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SUGAR 9/27/04
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Sugar's Foster Journey - Adopted 12/1/04

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8 month old  Flashy Brindle Female Boxer
 Owner Surrender
Natural Ears and Docked Tail
Spayed  and UTD
Being Fostered near Hartford, CT
Adoption Donation $300

7/18/05 - We have come a long way with Sugar who we suspect is going to be 2 years old soon. Mugsy, who will be 8 in August, started out a perfect dog back in August 2004 and he still is. He has gotten a bit vocal when he wants a treat but learned that from our 12 year old boxer, Gabby. When he is told "that's enough" he quiets right down. When he is told "out of the kitchen" he leaves. He must have been told "out of the kitchen" often. He is just a great dog. He never has an accident and never causes trouble.
Speaking about trouble there is Sugar. She has come a long way since we first got her in September 04. We fostered her for awhile and then decided to keep her. She was way too attached to my husband to give her up. She used to attack Gabby and Mugsy but hasn't done that in a very long time. She hasn't had any accidents in the house in about 2 months. She still gets into things. She loves unrolling the toilet paper from it's holder, she loves to get into hand cream. She no longer gets sick in the car and is no longer fearful of the car at all. She realized that each time she got into the car she most likely would get some bacon as we go to breakfast on Saturdays and after breakfast bring them all some bacon.
I have always said that 3 is a lot of dogs to have but I wouldn't give any of them up.
Gabby had to have knee surgery the beginning of June on her torn ACL and is coming along fine. The first few days were awful trying to keep Gabby and Sugar from rough housing but Sugar got the message rather quickly. Gabby is healing nicely.

2/9/05 - Just wanted to share some information about Sugar. She is a gem. My daughter, is visiting with my grandson who is 4 ½, my granddaughter who is 3, and the baby who is 6 weeks old. Sugar is having a ball with the kids. She plays tug of war, chases them around, they chase her. They are going home today and I know that Sugar is going to be so sad. She is definitely a kid herself. We just have to help her get over the bad behavior of jumping.
We taught Sugar that when she wants to come in from the yard that she can’t jump on the slider but must sit until we open up the slider. She learned that quickly. I have bells on the inside of the slider and from time to time she rings it to go out. She is a sweet girl. The downside is that she is still quite terrified of the car. She is ok if it’s not running but even if you offer her a ride and she is close to the car and it’s running she starts to drool.
I wonder if the dog whisperer could help me.

1/15/05 - Sugar is doing well. She still has issues about jealousy and attacks Gabby from time to time. She does get plopped into the crate for that and so now when she gets her back up and i say "you will go into the crate" she seems to understand and walks away. She went to her first obedience class this past Monday, Jan. 10th. She did great. While all the other dogs were howling, barking or pulling on their leashes to get to other dogs Sugar laid by my side. I don't think she was scared it was like she had been thru this before. She was very good. She is still a very mischievous puppy. I had a brand new box of tissues that she decided to take apart, she tore apart the kitty litter package, and upended a potted plant. She is getting so much better with her housebreaking. She hardly has an accident. She seems to be able to hold it from 7 a.m. to 3:30pm not too bad. She and Mugsy play often and sometimes she can get Gabby to play too. We had company and she was pretty calm. I do the training every night that the obedience fellow told us to work on. All in all she is a good girl. She still needs work when people first come into the house. She will get it.

12/12/04 - Sugar has been with us since the end of September and has suddenly started chewing on furniture. Yikes!!! I have all sorts of toys all over the house. What's is going on? Did she somehow see me mail in the check for her adoption and now knows that we belong to her? Did she just realize that this is her home? She is doing quite well on going to the door to be let out but she doesn't' make a peep so you really have to know where she is at all times. She is a good girl but when she gets bored, look out. Any thoughts? Should I start spraying things with Bitter Apple? She still doesn't like the car but we only take her in the car when we absolutely have to. She is going to obedience classes starting on January 3rd. I think she will do well as she seems very smart. She adores my husband and follows him everywhere. She sleeps right by his side and when he moves to make some room in the bed she moves right next to him. He doesn't seem to mind that she is attached to his hip, LOL.

