COOKIE 5/23/04
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Pictures
Cookie's Foster Journey - Adopted 6/19/04
Post Adoption
Click to Enlarge
Pertinent Information
5
yr. old Female
65 lb. Owner Surrender
Cropped Ears and Docked Tail
Spayed and UTD
Being Fostered near
Middletown, NY
Adoption Donation $175
1/11/05 - It is very hard to believe I have had
Cookie for 6 months. She has been a wonderful friend and companion. I
have not had to discipline her at all. She is obedient and very
intelligent which has made my job very easy. Her confidence continues to
grow but she can still occasionally be mistrusting of certain
individuals...will tense up and just stare at them. However...once she
turns away from that person it seems like she immediately forgets about
it and we go one our merry way. We walk a couple miles every morning and
again every night and pass dozens of people and other dogs without any
issues...it's just certain people that gets her uptight. I have not been
able to identify exactly what does this but the one similarity is that
it's always just a single individual walking towards us. Again it's a
rare situation (getting more rare every day) and she telegraphs it so
well that I have time to make sure there is never any confrontation.
Now...to give an example of how my Cookie Monster generally is...there
is a football field behind my house where the local Pop Warner teams
practiced and played every night. The cheerleaders also practiced there
and every time we came by the youngest cheerleading team (about 15 7 to
9 year old girls) would rush her screaming COOKIE COOKIE ! She would
start wiggling and hopping...right up to the point where they engulfed
her...leaving only her tail (going a million miles an hour) left to be
seen. They all wanted to pet her and hug her and she just ate it up !!!
When we would come out
of the house on our evening walk, she would stop...listen and if she
heard them cheering, would want to go directly to the field. If she did
not hear them, we would do our normal route. Boy...she loves those
little girls and missed them after their practices ended. Even on the
Home Visits we have done, she is simply an angel. We meet
strangers...adults, kids,
infants...go into strange houses with other animals and she is always
wonderful. So...you can see my confusion when on that rare
occasion...she does tense up.
A funny story...I bought her booties because of all the rock salt people
put on the sidewalks
here. She obviously never wore them before because after getting them
on...she walked around the house
like a human walks around with oversized flippers on..raising all four
paws as high as she could
before putting it down. Talk about a riot !
She is a happy, healthy little girl who still unfortunately still has
some issues from her past to
work through but we are seeing good progress...just a matter of time !
To sum up...I love this dog and would not trade her for anything !
8/24/04 - Cookie continues to be a wonderful dog
! She has spent time with Mom over the last month due to my travel for
work and vacation...has meet all Mom's neighbors including a 6 month old
male Golden Retriever (her new best friend) and has been just terrific.
However, on three occasions (with me) she has gotten aggressive with three
different men. The only consistent thing was when they approached her
their hands were not visible (partially or completely). One older
gentlemen, who always saw Sammy and I walking, noticed this was a
different dog and walked up to her with his hands behind his back. He was
speaking nicely to her but I could tell she got tense. I asked him to show
her his hands and you could feel her relax when she saw them. However, I
believe once she mistrusts someone, she just won't be her normal calm
self. She stood between us and would not let him pass. When he tried
to separate himself from us she again got! tense and a bit
aggressive. Then...30 feet up the road she meet 3 little girls and was
her usual calm accepting self. The good thing is that it is obvious when
she gets into this "mood". She stands perfectly still...tenses up and
stares holes into the person she is not sure of. Considering she has met
hundreds of people over the last two month, I am not really concerned but
careful. One other thing...she is very nervous about things above her like
ceiling fans...if they are moving...so neither Mom or I run them when she
is there. Not sure what that is about.
Other then the above, she really has been very, very good. We continue to
walk at least twice a day and she always gets her runs in every
walk...well... it's more like sprinting ! She has had no medical problems
and all her fur has grown back now and the general comment people make,
besides how calm she is, is how good looking a Boxer she is. She has been
just as good for Mom too.
I just got back from vacation late last night so I'm heading to Mom's to
get her as soon as I finish this...boy...I miss her ! Can't wait for my
greeting :-) All the best, Ed
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8/17/04 -
Cookie continues to be the perfect dog. I still have had no reason to
discipline her at all. She seems completely settled and has adjusted
well to our schedule. We walk twice a day and she always gets time to
run (sprinting actually) during each walk and boy it's awesome to
watch. She can just fly. Mom has watched her a few times over the past
month and she has been wonderful for her also. She loves to meet
everyone and always impresses them with how calm she is. Her health is
great and she has been quite playful the last few weeks. All her fur
is now completely grown in also. I included a couple pictures I just took of her. |
7/17/04 - Every once in a while you get lucky and being able to
adopt Cookie was my good fortune...especially considering the
circumstances ! From the 2 hour ride home...right up to now...she
has been wonderful.
We saw my Vet a couple days after bringing her home and the only issues
were a minor ear infection and a yeast or bacterial infection on her sides
// hind legs where the black spots were. Twice a day we cleaned her ears
and she no longer wants to scratch them so it seems to have cleared up
completely. For her sides, the vet gave us special shampoo to use twice a
week initially...then once a week and her fur has grown back to a point
that you really have to look hard to see the black marks. Another couple
of weeks and that should be totally gone also.
