Meet Spice.
.
Or at least that’s the name she had in foster care. We’re still debating between Sorcha and Shiloh, though right now I’m leaning towards Sorcha. Feel free to add your vote in the comments. She came from Mosaic Rescue, has already had a litter of puppies though she’s likely not far out of puppyhood herself, and was on “death row” at the shelter she was in before the rescue picked her up.
She is a sweetheart. She seems to love everyone she’s met so far and isn’t phased by loud, rambunctious two year olds. She had never been with cats before but seems to be taking to ours pretty well, though we still keep a close eye on them when he’s not on his cat post. Unlike with Tipsy, she actually pays attention when he hisses or swats and knows to back down. We’re trying to keep the interactions really positive so that there is no need for hissing or swatting, but it’s happened a couple of times.
We’ve started obedience classes with her already, and they’re going well. We’ve only done one class, but she seems to pick everything up quickly. I started working on walking nicely on the leash with her too. I was going to wait until it came up in class, but it’s way too hard to walk with a two year old and a dog who’s pulling. I’ve trained dogs to heel before. It’s actually coming along not too badly. She doesn’t necessarily always heel yet (though she’s gotten pretty good at home with no distractions), but she doesn’t pull on the leash nearly as much as she used to. I brought her to Costco and sat outside with her while Kris and Meredith ran in, and she wasn’t at all phased by the loud carts rattling by and the people walking around.
She did snap at a couple of dogs the other night, which worries me a little bit, especially since the rescue we got her from told us she loves other dogs and plays really nicely, besides being a bit pushy sometimes. The trainer we have brought her to said she can see a little bit of aggression in how she interacts and watches other dogs, but that if we keep on top of it and show her how she should react it probably wouldn’t become a problem. She said there’s a difference between an aggressive dog (our last dog), and a dog who can be aggressive at times, and that the latter often just needs to learn how to play and greet dogs properly. The other night, when she did snap at a couple, I think it was just an overwhelming evening for her. There was a huge, very rude dog that bounded up to her a few times and then bounded away. Then another rude tiny dog who came yapping up to her and started snapping. She snapped back at that one. There were a few other dogs who she sniffed noses with and was okay with. Then we were walking home and there was a dog on a leash. At that point, I could tell she was feeling a bit overwhelmed and so had planned to hang back and not have her meet that dog, when I realized the other lady was coming towards us wanting them to meet. I thought to myself that I was probably just being paranoid since our last dog was so aggressive, and walked towards her for them to meet. But I know that I was tense and I’m sure she sensed that, and she sniffed noses for a minute and then snapped at him with no provocation. Since then though, she’s met a few dogs and walked by them with no problems. Our neighbour’s dog kind of attacked her last week (she wasn’t hurt, thankfully), but I hope that didn’t make her fearful at all. I’m going to talk with our trainer about it when I see her next, since she specializes in aggression. I’m not worried yet, but I certainly don’t want to do anything wrong to escalate it to the point that it does become a problem. I wish there were more enclosed dog parks around here, so I could find a quiet time to take her and let her play with just a few dogs at a time.
Luckily though, any aggression or pushiness she has is towards dogs only. She is wonderful with Meredith, and Meredith is in love with her. I often find them curled up on the couch together, or playing outside, or Meredith walking around the house with the dog following along behind. We’ve had people come to the door and she greets them quite happily. She does jump up somewhat, but we’re working on that and she’s getting much better.
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Awww she is adorable! Great photo
Hopefully the snapping won’t become an issue since that was the problem with Tipsy…
Oh my goodness! You got her! I saw her on the site and I wanted her. She is sooo pretty, glad she is in a good home.
Alice, I’m not too worried atm. Her snapping is completely different from Tipsy aggressing. She doesn’t turn her brain off and if I tell her to leave it she will generally stop right away. Tipsy literally turned part of her brain off when she saw other dogs so it was difficult, if not impossible, to get through to her. (That’s the way our behaviourist described it.) She was also fearful and shy and snapped at people. The new dog (I really need to pick a name!) is definitely not fearful or shy at all.
Natalie, she’s gorgeous, even more so in person. We are thrilled with her and I so hope she does well here. I can’t wait to start agility with her.
Natalie, not sure if you’ll read this but I also wanted to mention that I love your blog and have been reading it for a while now, but I can’t comment. Neither my OpenID nor my WordPress ID work, even though I have accounts in both of those.
Thanks! I’m not sure what is up with the comment section. My mother in law said she has the same problem. I’m going to message blogspot and ask them to look into it. Maybe try again in a week or so.
PS I like the new name, Sorcha. How was the adoption process? Are you continuing to see the vets at McKenzie Vet or do you see someone else?
We don’t really have a regular vet right now. I used to go to Glanford Animal Hospital because a vet I worked with in Calgary was there, but she’s gone on permanent maternity leave as of a few years ago and I haven’t found another vet that’s respectful of our choices to raw feed and minimally vax. Janet from Mosaic gave me the name of a couple of vet clinics that she said are supportive of those things though and so when it comes time we’ll try one of them. The adoption process was smooth, and much faster than we expected! It would have been even faster if we hadn’t gone away to Kelowna.
Yeah vets can be as tough as your own docs. I will say (though she might not have even included them on the list) don’t go to McKenzie Vet if you want to raw feed and minimally vax. They are good vets but not really into owners making their own decisions about what’s best for their pets. I honestly feel that they will try to pressure you to change your mind. Hillside Vet has a doc who might be more understanding. If you need any info, I can look back through my notes and see if I can help.
Cute dog!
I don’t think your dog is being aggressive. I have 2 dogs and one is reactive with other dogs but the other one who is very sweet and sociable will tell other dogs off is they are too bouncy/rude!
I have a pet corrector and if I see a dog coming towards then that I am not happy is looking friendly/calm I will use that to stop the other dog rather thanmy dogs having to defend themselves. Hope this helps!
Thanks Stephanie. That pet corrector looks interesting, I’d never heard of those before. I may have to look into them further as I hate it when rude dogs come tearing up to us! Our trainer says she is a little bit dog aggressive, but not anything that we won’t be able to handle. It’s more like she’s a teenager and testing her boundaries! I’ve had a couple of private sessions with her and it doesn’t concern me at all. For the most part she’s super sweet and wonderful.