12/1/04 - Sugar has been adopted.

11/29/04 - Sugar went on her first long distance car trip. She did ok. Found out that she will go into the car fairly willingly if the car is not running. She can't have breakfast and must take Dramamine before the trip but does ok.
She is no longer deathly afraid of the car. With introducing Sugar to the car a few times a week and throwing treats into the car she got a bit used to sitting in the car. If the car is started while she is in the car she is ok. I just can't have the car started before putting her in the car. She is good with other dogs. She was introduced to a 5 month old Jack Russell and did well. She does get a bit rough but when told to calm down she will try. She is going to obedience classes in January. she loves/adores my husband. She also loves and adores Mugsy. She teases Gabby
unmercifully and Gabby seems to take it well. She decided today to pull tissues one at a time out of the tissue box (she was bored). She doesn't chew and loves her toys. She is great with small kids. She seems to have no bad temper. She is always in a good mood. She did wonderfully with the grandkids last week for almost 7 days. She did nip but only because she was playing. She does jump but not on kids. We are working on teaching her not to jump. She eats well and loves treats. She sleeps right next to my husband when we all go to bed. She is really a good little girl.
We took her to the beach and she did very well. We even let her loose and she came when called. She pretty much stayed with our other dogs. She went into the water after the Kong and had a ball trying to take it away from the other dogs when they retrieved it out of the water. She walks great on a leash and she knows some commands i.e. sit, down, stay. She is not verbal at all. she really doesn't bark for anything.

11/13/04 - Sugar is pending adoption.
Sugar is not completely housebroken, but she has stopped going after Gabby and Mugsy when Gabby and Mugsy are being petted. She does need another dog to play with, she plays very rough, she can be sweet and wonderful and quiet, and she can also be a hellion. She has been left alone in the house for quite a few hours and she is pretty good. Sometimes she gets a stuffed animal and puts in elsewhere in the house, sometimes she decides to peel off some of my plants leaves, she knocks over things but so far she doesn't chew anything.
She is very energetic and can give Mugsy and Gabby lots of run time in the yard. She is an excellent eater. She eats 2 cups of dry Iams for breakfast and 2 cups of the same at night. She should go to obedience classes. She
is wonderful on a harness and leash. When walking if you stop she will sit and stay. She does get very car sick but if she is not fed and is given Dramamine she just drools uncontrollably, LOL. She is terrified of the car but I am working on that. A couple times a day I take her to the car and I sit in the car with the door open and I have some treats in my hand. I offer her the treats but she can't get to them unless she hops in the car. The 1st
time I did this it took almost 15 minutes for her to hop in the car but the 2nd time I did this it took 10 minutes. Once she hops in and eats the treats I just sit and talk to her about what a good girl she is. She seems
ok with this. I have not started the car up yet. I want to wait till she will hop in the car without being offered treats.
 

11/1/04 - I don't know how Sugar interacts with cats. I do highly recommend fencing. Sugar loves to play rough and no matter how hard she plays or how much she might get hurt she goes back for more. If the invisible fencing zaps her I don't think that would deter her from leaving the yard. She is a hard
playing dog. She jumps up on either Vinnie (hubby) or me in the yard to bite (nip) whatever is available. Vinnie loves that game but I don't so always take a squirt bottle out with me.
I did have her with my grandchildren for a couple of days and she was pretty good with them. The kids are 2 and 4 years old. Vincent, 4 year old, told me that Sugar nipped him but it was all in playing. She is not completely housebroken but has fewer and fewer accidents. She is a very smart dog and I know will learn very fast. If we
are home on the weekends then I can leave the back slider open and Sugar knows to go out whenever she has to do her business.
Sugar is not large at all. She is 40 pounds. She has been going to the vet for a dipping for her skin problems but the skin problems don't seem to be contagious. I have 2 boxers of my own and they haven't had any skin problems.
I went away for the weekend and left my hubby in charge of all 3 dogs. He said they did great and Sugar had only 2 accidents. Sugar has eye drops as she has some type of allergy but the vet doesn't know what the allergy comes from. He mentioned that if we stop the eye drops then the redness will come back. Sugar doesn't seem to mind having red eyes at all.

