PIPER 12/31/03
#299
Pictures
Piper's Foster Journey
Pertinent Information
9 to 12 month old Red Fawn Female
48 lb. Shelter Surrender
Natural Ears and Docked Tail
Soon to be Neutered, but UTD
Obedience Training Required
Being Fostered Near Hartford, CT
Adoption Donation $300
4/28/04 - Piper is doing well. A spirited young Boxer!!!!!! We continue going to Obedience training once a week. Her check ups at the Vet. here have been good. No significant problems.
3/28/04 - Piper is quite comfortable in our home. She has had many opportunities to socialize with other dogs. Now that the weather is better she and I or my daughter take a walk nearby. I registered her at a local facility for obedience training. Starts April 8. Piper is responding well and has in the beginning only had I or 2 accidents in the house. We all love her!!!!!!! Marge
1/30/04 - Piper has been adopted.
1/26/04 - Piper is pending adoption
1/25/04 - Piper was spayed Friday and is doing great. She is all ready to go to her "forever" home!
1/20/04 - Piper went for her vet
check up today. I almost didn't get her there because Piper locked herself
in the car. Yeah, you read correctly...I ran into the house to get my
coffee and Piper's records, and when I came back out, there she was,
patiently sitting in the driver's seat with her chin resting on the
steering wheel. She was probably dancing around inside the car and her paw
hit the button that locks everything up. Fortunately I had a spare key.
She will be going in to be spayed this Friday. She received a second
treatment for mange, and we hope that it will be completely cleared up by
the time she is adopted. Her antibiotics prescription was renewed as well.
The mange does not seem to be bothering her too much, but she still does
scratch.
Having had Piper for about 2 1/2 weeks now, our family has grown to love
her. She is truly a gem of a girl -- full of personality and spunk, yet so
gentle and loving. While Piper has been fine with my one year old (with
supervision) she does have a tendency to behave dominantly toward him. By
this, I do not mean that she is aggressive. What she will do is crowd him
when he is playing -- she'll slowly position herself so that she is
literally standing over him, and then won't let him out. She also likes to
knock him over with her nose, usually by nudging him on the bottom (with
gusto). He's a trooper and it doesn't seem to bother him a bit, but I can
envision the first time dog owner being very upset if Piper were to act
this way around their children. So after giving it a great deal of
thought, my recommendation is that Piper should probably not go to a
family with young children.
The jury is still out on the pussy cats. We have not had the opportunity
to test Piper with our cats, due to her quarantine, but if I had to make a
recommendation right now, I'd have to say that she probably will do better
in a home that is kitty-free. She shows a GREAT deal of interest in
getting to the cats, and when they've had the gaul to venture close to the
crate, Piper could barely contain herself. Again, I doubt she would be
vicious with cats, but she might be way too rough with one, if she could
catch it. Piper is extremely agile and incredibly strong, for her size, so
I've no doubt she is capable of catching a cat.
Piper is doing OK on the house breaking. She has had two poop accidents
and one pee accident total, during her stay here. Each could have been
prevented -- you could set a clock to Piper's bowels. We feed her, and if
we bring her out within 15 to 25 minutes afterwards, she will do her
business. Both poop accidents occurred during this 15 to 25 minute window,
and both times we left her unsupervised during the window. On the positive
side, Piper has never had an accident in her crate. She is acting like she
understands what's expected of her. I don't anticipate her having any
trouble becoming fully housetrained, but her new family should definitely
not give her run of the house, until this little issue is resolved.
I'll post a new update after Piper's surgery.
1/15/04 - Piper was supposed to see
the vet today. Unfortunately the doctor was bitten by a cat (whodathunkit?!),
had a severe allergic reaction, and had to cancel all of her appointments.
We rescheduled for next Tuesday. We did drop off the stool sample and
weighed her -- Piper is a little lighter than we thought, at 46 pounds.
Did I say she's wonderful on the leash? Well, check that. She is
wonderful, as long as there are no other people or animals within 100
feet. If someone is nearby she gets a tad excited, and pulls, jumps,
whatever it takes to get closer. I had a difficult time controlling her at
the vet's office. She darn near pulled my arm out it's socket to get at a
Boston Terrier. I have no doubt that she can be trained not to do this, in
time. Piper definitely requires obedience training and lots of love and
attention. But what a great dog! She's really a gem!