We walk a couple miles every morning and then as far as she wants in the
evening. These walks always include stopping by one of the large fields in
town to let her run. Boy...does she love to just run flat out ! I
initially only did this in a enclosed little league field until I was
confident she would come to me and her obedience has never been an issue.
Actually...she has never done anything wrong and I 've have had no reason
to discipline her at all...pretty amazing !
Cookie goes with me everywhere I can take her and she is always the
perfect lady. Everyone who has meet her simply loves her...men, women,
kids and other dogs (she even seems to be OK with cats). Yesterday she
met a male Springer Spaniel...Gretzky...they spent the morning playing and
having a ball....we all think it was love at first sight for Gretsky :-) !
Overall, she adjusted nicely and seems quite happy. I also think she
now understands this is her forever home so she is letting her personality
show (talking, playing, knowing our schedule and making sure I follow it
closely). One thing though...Cookie would not go near my garage for the
first 3 weeks. She would actually run to my back door whenever I opened
one of the garage doors but as I as I said, she is getting more and more
confident in her situation and did actually walk in a few steps
Friday...not staying long but it was progress. I have a feeling she was
locked up in a garage for extended periods of time previously.
Anyway...I've finally experienced that elusive "Luck of the Irish" when I
adopted Cookie.
She's mine and you can't have her back ! All the best, Ed
6/29/04 - A quick update
with a couple pictures taken yesterday (took the day off). I keep
forgetting to take a few when she is running in the ball field but I will.
She is so good I'm not worthy !
I take her everywhere I can so I would guess she has met about 100 people
since I last wrote and EVERYONE just loves her. My friend (Denise) came
over last week to do some landscaping and came inside to meet
her...calling her name and Cookie was good as gold. Denise was impressed
as to how calm she was too...until I came home and she saw me. Well she
went nuts...just so happy to see me that as Denise said, she knows who her
daddy is !
Anyway, someone wants a walk and is letting me know so I'd better go. I'll
be in touch ! Ed
6/22/04 - Well...I think I'm a pretty lucky guy ! Cookie is doing
great...starting to get very comfortable and to show herpersonality. And
what a good girl....She was alone yesterday, with full run of the house,
from about 7 AM to 3 PM when I came home to get her ( she did nothing in
the house...actually I think she cleaned up a bit).
I then took her up to work, walked her through the office and everyone
loved her. She was just the perfect little lady. Then, one of my
co-workers had to bring her 9 year old daughter in and after the proper
introductions Cookie spend about an hour playing with her in my office.
She was simply
great and I highly doubt the story about her snapping at that other
girl...unless the girl tried to hurt her. You could tell she was happy
playing with Lia....who now wants a Boxer ! She had met Sam a few years
ago but was very intimidated by her size and look so she never asked her
Mom to get a dog. Well...that all changed yesterday !
Today she was alone until about 5:30 and still no problems. When I come in
she is just so happy to see me that just makes my day ! I fed her and then
we took a nice walk...now she is snoozing on her bed next to me again.
Yes...I'm still smiling !
So you know, I started her right away on Imas dry food mixed with a little
Imas and Pedigree soft food. This is what I fed Sammy as an adult and it
really worked very well for her. Cookie seems to love it and her stools
have all been normal. We go to the Vet tomorrow and I'll let you know how
that goes in my next update.
Anyway...I could not be happier !
6/19/04 - Cookie has been adopted.
6/12/04 - Cookie is pending adoption
5/26/04 - Cookie continues to do well...as you can see from her
pictures she is an absolute beauty.
I introduced her to my male and she did well...I plan on introducing her
to my female over the weekend to see how that goes.
Cookie is such a great girl...I took her out to a large ring area we have
at my mom's farm and she ran and ran...she was having such a great time.
She loves to be petted and have you play with her.
Last night was my night to relax so Cookie and I went to watch obedience
classes at my moms.
Thursday evening we will be joining them to see how Ms. Cookie does.
This girl will be looking for a home with no children under 10 yrs of age.
She did snap at an 8 yr old girl but no one was in the room to see what
happened...she is so terrific I can't see her with a bad attitude.
I have evaluated her by roughing her up, tugging on ears, tail, jowls and
nothing...I patted her hard, picked her up and rolled her over and pet her
belly...still nothing. However, we want to be cautious so no young kids.
Keep an eye on her updates...she is sure to find a great home soon.
5/23/04 - Cookie arrived today from a local shelter as an owner
surrender. She was adopted out once from the shelter but due to not
getting along with the other female dog in the home she was returned.
I introduced Cookie to my 5 yr old male boxer yesterday and they were ok
together. I think Cookie will need slow introductions of any kind to other
animals.
I had her by my mom's barn and she was lovin' walking around with all the
cows, goats, chickens, horses and llamas....so many smells.
There are many people in and out of the barn and Cookie was extremely
happy to see every one of them
When I got home to see her today I was greeted with wiggles and kisses.
Cookie will be evaluated a bit further and then be ready for
adoption..pictures coming soon.
8/17/04
6/28/04