10/24/04 - It's hard to explain Sugar's behavior. One minute she is wonderful around Mugsy and Gabby and all of a sudden she is going after one of them with a real mean streak. Today we had company, Richie and Dina. Richie was petting Mugsy and all of a sudden Sugar gets real still and stiff and off she goes after Mugsy!! She is very jealous of anyone giving another dog attention. Mugsy does put her in her place but today we had to break it up as Sugar would not respect Mugsy's wishes about calming down. Also this a.m. Vinnie was petting Gabby and then Sugar started to play and wrestle with Gabby and all was well but all of a sudden Sugar started to get really nasty and Vinnie had to pull Sugar off of Gabby. Then as the day went on Mugsy was asleep and Sugar wanted to play with him and he was happy to wake up and play. Right now she and Mugsy are asleep together on the couch, go figure.
Sugar's skin problem has gotten much worse since we have been back from vacation. The whites of her eyes are super red. She goes to the vet on Tuesday and I will ask him if perhaps her skin problem is her food and I will have him check her eyes. Sugar is a happy girl most times but something comes over her and she just goes after either Mugsy or Gabby for no reason. Mugsy was standing near me and I was cooking and all of a sudden here comes Sugar. I sometimes think Sugar is super jealous of anyone giving Mugsy or Gabby attention but in this case I was not paying attention to any dog I was just at the stove cooking with Mugsy standing right near me. I can't figure her out. I had to squirt her with the water bottle today to calm her down and that does work. So far I have found absolutely no aggression towards any people. The dog sitter said she was pretty good but did get a bit aggressive towards Gabby and Mugsy a few times while she was living at my house.

10/13/04 - Sugar was spayed yesterday and our rescue vet found that her skin irritation is a form of demodectic mange.  She had been treated by a previous vet for an infection as they did not think she had mange, but the antibiotics and steroid did not improve the condition.   After she has recuperated for a week from the spaying, she will start treatment with a dip and hopefully that will cure the mange.  Sugar came through the spay very well and will be going home today.

10/10/04 - We went to our daughter's this past weekend. Sugar gets car sick. We had a 4 hour drive and she got car sick once on the way down. We pulled over and cleaned it up and were happily on our way. The wonderful thing about Sugar is that she gets sick in a spot where no other dog could step in it.
We got there around 2 in the afternoon on Sat. and she was fine with our 4 year grandson old and 2 year old granddaughter. Sugar is the typical puppy. She nips at fingers and toes but doesn't try to hurt. She is just super playful. We did some yard work and Sugar was tied up right near us so we could see her and she was fine. She just sat and watched. From time to time one of the kids took her for a short walk. She has a harness and is very good on a lead.
She sleeps all night and at 5 a.m. this morning all 3 decided that they had to go out. Then they came in and slept till 7 a.m. Sugar and Gabby sleep in bed with us. This a.m. when the kids got up they encouraged Sugar to come into their parent's room and play with her on the bed. Seems like it went well. Our son in law said that Sugar got a bit rough trying to nip whatever was in her space but was just very playful. Sugar does get carried away playing with Mugsy and it sounds like 2 maniacs wrestling. I told the kids to sit on the bed and watch them wrestle and not to get involved. I am sure if the kids tried to play too they would get scratched.  Mugsy and Sugar go at it good but although it seems awfully rough Sugar keeps going back for more. Sugar loves to play rough with my husband and Mugsy and also Gabby but when things get to be too much the squirt of a water bottle stops all action. I would say that Sugar is just a typical puppy who loves to rough house. I never left her alone with the kids however.
We left for home today and Sugar did not get car sick. She is excellent in the car. She slept all the way home. We also went out again tonight taking all 3 with us and she was just fine. I am finding that she is pretty low key when the dogs don't feel like wrestling. She adores my husband and keeps near him at all times. If he is out of the room she goes and finds him and lays wherever he is. She just gets better and better everyday. I feel that she needs someone who is used boxers and who owns a playful dog.

