Susie 9

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Update 05/19/2016:  “Consistency is the name of the game with this love who easily wins over houseguests with her sweet face.” 

Miss Gracie took a recent trip to the vet where her shots were all updated.  Her on-again, off-again itching continues to puzzle the doctor who said it might be caused by a nervous condition.  He saw nothing wrong with her skin.

This young lady has made much progress in having appropriate reactions to guests.  When her foster mom follows the gate/wonderful snack guidelines suggested by the MAESSR trainers, Gracie quickly becomes comfortable with guests.  Consistency is the name of the game with this love who easily wins over houseguests with her sweet face. 

Gracie is doing better on outings also.  She doesn’t bark at strangers when she’s on a walk or out with her foster mom to the park or ball games.  

The birds, the bees, the flowers, the trees…and Gracie.  What a wonderful world it is in the spring!!

Update 04/14/2016:  “Her foster family is trying to make visits from people as positive for her as possible.”

Gracie, as Susie is known to her foster family, is doing very well.   She is still somewhat anxious when strangers come to the door but has improved tremendously.  Her folks are following suggestions from the MAESSR’s volunteer trainers and see quite an improvement.    While she used to take a very long time to stop barking at and backing away from guests, she now goes up to them and sniffs after just a few minutes.  She has even started licking a new person within a few minutes of meeting him.  Her barking does initially scare people but once she calms down they realize she is a sweetie.    Her foster family is trying to make visits from people as positive for her as possible.

Gracie’s leash walking skills have also improved since her foster mom started using a harness; that’s easier on her throat area also!!

The cause of this lovely young lady’s itchy skin remains a mystery.  The itchiness has disappeared, helped perhaps by shampooing (everybody loves an at-home spa treatment) or perhaps by a change of food.

The world in the springtime is becoming a happy place for Gracie as she learns to enjoy her walks, her people and her visitors.  Now is the time to be “out and about” and for Miss G to enjoy a happy life.Update 03/11/2016:  “When the visitor arrived, that person was invited to sit down and not look at or talk to Gracie.  This gave Gracie the opportunity to go to them when she was ready. “

As is the case with many “teenage” Springers, Miss Gracie continues to be a work in progress…and she’s making nice progress!  Being a puller, she does make her foster mom work fairly hard during the beginnings of leashed walks but Gracie calms down after minutes into her outings.  With growing maturity and more experience on a leash, she’ll get this down pat.

A call to one of MAESSR’s volunteer trainers gave Gracie’s foster mom a tip regarding another issue, that being with the people coming to the door at Gracie’s home.  Gracie would bark and back up, her hair would stand up, and, overall, she appeared to be very stressed.  The trainer suggested that Gracie’s family put her behind a gate and give her a really good treat when someone was coming.  When the visitor arrived, that person was invited to sit down and not look at or talk to Gracie.  This gave Gracie the opportunity to go to them when she was ready.   In only a short time, this seems to be working very well…good girl, Gracie!

With settling, Gracie was becoming a much calmer pup when her foster mom left the house.  Their routine changed temporarily, though, when her foster mom fell ill; Miss G quickly got used to her being around for a week straight, and, when her foster mom returned to work, Gracie cried for a whole day! 

Also bothering Gracie is an intermittent itch.  Early on it seemed to stop but has returned, so this time her vet will have a look to see what may be going on.  In the meantime, she’ll continue to advance her walking skills and her “meet and greet” manners.  She’s precious and growing into her potential with each passing day!

Update 02/02/2016:  “This is just a gal with a lot of puppy energy who’s as sweet and as smart as can be.”

Puppy, puppy, puppy!  Little Susie, renamed Gracie upon adoption, is still a pup at heart and just has not learned to settle down.  Her adoptive family absolutely loved her and was reluctant to turn her back to MAESSR but realized that another family might be able to give her the training and exercise she craves.

Gracie is a well-mannered dog but does bark and grumble at strangers when they enter the house.  She backs away from them as if she is scared and takes a few minutes to calm down.  On her walks, she does not bark or grumble at people but is still very cautious of them.  She does not mind having her paws touched and accepts being approached while she is eating.

This young lady knows “sit,” “no,” “drop it,” “come here,” “out,” and “walk.”  She is learning “don’t pull” when walking and is doing much better.  She is very smart, picks up quickly and will learn and benefit from the obedience classes that MAESSR requires.   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 one year old and younger to enroll their puppy in obedience classes within 60 days of adoption.

