It’s been a while since we’ve posted for Sara. We’ve spent the winter and spring  watching her develop her own post-puppy personality and learning her likes and dislikes as she has become a ‘real dog.’

She is really ready for a forever home, but it must be one that understands puppy mill dogs and is willing to work with her as she adjusts to a sudden environment change. She will most likely never be a super-confident, super-outgoing, personality that accepts new things with enthusiasm.  She is calm and happy, and likes routine. Her ideal home would be with a mature adult or couple that has another dog for her to bond to and model. Cat friends in the mix would be OK too, but she really needs a dog-model to watch and learn from.

She is a girl of contrasts. Here are some of her ‘accomplishments’ along with her ‘areas for improvement’:

• We took her on a road trip this fall with our other two…
  She ate and drank fine… stayed in a motel with no commotion
• She loves riding in the car, once she gets there… She has not made the word connection “goferride?” like our other two, so she wonders why we are all jumping in the car and needs to be lifted in.
• She is house-trained, but does not faithfully let you know if she needs to go out. Since I work from home, I am able to keep our crew on a regular schedule.  She knows the “wanna- go-outside?” word from her foster model and happily complies.
• Unless she is ill, she sleeps through the night with us with no potty trips needed after the 10:00 pm break.
• If we blatantly ignore her schedule cause she will go down stairs to do her job. (Downstairs we have a ‘play room’ where our fur crew resides when we have to be gone for a half day or day.)
• She has learned from her models to jump on the couch and chairs to be with her humans, and has absolutely
  

  Ben and Sara on squirrel patrol

  no hesitation pushing others for her share of petting. She is an equal opportunity suck-up with either mom or dad.

• She has learned about “treats” and food (pronounced “wantsomeFUD-food?” and is catching on to those words too.
• She knows bed-time is after the 10 pm potty, and heads to the bedroom to jump on the bed. She loves to snuggle but is not a ‘pest.’
• The bedroom and our bed is her ‘safe place’ when the grandkids show up. She is not fearful or fear-aggressive, she just prefers to avoid small ones, and we allow her own preferences on this. Likewise we expect our grandkids to honor her desire to be by herself and visit us when she wants.
• She has learned to greet us or cars coming into the driveway with a throaty bark (surprisingly macho from such a tiny little girl) and she will quiet on command.  She is not a nuisance barker when people come over.
• When strangers visit, she prefers to go to the bedroom for a while, and when she is comfortable she will come out and stroll through the room, and sometimes go over for some petting.
• She is smart and willing to do the things she wants to do. When you want her to do something she does not agree with, she sits and goes into a ‘pity me, I’m so abused’ head-ducking pose.  This is an area that beginning dog obedience classes – watching other dogs and doing in a group will solve because she is not afraid, she is testing and challenging.

She has come such a long way, and developed such a sweet, distinctive personality, she is fun to have around. However, prospective adopters should not that sometimes puppy mill dogs don’t easily forget some of the residual scars of that life –

• Yelling or banging, clanging things startle her. We assure her its OK and keep on going without make a fuss over her reaction, but I think lots of things will always be on the ‘new experience’ side for her.
• People lunging/grabbing for her scare her… imagine how she was handled in a caged life. She does not especially like being lifted, but will tolerate when she trusts you and you lift her properly with front and butt support. Absolutely no lifting by the rib cage… it either hurts or scares her and she cries.
• She does not like thunder and lightning. She shakes like a leaf and looks to her human for comfort. (Like crawling up to be by your face/breath during sleep-time storms). But she is comforted by being close to her pack people.
• For the most part she is calm and accepting, but her adoptive people should never forget that when she arrived from the mill she wanted to flee from everything and everyone. She has had to learn to be calm, adjusted, and trusting, so do not put her in a situation that you and she cannot control.

We hope when you read this you think “what a sweet girl… I think we could be the ones give her and even better life in her forever home.”  She is ready to meet that special family and be part of their pack.

Foster mom, Dianne

After the 3-day Christmas snow storm, we all needed some rest… for us it was shovel, blow snow and nap, eat watch some football, and sleep.

For the ‘kids’ it was play in the snow, and nap and sleep and eat when mom and dad did…

Here is our Ben (adoptee,Dec 07) and foster Sara (lil’ bit) watching some football. As you can see, old Dad is Ben’s favorite sleeping pillow. And Sara models all the fun behavior she sees, so now she knows how to use humans for pillows too!

After being the best and most fabulous mom to 4 beautiful baby schnauzers, Sara came back to Bob and Dianne’s to relax and learn yet more about the good life… one that is not in a puppy mill!

To all who have followed her progress, it has been amazing… from a terrified little dog who would flee if anything moved or a leaf blew by to a happy little dog. She is 98% house-trained… She has not had one accident here, following our regular schedule. However, we do not leave any of our dogs unsupervised in the house, so that is the 98% measure. Supervision and her own place. If we have to leave for an extended period, a pee-pad in the doggie room lets her do her job in a specific place.

Sara has developed her own personality… deciding what she likes and what she doesn’t. She has no trouble weaseling in on her fur-fosters for attention and petting. And she loves when I talk ‘silly talk’ to them all…tail and butt wagging away.

On her list of favorite things – bed-time at night. You should see her jump on our thick mattress bed. Then its cuddle and nibble time… nibble fingers, push her way right up to mom or dad, and snuggle up…
Food is also a good thing…. she is doing excellently on her chicken-rice dog food, BUT she knows all about begging for people food. A quick study from her fosters! Also big on her list is this big hunk of a pointer named Mort who lives outside. Man he is handsome, and so much more fun than the foster schnauzers here… they are quite tiresome actually, and are only good for pushing past when she wants attention or a treat! She does like to follow them outside and brother-Ben has shown her where the stripy-gophers live in the wood stack next to the garage… what excitement.

This might be TMI (too much information?) but unless mom and dad keep the bathroom door shut, that is the second most favorite visiting place for attention… do you think she knows she has a ‘captive audience?’

On the list of dislikes, is being picked up… probably because she was always grabbed by a leg or scruff, or around the chest to be hauled out of cages. We are working on that, and she is learning that sometimes a lift is a good thing. She is also at the ‘challenge’ phase of puppyhood where if they do not want to go to the dog room or outside if it is raining, they refuse. Sara either runs a path to the bedroom or crouches in a hunch, like she may have been abused in the puppy mill. We are working her through that with a leash and to have her come when called or come along when its time to do something she doesn’t want to.

Those two things will be part of her ‘continuing education’ here and at her forever home….

Here are pictures of Sweet Sara – enjoying the bed (she’s the small one in back) and being outside with the crew.