Bailey has been with us since this weekend. She is an amazing dog and has a lot of life ahead of her! She will turn one year old in March. When Bailey arrived here, the first thing we noticed is she walked into the house and met our female dog very well. They gave doggy kisses to each other and were happy to say hello. She met our male dog well too, but was more submissive towards him. She actually did a semi-belly crawl toward him to say hello. All introductions went well. She also passed our cat test. We have one cat and she met her with no problems. I trust her 100% with our cat and don’t think she would harm her. Bailey also met our two children, ages 6 and 9, very well. She walked toward them and immediately sat by them waiting for pets. While she has jumped up on us a couple of times, she has not jumped up on our kids. She is quite gentle by them and they do not worry about her knocking them over at all.
Bailey has absolutely no resource guarding and we have seen no signs of aggression with her. In fact, she tolerates a younger dog here very well who is constantly stealing her toys, bones and trying to get in her food when we eat. Bailey will simply turn her head and walk away. If Roxy 13-400 does get her toy or in her food, Bailey walks away and looks at us saying, “Help!”
Bailey often has something inappropriate in her mouth, when she gets the chance. We keep kid toys and extra things fairly well picked up, but if given the chance, she will grab a sock, dig in the garbage or grab a shoe. I wouldn’t put it past her to eat these things if it isn’t noticed that she has them. She is constantly chewing on something and it is our job to make sure they are appropriate, safe toys. The foster home she was at before had to put away rope like toys after she consumed a piece of one and we only have our tug ropes when we are supervising play. We haven’t had her counter surf yet here, but it was reported that she did in her temp foster home.
Bailey loves to play, play, play and is always the last dog standing in terms of energy. At times, she can play rough with the dogs, but when they give her a signal that they have had enough, she always listens and backs off. She loves to play chase, tug, and wrestle with them. She enjoys playing fetch with her humans and I would imagine she would be great at playing “hide and go seek” with a toy.
Bailey is more of a velcro type dog. She is rarely found in a room without a human, unless she is very busy playing with the other dogs. She is so soft and as much as she enjoys playing and having fun, she also loves to get attention. Bailey really enjoys being brushed. With the first few strokes she acts like the brush is a toy, but she quickly settles down and stretches out on the floor and will allow me to brush her for as long as I want.
It was reported that Bailey can be mouthy at times to get someone’s attention. She has done that only 3 times since she arrived and it was very gentle. One time foster dad stopped petting her and she clearly wanted more and put her mouth on his hand. She immediately had self control, realized what she had done and took her mouth off. He got up and walked away and it hasn’t happened since. Another time she was getting her nails trimmed while at the vet. She did very well with this and did it without much restraint. The vet had her paw right in front of her and her head was not restricted in any way. Bailey put her mouth, very gently, on the vet’s hand and then immediately took it off and looked at her with her big brown eyes. The third time was with my daughter. She was just coming out of her room in the morning and Bailey was nudging her for pets. My daughter gave her one pet and then continued to walk and Bailey mouthed her hand, again very gently. My daughter knows enough to ignore that when the dog corrects it herself and she just kept walking. Bailey then sat right where she was and waited appropriately.
Bailey had another fecal test done to make sure her tapeworms were gone that she had at her very first vet appointment. The test was negative…so she needs no more medications for that. Her tongue also has mostly cleared up, after being treated for an infection. There are still some marks/colorings on her tongue and it is believed it could be from cleaning cockleburs from her fur when living outside (called cocklebur tongue).
Bailey’s bad habits that need some work:
*some slight, gentle mouthing is possible – but I trust her completely with my kids and it is very typical behavior for a dog with little training
*likes to chew things – her forever home will need to be picked up to keep her safe
*is not always the most patient at doors and needs to learn “wait” when a door opens
*needs basic obedience training to be the best dog she can be!
Bailey’s great qualities:
*does very well in her crate for up to 4 hours, then a potty break and then 4 more hours. She also is currently sleeping in a crate at night, without a sound
*is very friendly with people and kids of all kinds and sizes
*LOVES to play
*is cat, kid and dog tested…and does great with all three!
*knows “sit”
*will “sit and wait” for food
*has good recall
*responds to “no” or “drop it” when she has something inappropriate or is being mischievious
*rides well in the car
*respects gates in the house and a 4 foot fence outside
Bailey needs:
*a family to call her own who will love her and provide her guidance and training
*exercise, exercise, exercise! As she gets a bit older she would make an excellent running partner and right now she is a wonderful walking and hiking partner
*an area to run and play in. We believe that with her recall, she could be trained in an area and not run away, but that will need to be worked on.
*some very strong, tough, Bailey tested toys available that are safe for her to have (we can offer suggestions)
*obedience training with her new family – time daily spent at home working on her skills
If Bailey sounds like the dog for you, contact your placement advisor! She is a gem of a dog and we love her dearly already. Have I mentioned how soft and cuddly she is? :)