Gracie loves other dogs and also loves to play, especially with balls and squeaky toys.  She bumped into a dog while walking and the two of them just wanted to play with each other.  She runs around the back yard and lets her foster mom chase her.  

As mentioned, Gracie is still a puppy at heart and can display a wild side outside…a typical Springer pup.  At her age she’s a typically clumsy girl and her excitement can get her into trouble, sometimes falling down or getting tangled up in something when excited; outside Christmas lights were a challenge for her this year.   But, so far, she hasn’t attempted to jump the fence in her foster home.  Good girl, Gracie.  This is just a gal with a lot of puppy energy who’s as sweet and as smart as can be.

Gracie’s in tiptop shape but will visit her vet for help with some itching.  Then, this beautiful lass is going to need a forever family that is as lively as she is and one who is willing to devote the time and energy to training so she will enjoy her play time, her cuddle time and will be the best little Springer that she can be.

Original:   “Despite her young age, someone had taught this little girl a few things about how to behave.”Susie traveled many miles to become a MAESSR girl.  Her odyssey began in Tennessee where she was found as a stray and taken to a high kill shelter.  Brittany Rescue initially pulled her; however, they contacted MAESSR since she seemed more Springer than Brittany.  And so, this sweet girl came north on transport to be fostered, arriving on a big truck with a sticky note on her crate saying “nervous.”  Because of the note, her foster mom was initially wondering how things would go.  But the moment Susie stepped down the ramp, she went into an “I want to meet and greet everyone” mode, easing up alongside another family waiting for their rescue dog.  Susie immediately greeted their three small children, sitting on the middle child’s feet and moving her head towards the child’s hand for petting.  Once given a quick walk to shake out the cobwebs from her twelve hour road trip, Susie tethered quietly in the back of the car, moving to the edge of her leash to put her soft head on her new foster mom’s shoulder for the hour drive home.  

After relieving herself quickly in the fenced back yard of her foster home, she got to meet the resident dogs.  Ten minutes later, she and the young sighthound were having a ball playing chase around the yard.  The two older resident dogs gave her appropriate warnings about how little they felt like playing games, and she quickly learned how much she could press them, mainly just playing bump as she went by.

Despite her young age, someone had taught this little girl a few things about how to behave.  Susie greets without jumping up, crates quietly, stays off of the furniture, and is learning that the leash is how she gets to have more adventures.  This little gal hasn’t done any counter-surfing or trash diving, but if the tall resident dog removes things from the sink, Susie’s glad to play with them.   She is mostly housetrained, but since she drinks a lot after playing and doesn’t have a going out signal yet, her foster parents need to be especially attentive if she stands by the back door.   Her foster mom works from the home and during the work day, Susie and the resident young dog take turns being crated, mostly to keep the distraction level of playing pups down.  At night she sleeps in a crate near the kitchen table.  During the day, if crated out of sight of the humans, she’ll whimper a bit if she hears someone moving about, but since she’s fairly trustworthy, she mostly is just crated if the humans are going out.  

Little Susie shows no aggression at all but she still has lots of pep.  She loves to play keep-away with toys, tug-of-war with other dogs, and to have quiet running jousts with her young foster sister. Independent and not overly needy, Susie has a very pleasant temperament with her eyes always smiling and her tail always wagging.  Although not a barker, Susie “talks” quietly about things in her crate sometimes, breathing a heavy sigh or making “that other dog is playing without me” noises.  She has the “come” command down pat but will need additional 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. Sweet Susie will be an excellent student since she is smart and wants to please.  Her foster mom reports that it took her five minutes to learn “sit” and “give paw” would be an easy trick because she does it when trying to get some attention in the morning!

Susie likes stuffed toys…especially if they squeak…and sticks for chewing.  Otherwise, she hasn’t chewed anything inappropriate.  She’s mellow indoors and loves car rides.  Susie is one of those dogs who thinks that brushing, checking her ears, and touching her feet are just grand, more attention to be had!  She clearly doesn’t have any problems with eating, gulping down food quickly but it can be removed with a quizzical look as if asking, “Are you trying to starve me?”  She’s feed in her crate mainly to allow the others to eat at a more leisurely pace.   

An ideal forever home for Susie would be one where her folks would give her a chance to use her intelligence to learn and grow into a well-socialized, well-behaved, well-loved adult dog.  She would also enjoy a companion dog for play or at least an active person to give her a mission in life.  She’d show her appreciation for kind words and loving by leaning into her people with a big grin!  How about bringing Susie into your life?