10/4/04 - Sugar really needs someone who is home all the time and she needs someone with another boxer. I would not put her with small kids. She is very smart and learns quickly. She gets carried away and tries to jump and bite whatever she can reach on me. I have learned to take a water bottle with me and when she jumps up to bite me I squirt her and say “no”. She understood very fast that she shouldn’t be doing that.
Sugar is a rough player and needs a dog that will give her a run for her money. Sugar is not completely housebroken yet. She was great all weekend because I kept the door to the yard open all day and she went outside whenever she had too. She really should go to obedience classes.
As we walk and get to a corner I taught her to sit and then give the ok command for us to cross. She got that quickly and now when we walk she stops and sits whenever I stop. She is going to make someone a great little girl. She does have an attitude and wants to be alpha but with time and patience that will end.

9/29/04 - On Wednesday Sugar had no accidents at all.  I do go home for lunch each day as I don’t think she could hold out all day.  On Wednesday night Sugar went too far and went after Gabby and Gabby fought back.  Gabby scared Sugar and after a bit of sulking Sugar thought she would go after Mugsy.  He is much more patient so he allowed the abuse for about 5 minutes until he decided to put her in her place.  When he put her in her place she went back for more but Mugsy was ready and really put her in her place.  She now knows that she is 3rd in line. 
She is a sweet dog and is being very good about her bathroom duties.  She decided last night to join us in bed and I put her in her own bed 5 times before she got the message.  Since I have had her since Monday night I have not had to crate her at all.  She has the full run of the house all day and so far is not destructive but she does have 2 pals to play with.  I go home at lunch to let everyone out and then get home again about 3:15 to let them all out again and to play with them. 
Sugar is a bit thin.  She is the typical boxer puppy who loves to wrestle with me and doesn’t know when to quit (kind of like a child).  In order to get her to quit using me as a chew toy I have to distract her.  She seems very smart and gets what you are trying to teach her rather quickly.  She already knows “go to the bathroom”  she knows sit, stay (fairly well), down.  She does not know “calm down” LOL.  From the what the previous family said, (they had adopted her from a shelter and only had her for a week and a half) she was not good with the kids (8 months and 4 years old).  I think with patience and time she would learn to adjust to kids but it would take a lot of patience and diligence. 
Sugar was was taken to the vet on Sept .17th as she had pink patches on her white fur.  The vet prescribed Cephalexin (500 mg) twice a day.  She is not spayed as the vet wanted to get rid of whatever infection she seemed to have.  Sugar also has hair loss patches all over her body.  She doesn’t seem to find the hair loss a bother.  The vet said it is not mange.  The vet suspects that she is 8 months old but as she was found wondering the streets he really doesn’t know.  She also has medication for her eyes that are still a bit red but they aren't runny and was given Frontline. 

9/28/04 - When I got home at lunch on Tuesday Sugar had not had an accident so I fed her a cup of food (not smart). When I got home at 3pm she had an accident but that was my fault, I should not have fed her at lunch time.  On Tuesday night she was great and ate well and played nonstop with Mugsy.  She slept the whole night.

9/27/04 - I picked up Sugar on Monday night. My husband, Vinnie, drove home and I took Sugar in the back seat with me and kept her on my lap.  She shook almost all the way home (maybe a 15 minute drive).  About 1 mile from home she decided that we weren’t so bad and went and looked out of the car window.  When we got home I let her loose in the house, and she saw Mugsy and Gabby and was in heaven.  Kidney bean dances all over the place. Mugsy was in heaven. He finally had someone to chase around in the yard.  Gabby was not all that pleased but was tolerant.  Sugar slept the whole night and did her business with the rest of dogs in the a.m.