NorCal GSP Rescue

We seriously can’t figure out why no one’s adopting Kera.  She has a fantastic personality and she’s so well behaved!  This is a dog that is BEAUTIFUL, attentive, gentle, mellow, no chewing or excessive barking, GREAT with other dogs, loves to ride in the car,  comes when called (unless there’s a rabbit she’s looking at) and super super sweet and really soft!  She wants nothing more than to snuggle all day long.   She’s learning quickly (already knows sit, wait, drop it and sometimes shake and git) and needs fairly little exercise to keep her happy.   A short walk or run (or a long run - she’s up for whatever you are) or a game of fetch (she drops her toy every time, no chasing!) or an hour at the dog park and she’s good to go!   She can stay in the house alone and not destroy anything (although if you leave food out, she will find it!  She has an excellent nose).   She deserves to have a home of her own!  

So I had this BRILLIANT idea to take only Kera out on a run.  This was the first time I have taken her out alone, without Biscuit.  It was a shock, but it went GREAT!!!!  There was some intermittent pulling, but I’d give her a B-! She  even passed, no less than 4 dogs and about 10 people and ignored them all.  No pulling!!!  Her heeling still needs a lot of work, but this run really gave me hope that she will make a good running partner, she just needs a little more training and to go without Biscuit to distract her!

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Kera is freakishly flexible . . .

 Can someone turn out the light? 

Seriously, get the light 

Glamour shot: 

Here we ware watching a movie - I’m not sure Kera likes comedies . . .

But MOOOOOM, I had it first!

Unfortunately, the camera isn’t fast enough to catch her, but Kera has finally learned to play with other dogs at the park!  She mostly plays with dogs who are smaller than her or with Biscuit, but has also been joining in some awesome chase sessions and lots of tail wagging and sniffing.  She always checks in with us every 10 or 15 minutes, but she’s definitely getting her exercise and coming home exhausted!  It’s very cute to finally see her getting out there and romping with the other dogs!  She’s so graceful when she runs and jumps, a very elegant looking dog.  And nothing makes me smile as much as her play slap.  You know how dogs slap both front paws to the ground with butt high, tail wagging?  She really gives that her all!! She actually JUMPS up before landing in her stance - freakin adorable!

On the home front - Kera is ever vigilant with the squirrel watch, patrolling both while she’s in the yard as well as out the window when she’s inside.  I don’t think I’ve seen a squirrel come down from that tree in weeks.  Nothing makes her little nub wag as much as sitting at the base of the tree on her daily watch (well, maybe cheese does . . .)!

On the training front - no accidents since our last post!  We’re no longer going out with her; she’s using the doggie door herself whenever needed.  It’s definitely been a load off our minds, since I no longer have to come home at lunch to keep her potty schedule. 

She’s got “Sit” down like nobody’s business, today, she was MID JUMP and I gave her the sign and she was able to stop herself and sit down!  She’s also got the “wedding march” down to a science, she’s sooooo good - she puts Biscuit to shame!   I can’t wait until next week’s puppy class so that I can see how this will translate into “Heel.”  We’ve also been practicing “Shake” and “Wait” - she’s about 50/50 on these two, but we’re going to keep working. 

Just had to come on here and post that Kera DOMINATED the “Wedding March.”  For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, this is basically the lead up to heeling.  The dog has to sit every time you stop walking and has to sit at your side.  Kera got this in ONE NIGHT.  Cheese is a powerful motivator.  (for reference, we’ve been working on this with Biscuit for about 2 weeks without real success). 

On the down side, the rain kept the dogs inside all day and I wasn’t able to get home at lunch to let them out due to an emergency at work.  I feel so bad!  I ruined her streak!  Kera had her first accident in about 2 weeks =(  8 hours is definitely her limit.  We’re trying to figure out a game plan for winter.  It’s not ideal to let them have free access to our muddy backyard all day and then free run in the house - it’s a recipe for frustration . . . 

Today was my grandmother’s 92nd birthday and we had a big family party.  Kera LOVED it!!! She was really enjoying all the attention.  The whole family was there and she took turns snuggling with everyone.  EVERYBODY loved her.  They kept saying “aw, you guys should keep her!”  It was hard to say “we think she’ll find a forever family that will love her just as much if not more.”  She spent a good part of the evening laying on the floor with the kids (ages 4, 6 and 9) they just couldn’t get enough of her soft ears and Kera soaked up all the attention, calmly tolerating all the excitement and hugs from excited children.  Even when Biscuit was searching for a way to snag the last piece of cake when no one was looking, Kera just snuggled up with my grandmother on her wheelchair.  It was very adorable and it really made my grandma’s birthday extra special.  She loves Kera and told me several times how nice it was to have a dog who wanted to snuggle with her and wasn’t afraid of the wheelchair =)  I was so happy that Kera was  here to share in the festivities.  When it was time to leave, several people picked up her leash and said “time to take our new dog home,”  everyone was wishing they could keep her!  What a sweetheart.  Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera, but I’ll try to get some pictures from someone and get them up.   

