Age & Sex: 3-4 yr old Female	UTD: Yes
Weight:  50 lbs.	Other Dogs: Unknown   Cats: Unknown
Color: Fawn	Children under 5: Unknown
Ears: Natural	Children over 5: Unknown
Tail: Docked	Mandatory Professional Training:  No
Spayed: Yes	Microchipped: No
Shelter Surrender	Location:  Middletown, CT
Adoption Donation $250

10/16/06 - Well I know that I haven't been in touch, but for those who want an update on Nikita...here it is.  I have had her her 2 months now and she is very sweet. Not wanting to confuse her, we named her Niki for short. She is very friendly, lovable, protective of the home and very smart. one of her new tricks that we are completely dumbfounded about is how she gets on her hind legs and with her front paws turns and pulls the door knob; but she does listens well to commands and for the most part is obedient. Sometimes she has an accident and immediately will go to her crate when she has done something wrong. She also has a very healthy appetite and has gained 10 pounds. When we picked her up she was 52 and now she is at 62 pounds. The vet says in general she is a very tall and bog boned girl as well as very hyer. While her Barney and dog dolls came with her, she has chewed them to pieces and all that she has left from her family in CT is her purple ball, but be prepared to play if you pick it up. lol. She is truly a great companion.

8/18/06 - Nikita has been adopted

8/16/06 - Nikita is pending adoption

8/12/06 - Nikita has come a long way in her first week with us.  She has not had any accidents since her first day at the Bronson foster home (but we give her ample opportunity to be outside).  Nikita is learning to walk well on a leash.  Is starting follow simple commands (i.e. sit and stay).  Still needs some work on coming when called.
Nikita is just about the sweetest boxer you will ever meet.  Her eyes will make your heart melt!  She seems to consistently have an inquisitive look on her face.  Her main goal in life is to have fan and make people happy.  Nikita is always looking to play with the other dogs or a human.  Her favorite games are sprinting with boxers, wrestling with bulldogs, and chasing balls thrown by her foster parents.  Due to a rough past Nikita still needs constant supervision with other dogs and will require a strong pack leader.

8/6/06 - We picked up Nikita yesterday and spent most of the day walking and swimming a little to cool off.  She is a very sweet girl eager to please, but needs some more work!  Eric just took her for a three mile jog.  We'll see if she's a good running partner when they return.  She has had one accident in the crate, but not in the house.  And as you can see from the pictures on her page she is very very thin.

8/4/06 - Nikita has been such a pleasure to have in our home. She continues to show us how sweet and affectionate is she. What a complete mush! In addition to loving her ball, she also loves her stuffed Barney. Yes, it’s the same Barney that sings the “I love you” song. This Barney actually talks to you when pressure is applied on his belly. OMG Nikita looks so cute when Barney is talking to her! She tilts her head, ears go up and her eyes are locked on him. Once he stops talking, she scrambles to find out how to get him going again.
She has gotten better with accepting treats from us. Just before giving her a treat, we give her a command of “easy”.  This has not eliminated her excitement for the treat, but she is showing us that she understands to take it from us in a gentle manner. Speaking of treats, I have discovered that Nikita really enjoys when you toss a treat in the air for her to catch! It is also quite entertaining for us to watch  : ) 
We are still working on getting this girl fully house broken.  She has indicated a pattern for her potty breaks which has helped us identify how to eliminate the problem of going in the crate or in the house. We no longer keep a lot of water in her bowl when we are sleeping or at work, although we make sure she is drinking more than enough. If she has a full bowl of water, she will drink the entire thing and ends us not being able to hold it in time to be walked.  Once Nikita is fed, she will need to be walked or let out immediately. It seems to go in one way and out the other pretty darn fast!  : )
As I mentioned previously, we are a temporary foster home for Nikita. BAR needed to get out of the shelter rather quickly, so we offered to have her stay with us until her foster home was able to take her in. Today is Nikita’s last day with us. We will miss her very much and wish her all the best in her new foster home. Although I have a feeling she won’t be there for too long. She’s bound to be adopted very soon!!!

