springers, his foster dad has noticed that Sprite loves to pick up things in his mouth, so he does need to be watched to make sure they are good for him!!  He is one of the most fun-loving foster dogs his foster dad has had. Every minute of every day is pure enjoyment for this loving guy.  The family who settles on Sprite will be lucky, indeed!!!

Original: Sprite was picked up as a stray by a shelter in western Pennsylvania. He was given to MAESSR after two weeks of effort failed to place him in the area. That no one decided to adopt this sweet boy locally means that an eagerly awaiting family on MAESSR’s list will have an opportunity to add a great family member.

Sprite is a small, field bred boy and estimated to be one year old. He weighs around 31 pounds and can be expected to put on some weight as he matures in his second year. His head is almost completely black, and while his tail is docked, it is a bit longer than usual. When he is happy, he wiggles his whole butt and the tail goes a mile a minute!!

At his foster home, Sprite lives with three other dogs and is very friendly with them all. He loves to wrestle with them but is also more than willing to run sprints in the backyard to entertain himself. He shares his toys well with the other dogs and loves to play tug of war whenever possible.

Sprite had one accident on the first night in his foster home but has shown he is reliably housetrained since then. He will even go to the back door to let you know he needs to go out. He is very good around his food bowl and shows no signs of aggression, but he will travel from food bowl to food bowl to sample everyone else’s dinner if allowed.

Soft places to share with his people are attractive to Sprite. He likes to jump on the furniture and really wants to sleep on the bed at night. As endearing as this may be, his foster family is trying to share a sense of good manners with him. He will countersurf but will get down when he hears, “No.” Sprite is crate trained and spends his time there during the day when his foster family works. He does well for up to 5 hours at a time. He will bark at some things but is not excessive about it.

Since Sprite was a stray and has an unknown background, his foster dad would recommend that if his adopting home has children, they be 10 years or older. Sprite is barely an adult himself. He would benefit greatly from an obedience class with his new family where he could learn more than good manners. He is a sweet boy who is nicely past the chewing/housetraining/nipping stage of true puppies. He needs a loving family to finish growing up with and will be a wonderful new companion.