An update on the training.  We are increasing Kera’s freedom bit by bit and I’m happy to say that she’s still housebroken!!!  In the morning, she patiently waits by the door to be let out to go to the bathroom!! YAY!!!  She’s got “sit” down like nobodys business and will even do it without the treat now!! Unfortunately we had to give up on “down,”  she just would not be lead down, for some reason she’d rather let the treat move away than follow it to the ground.  So after weeks of trying, we decided to switch to “shake” she kind of seems to be picking this one up.  She makes it easy because she points at whatever she’s interested in, so if she’s interested in the treat in your hand - so easy to grab the paw! 

The dogs are now wrestling over a sock in the livingroom so I’ve got to run - more updates to come! 

Here’s a picture of tonight’s PUPPY PILE!!!!!

We took Kera to dinner with us tonight at an outdoor cafe.  Unfortunately, no camera.  It went pretty well, but she did get scared every time the waiter came.  I think she needs more practice going out.  She was skittish the whole time.  

On a happier note, no accidents since our last post, “sit” has become very consistent when she wants something and we’ve started working on “down” to which she seems very resistant - she’s not really into the idea of holding still =) 

We’ll we just got back from the dog park, so the house will be quiet for the next couple of hours and I thought I would come and update Kera’s progress. For one thing, she seems so much happier, she’s definitely getting comfortable here and learning to play a lot.  Here’s a couple of pics from an early morning squirrel chasing session.  This is quickly becoming a favorite activity of both her and Biscuit.  Those poor squirrels!   They used to have the run of that backyard!

Well after 5 days without an accident, I figured she was housebroken and gave her full reign of the house and yard while I was at work, and unfortunately, I think it was too soon =(  She had an accident last night and again this morning, so she’s going back to her potty schedule and limited access pass.  Once we’ve got a few more days under our belt, I’m thinking I’ll give her a little more freedom at a time and work up to the whole house and yard over time, rather than just letting her roam.  But never the less, she is MOSTLY housebroken.  She’s also getting pretty good at “SIT”  She will do it very consistently if you’ve got food and consistently when she wants to put her leash on, but she pretends not to hear me when I don’t have anything good in my hand =)  We’ve started working on “lay down,”  But so far, she’s needed to be led every time.  I’m pretty sure she’ll get the hang of it in a few days though.  Here she is showing off “SIT”:

Most exciting was her trip to the dog park today.  She actually got out there and played with a few small dogs and even chased some kids on skateboards.  She definitely is warming up there and of course, everyone loves her.    Then she fell asleep in the car laying ON TOP of Biscuit.  IT WAS SOOOOO CUTE!  We were able to snap a quick pic.  It woke her up, but she fell right back asleep. 

It’s been 2 weeks as of today that we’ve had Kera and we’ve really enjoyed having her around, Biscuit I think most of all.  We’re starting to get sad thinking about her moving on to her forever home because we will really miss her, but I know it will be for the best for her and that she’ll find a really great home.  We would love to see Kera go to someone who would let her sleep on the bed with them.  She’s really such a snugglebug and her absolute favorite place to be is on the bed or couch with us.  We don’t actually let her sleep in our bed though; she’s in a dog bed right next us, but I think she would really love it if she could find someone who wanted to snuggle as much as she does.  She’s really good at “OFF” though, so it’s easy to let her up on the furniture and have her make way when you want to join her, or maybe if some guest isn’t a dog person (we don’t know any of those people though).  She loves laying on our laps as we watch a movie, read a book, or work on updating her blog =).  Those velvety ears and big beautiful eyes are hard to resist!

Dare I jinx it, but I think she’s housebroken!  Day 4 is coming to an end accident free!!  Sit is getting more consistent and she’s out on a practice “heeling” lesson right now!!!

Today I gave her a rawhide “bone,”  she ran around the house so excited wagging her stubby little tail and prancing about.  Biscuit caught on and started chasing.  It didn’t last too long though because I had opened a can of dog food in the kitchen and Biscuit quickly lost interest in the bone.  As soon as Biscuit looked away, Kera high-tailed it to the couch.   She crouched down low so no one would see and looked around to make sure no one was watching (she didn’t see bobby glancing up from his book) Then she pushed the bone deep into the couch cushion.  She looked around again - all clear, then used her paw to move the cushion around a bit.  Once she was satisfied that it couldn’t be seen, she trotted back to the kitchen - so proud of herself!  She’s sooooo cute - who buries a bone in the couch?!  Really wish I would have gotten a picture!

Well, Kera is back from the spay and doing well. She can’t exercise for 10 days, so that will be tough on all of us, but her house-breaking is going very well; she hasn’t had an accident all weekend. She must be getting adjusted to us because she slept on me on the couch all afternoon while I was making phone calls. Oh yeah, and I finally caught her pointing when I had a camera!