1/12/04 - Since the last update,
Piper has become very comfortable here. She is still doing great. She had
a terrific weekend, enjoying much more time outside her crate than she had
been. She now knows the command "down" now, although she often
does not follow it unless accompanied by a physical prompt (pointing to
the floor). All in all, Piper is a quick study and very eager to
please.
Unfortunately, this weekend we discovered that Piper is not housebroken.
She only had one accident, but she had been out for a walk within two
hours prior. She didn't show any signs of having to pee so I don't think
we could have predicted it. Being as smart as she is, I would not be
surprised if this one accident were enough to teach Piper that peeing
indoors is not too high on my list of good doggie behavior. Since the
accident, we've watched closely for any signs Piper might give that she's
gotta go -- nothing. So we've been getting her out every couple of hours
while she's outside the crate, and we heap all kinds of praise on her when
she does it right outside (she loves that). She continues to do really
well in the crate. It's always dry. However, she now protests much more
vigorously when she is placed in her crate for the night, crying and
barking for 30 - 60 minutes after she goes in. Now that she's had the
chance to be with us more, she doesn't want to be apart. Were it not for
the quarantine from our other animals & current uncertainty about
cats, I would not hesitate to let her stay in our bedroom at night. It
will not be a good idea to give her run of the house during the day,
however, as she is very mischievous and loves to chew things that don't
belong to her.
Piper goes for a checkup Thursday. We will know then if she is ready to be
spayed.
1/8/04 - Piper continues to do very well here. She has a great disposition. She has had to spend a lot of time in the crate, but doesn't seem to mind at all. She's just happy to be in a warm, dry place with people who love her. Piper has been eating really well, and I'm sure she'll put on weight very quickly -- she sure needs it! I've only been able to spend about a half hour per day training with her, but in a short time she's come a long way. She sits before we open the crate door, and before meal time. She jumps on people when she's excited, but it lessens every day. A few days ago, she'd jump all over everybody. Today when I got home she put one paw on my thigh, then seemed to catch herself, and started jumping straight up and down instead! Within 5 minutes of seeing us, she quiets right down and is a perfect lady (well, almost perfect) for the rest of the night. In fact, you could almost forget that she's in the room. I trust her alone in the family room for brief periods. She chewed on a baseball hat one day, and gets on the furniture, but other than that she's very good. Funny, three days ago I'd catch her on the couch, scold her by saying "off!", and she'd just look at me. I'd have to escort her off by the leash. Now, when I'm headed toward the family room, I can hear her jump off the couch. When I stick my head in the room, she's curled up on the floor, looking as innocent as a baby fawn. Too smart for her own good, this one!
1/6/04 - Piper is doing great! What
a terrific dog! She's now had two very long days and two very long nights
in the crate. No accidents. It's still too soon to know whether she's
housebroken. Perhaps this weekend we can test that out. At night Piper
cries for about 10 minutes after being crated, but after that settles
down. In the morning I have to wake her up to go out.
Piper is eating really well now, and seems to be tolerating the
antibiotics without any problems. She'll be on the meds for another 10
days or so, and we'll be doing a follow up treatment for the worms in 2
1/2 weeks. She's scheduled to see the vet on the 15th, and at that time
we're hoping to set a date for her spaying. The dermatitis is still an
issue, however Piper does not seem nearly as uncomfortable as she did a
couple days ago. Logistically, it's been an exhausting few days here,
because we need to keep Piper and Murphy separate and make sure that no
Piper poop is left around for other dogs to step in, due to the worm
situation. Since she's so new, we also are limiting exposure to the kids
-- if an adult can't be present, Piper has to go in the crate. We'll all
be relieved when we can give Piper a little more freedom and not be so
darned cautious!
Behaviorally, Piper is terrific. She's definitely had some obedience
training. She knows a few commands and was taught how to walk properly on
a leash. Despite her VERY sweet and affectionate disposition, it is clear
that Piper has a dominant personality. Her head and tail are always up,
she never slouches or shies away when scolded. I have no doubt that, given
the opportunity, Piper would take complete control of our household. She
is calm most of the time, but has puppy moments and manages to do some
naughty things during those moments. So Piper definitely needs an owner
who will not put up with any silliness. She'll stop bad behavior like
jumping on people or furniture when scolded, but she gives the impression
that she's just complying because she's in a generous mood. She and my one
year old play together nicely, but she has gotten carried away and knocked
him over a couple times -- nothing too rough, but to be safe I've stepped
in on occasion and separated them. On the other hand, my son has bopped
her on the top of her head a couple times, and grabbed a hold of her ears.