7/29/06 - Nikita had her first vet visit this afternoon. She was such a good girl in the car and at the vet's office! There were many people with their dogs in the waiting room and although Nikita was curious she was very well behaved. If she wasn't sitting beside me with her head on my lap, she was giving me lots of kisses or lying on the floor. The people in the waiting room heard me talking to the receptionist about Nikita's history and were amazed at how affectionate, adorable and well behaved she was after coming out of a shelter and being with me for just a few days.

We were originally informed by the shelter that Nikita was 18 months old, but after being examined by the vet they determined her age to be between 3-4 years old. She has a slight ear infection due to her ears being so dirty, but that will easily be taken care of. Nikita weighed in at 50lbs and the vet said she could use another 30...we're still working on that! The vet also said that Nikita is healing nicely from the spay surgery done on Monday and of course complimented Nikita for being such a wonderful girl during her exam. Nikita made sure to give her lots of kisses before we left.  :)

This girl loves playing with her ball. It's the kind that is made out of rubber and squeaks when
pressure is applied. I swear she could play with it all day!!! She really enjoys hanging out with
us in the back yard and continues to do well on her walks.

7/28/06 - So Nikita has been with us for a few days now and what a sweet girl she is! It's obvious that she's had some basic training. She responds to a verbal command of sit with a hand gesture when asked, although it is somewhat done in a delayed reaction. It's almost as if it takes her a second or so to get it :) She is still walking well on a leash and doesn't pull, but can sometimes get ahead of you. Once you make the correction, she'll walk by your side. She goes right into her crate with no complaints and does well while she's in there. She has given off a few barks when it's Bella turn to get walked, but settles down rather quickly.

Nikita will need work with getting house broken as she continues to go to the bathroom in her crate. This only seems to happen over night and while we are at work. When we are home and she is walked regularly, there are no accidents. She is showing signs of having a sensitive stomach which could be due to stress and/or her antibiotics. We've stopped giving her dog food and have been feeding her white rice with chicken which has been working well.

Nikita is a tall girl and although she is rather skinny at the moment, I can just imagine how she will look once she is feeling better and has put on some necessary weight. Right now she walks with her head down and some sadness in her eyes, but my guess is this girl will stand tall and proud, commanding everyone's attention. She is such a wonderful, smart and sweet girl and will make some one and their family very happy!

7/26/06 - Gary came to our house last night with a special delivery...it was a sweet, sweet girl. She is way too cute, but way too skinny as far as I'm concerned. I just wanted to feed her lots and lots of cheeseburgers :) She came to BAR from a shelter, but was brought to the shelter after being found tied to a gate.

Although we are a temporary foster home, we couldn't have her with us and not give her a name so we decided to call her Nikita. Our thin Nikita had an unexpected meeting with our other foster girl. As Gary and I were bringing her into the house, Bella was hanging out by the door waiting to greet us instead of being down stairs where I had left her. So the meeting went well and as short and unexpected as it was, they seemed pretty okay with one another.

Nikita did very well sleeping in the crate all night. She did not cry or bark at all. She did have one accident (#2) in the crate which we found when we woke up this morning. This could be my fault as I felt so bad for her, I may have fed her too late. It's gotta be a European thing to feed away any pain or sadness. Instead of just keep smiling, we say just keep eating. :)~ I digress, my point is that may have been a one time thing, but we shall find out soon enough.

Bella was very curious to meet this girl and passed by her crate several times. Bella is kept lose all day and Nikita will be crated while she is with us. This way both girls with be safe while we are at work. We have yet to do full introductions with both girls. Nikita was only spayed a day before she came to us so once she starts feeling better, we have them gradually spend more time with each other as long as they are okay with it!

We walked Nikita last night for the first time and she did great on the leash...no pulling at all. However, she did seem somewhat nervous when seeing the shadows in the dark. Her walks this morning went much better!!!

Nikita will definitely need training with how she takes treats...this poor was probably not fed for a long time so when there's food in front of her she just takes it and anything else around it. She means no harm by this behavior and with some time, food and lot's of love she'll work through it!