Scout

Max

Josie was adopted from AGSDR in 2006.  Her mom sent this update to Josie's (now Gretta) foster mom (we've included some of the pics she sent, also):

Attached are some pictures of Gretta.  She is doing wonderful.  The first three pictures are my day with Gretta.  When I take a bath, brush my teeth or get dressed!  Another picture is what happened to the poor pumpkin that we left outside for a little while with Gretta before we carved it!  Gretta carved it for us!  Then there is Gretta with out cocker spaniel, Lady.  Also Gretta with her Labrador buddy, Luna.  When Luna comes over to play, Gretta is exausted  when she leaves. 

The last picture is Gretta with the water hose wrapped around her.  SHE LOVES WATER and she loves to chase the water hose.  She has learned to catch a ball in her mouth and she loves to play keep away and more importantly, she loves to be chased.  I will toss her the ball to catch, then she will run away, sit down and drop it.  When you get close enough to get it, she quickly picks it up and runs.  She could play this game all day!  She loves to go with me on rollerblades. Gretta and the cocker spaniel, Lady, go full blast for the first 1/2 mile! 

Also, Gretta has FINALLY learned to go up and down the stairs (this happened just last week!)  The first couple of times, she crashed at the bottom, but she has learned some graceful landings!  As you can tell, there is nothing disabled at all about Gretta. We are still working on her "mouthiness" and I wish I knew a way to keep her from licking and waking us up at night without crating her!   She has also gained 7 pounds and she looks great!  Gretta says "hi" and sends you and your wonderful family lots and lots of doggie kisses!

Mario, Melonie, Tristan, Lissy, and Keely Martinez

Well, it hasn't been without interesting events for the first five hours. We departed the kennels at about 8:30pm with a full belly of dog food and about a half a dozen of nacho cheese flavored corn nuts.  That was my cheat to make sure she would be at least a bit interested and investigate me after being given freedom to run in the training area.  Combine those stomach ingredients with traveling farm to market roads at the posted speed limit and poor alignment on I35 to north of Temple and a transport kennel still leaning against the garage door in Mckinney and well, you get one gacking dog.  What a mess she made. 

We then stopped an hour outside of Dallas to wake up and while I had her on lead in a coma like daze, I realized too late she was eating large quantities of grass to settle her stomach.  She then gacked all the way into Dallas.  My back seat could qualify as a hazardous waste superfund site.  At least today for a weigh in at the clinic, she was quite pleased to hang as much of her muzzle as would fit out the crack in the window.  Btw, this dog has been no stranger to the feed bowl.  She came in a tad under 80lbs.

When I looked at the alarm clock, it was 12:40am this morning.  My son got up to see Syndey, who immediately attached herself to his leg like she had known him all her life.  Washed every part of his exposed skin.  You can beat the tar out of me why she was sucking up to him, a complete stranger, so much.  HE pronounced her to be a good dog.  Before I went to bed, I did allow Luci and Syndey to meet each other through a crack in the door.  They took turns slobbering over one another's muzzle.  Overall with us she is acting like a sponge for the attention.  She is just sucking it up.

This morning I introduced them again and then took them into the back yard. There was the customary sniffing, licking, more sniffing and more licking but no aggressive behavior.  Syndey and Luci took turns flipping on their back allowing the other to sniff.  Almost like trying to out do the other on the degree of submissiveness each could display.  Luci brought over one of her pull toys and shoved it to Syndey.  Syndey didn't do anything so Luci laid down and pushed it to Sydney with her nose.  She does this to us all the time but I never expected her to behave that way to another dog. 

The cat did one of her magic appearing tricks.  Instant cat where a second ago there was none.  Syndey didn't appreciate this, but I somehow got a firm correction in and she settled down.  This is going to take some attentive work.  It also did not help that Squishy was puffed up and ready to show Syndey who is alpha in the house.  Stupid delusional cat.

Luci is an exuberant dog.  She is a happy exuberant dog convinced everyone and everything she meets is, should be, or has been a life-long friend and playmate.  Syndey sometimes is intimidated by her. (When I have Luci out and she goes into those "I'm running as fast as I can" fits, I'm intimidated when she barrels in on an collision course with my knees)  Luckily Luci will shift focus to me when I tell her to stop, sit, or down. 

I haven't observed any issues that make me think she is going to be a problem dog.  She is exceptionally sweet and mild.  She lacks confidence but only time will overcome that.  A little on the sticky side when it comes to attention, but I think that also will decrease once she realizes it is always available if she decides to display appropriate behavior.  All in all, I can't be more happy or pleased.  At her age she is past the really hard discovery stage of a young puppy but not too old that she can't establish a cement-like bond with us.  My wife only asked one question, "Why would someone give up a dog like this?"  I simply said, "Some people should only have pets that are kept in bowls filled with water."