Piper didn't give the slightest reaction. She is very patient and tolerant
of children. Piper continues to enjoy my one year old son's electronic
toys. She's listening to a duck quack Mozart as I type.
So this is a special dog, and we've become attached to her very quickly.
We'd love to keep her, but at this point there are a couple important
unknown factors -- namely Murphy and the two declawed, indoor cats. Time
will tell.
1/4/04 - This morning I was cooking
breakfast for my son, who was in the family room with his father and
Piper. I could hear him playing with his V-Tech car dashboard toy -- it
has turn signals, a lever that revs the engine, and lots of buttons that
play music and say things. I felt a tug at my leg. It was my son, saying
hello. Yet at the same time, the V-Tech was chirping, "Let's go to
the school!" and "Stop!" Was Daddy playing with the V-Tech,
I wondered? We went to see, and found our guest, Piper, lying with the
V-Tech between her front legs. She gently beeped the horn with her snout.
Then she pushed the school button again, and finally she carefully nuzzled
the little doggie statue to the left of the turn signal. At that moment I
knew I would become very attached to this young lady. I spoke to her, and
the spell was broken. She looked at me, she looked at the V-Tech, and then
at me again. Then she grabbed the toy by the little doggie statue and
flung the V-Tech into the air. "Woof! woof!" said the little
doggie statue as the toy careened off the love seat and into the wall. And
so that's how it's been here at the LOMAH B&B for the past 24 hours.
Piper is intelligent and capable of focusing her attention when it
interests her to do so. For the most part, she is very calm for a pup her
age. When given a little room to roam and time to herself, however, her
youthful enthusiasm takes complete control (picture a gazelle on crack).
Piper has only had one accident since her arrival, but to be fair, that
was within one hour of her arriving, and she was under a great deal of
stress. I still don't know if she is actually house or crate trained yet
because she's had frequent opportunities to go outside, and has not been
left alone for more than an hour. Tomorrow we return to work full time, so
we'll probably find out then.
Piper walks beautifully on a leash, when she's focused. There is some
pulling but gets right back on task when she's redirected. She is not
aggressive around food or her toys. She does get carried away when playing
and has been scolded for mouthing our clothes, hair and hands (almost a
bite, but not quite). We're going to work on that. She knows some basic
commands, and usually follows them, particularly if there is a treat to be
gained. She enjoys her crate and usually retreats there on her own at nap
time. She's eating well now, which is a huge relief. She needs to gain at
least five pounds, and needs all the energy she can get to get well.
1/3/04 - Our first foster
arrived today, thanks to transportation assistance from James, who met us
half way and who picked up Piper from a shelter earlier this week.
We are still on the fence about a name. Since I'm the one who types,
the name is Piper, for now.
Piper is wonderful. She has a beautiful face, full of cute boxer wrinkles.
We don't know a whole lot about her. She was a shelter surrender, but
after spending just a few hours with her, I suspect Piper once had a
family who loved her very much. She knows "sit" and
"come" -- we haven't pressed her for any other tricks. Piper's
had a rough time. Hunger has taken a toll on her small frame. She saw the
vet yesterday, and is being treated for worms and dermatitis. She is
clearly very itchy from the skin condition, so we hope she feels better
soon. For the past two days she's had diarrhea, and this afternoon she was
vomiting. I am already seeing signs of improvement, so again I hope we can
get her on the mend very soon.
I haven't had much time for evaluation yet. She loves people, but she is
still deciding whether she likes our two cats or Murphy, our great dane/bullmastiff.
We'll hold off on proper introductions until Piper is feeling better and
has settled in. Piper is going to make a marvelous addition to some lucky
family. Check back for frequent updates.
12/31/03 - Hi All,
We picked up a New Little Girl this morning from one of our favorite
shelters. She's a red fawn with a black mask. She's a petite
little thing and just sooooo pretty. She is.......I would
guess.......about 45 pounds and could stand to gain about 5 more.
We're not seeing our Vet until Friday morning....but I believe her age is
about one year.........and we'll check that out with our Vet.
We are not naming this girl....we've just given her a BAR tag number...
#299. We'd really like her Foster Mom and Dad to choose a name for
this little sweetheart.
We let her run in our fenced yard and she just did her business, smelled
around and came right back.....she's not looking to escape at all.
She is extremely friendly and gives sweet little Boxer kisses. She
will going to her foster home on Saturday.
James and Diana