Zelda 2

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Updated 7/27/05:

The road to Zelda’s forever home has had a few bumps and detours, but her foster mom thinks she’s ready to complete her journey. Zelda’s odyssey began with routine blood work prior to dental work. Her tests showed slightly elevated kidney values and a urinary tract infection (UTI). Zelda was treated with antibiotics and her dental cleaning was completed. Unfortunately, Zelda had a very infected molar that was pulled. The vet thought that there was a good possibility that her kidney problems and UTI resulted from the badly abscessed tooth. We continued her antibiotics for a few weeks, but her kidney values are still slightly elevated. Of course, Zelda continues to act as if there is absolutely nothing wrong. This little girl loves life!

Zelda’s foster mom consulted with the vet regarding Zelda’s future. The vet indicated that while her kidney values are not within the normal range, they are only slightly elevated and do not impact her quality of life. No need to tell Zelda as she clearly has gotten that message! Zelda’s forever home will need to maintain her on a healthy diet and monitor her kidney levels, but overall she is in good health. And, after a recent trip to the groomers, she is an absolutely beautiful girl. Her coat is a rich, dark, shiny brown. She just loves to be told how beautiful she is.

Can you find a place in your heart and home for this beautiful girl?

Updated 6/15/05:

Zelda’s detour on the road to her forever home has been extended a bit. Unfortunately, Zelda’s urinary tract infection (UTI) did not clear up with the first round of antibiotics. She is currently on a stronger antibiotic and her teeth cleaning was delayed for a few weeks. Zelda will have follow-up lab work shortly and her foster mom is hoping for the “all clear” this time.

According to her foster mom, Zelda certainly doesn’t act like she’s ailing. She continues to do well in her foster home. In fact, she has gotten quite comfortable with her surroundings and has decided to challenge her foster springer siblings to move higher in the pack order. She has succeeded in bumping the resident female to the bottom, but she has not managed to move the resident male out of his alpha spot. Zelda has not resorted to force to move up in position, just a few grumbles and hard stares did the trick. The resident female springer is definitely a pushover!

Let’s keep fingers crossed that Zelda’s minor health issues are resolved shortly and she will continue on the road to her forever home.

Updated 5/17/05:

Zelda continues to do very well in her foster home. She has excellent house manners and gets along very well with her springer foster brother and sister. Her personality continues to unfold. She loves to be with her people. She will follow her foster mom around the house and settle in quietly and wait for the next move. But, she shouldn’t be mistaken for a loafer; she loves to get out for walks and romps with her foster mom and foster siblings. She performs a little happy dance whenever she sees her leash.

Unfortunately, there has been just a slight detour on the road to her forever home. Following the veterinarian’s recommendation, MAESSR decided to get Zelda’s teeth cleaned before she is adopted. Zelda’s pre-dental blood work and urinalysis showed that she had a urinary tract infection (UTI), so she was put on antibiotics for 14 days. She has completed her antibiotics and is scheduled for follow-up lab work. If all is clear, she will have her teeth cleaned on May 27, and should be ready to go to her forever home shortly after.

Original:

Zelda’s life has been a bit unstable over the past year. She was adopted from a shelter in Virginia in July 2004, and now, her new owners have relinquished her to MAESSR because they are building a new house and couldn’t make arrangements for a satisfactory place for her to stay while construction takes place. Like so many springers though, she seems to have taken everything in stride and is a truly sweet girl.

Due to travel and scheduling issues, Zelda has been in two foster homes in the past two weeks and has been a perfect guest at both. She has gotten along well with the resident springers in both homes. She loves human attention and will grumble just a little if one of the resident springers horns in, but it’s nothing serious. She is reported to be good with children as young as 20 months, other dogs, and cats. After she settles down from a little happy dance when she sees her leash, Zelda walks very nicely on the leash and seems to have a grasp of basic commands. However, she would probably benefit from an obedience class and she would love the attention that goes with it.

Zelda has excellent house manners. She is housetrained and has not had any accidents in the house. She mastered the dog door at her current foster home in one day. She is not crate trained and has had run of the house for up to 10 hours with no issues. She would love to get on the furniture and the bed, but when told “no”, she is content to lounge on the floor by one’s feet. She currently sleeps on a dog bed next to her foster mom’s bed. She is so quiet that one hardly knows she is there. Zelda shows no food aggression with people, but she will give a very quiet growl when the resident male offers to help her finish her meal. It is not aggressive. She seems to be saying, “Hey buddy, just because you gobbled your meal like a little piggy doesn’t mean that I’m going to let you share mine.”

Upon arrival at her second foster home, Zelda made a trip to the groomers and was reported to be a wonderful client. Her wavy coat is shiny and beautiful and she has a sweet face that can make anyone smile. The groomers all loved her and predicted that she will be snapped up very quickly and make a wonderful addition to any family. Her foster moms are in complete agreement. Will you let Zelda work her magic on you?