Foster Feedback 11/23/16

Meet Brooklyn! She is an active little girl who loves to play fetch. She has adjusted very quickly into her foster home and has become a fun member of the family!   

People:  She does great with strangers, she may bark for a moment as they walk up but she is all tail wags after that.  She does not show any aggression with new people and is not afraid of anyone.  The youngest child in the foster home is 13 and she does great with him and his friends.  She also sleeps in his bed every night. She will whine or bark some when she hears the rest of the family still awake but quiets for the night when the rest of the household is in bed.

Animals:  Brooklyn is doing perfect with the many animals in the foster home. 

DOGS:  She currently has 2 large dogs that she is living with and she loves to wrestle, chase and nap with them.  The only issue that her foster has found is that, like many dogs, Brooklyn is resource possessive if given a bone.  If she is with another bone possessive dog, they need to be put into different rooms or kennels until the bones are gone.  Thankfully she is not possessive about toys- the dogs play tug and chase with the toys and have had zero issues.  As far as food, the foster always feeds the dogs in separate rooms so they have had no issues with food aggression between Brooklyn and the resident dogs.  The foster has noticed that Brooklyn always seems to do some growling when she meets dogs but she has not been aggressive during the introductions.  She will even growl as she is reunited with the dogs in the home every morning.  Nothing ever comes of it so it seems to be her way of saying hello. 

CATS:  Brooklyn is doing great with the multiple adult cats in the home.  She does not chase them or bother them after the initial meet.  She loves small kittens but probably shouldn't be trusted alone with them or similar small animals.  She seems to have the small animal chase/herding instinct and has had only closely supervised visits with them.  

Kenneling: The foster has never had to kennel Brooklyn because she is a very good girl when they are gone.  She has not destroyed anything in the household or had any accidents and she is able to go from 7am-4pm without having any accidents.  She also sleeps from 10pm-7am without having to go outside.   

Training: Brooklyn seems to have minimal training.  She will only sit if she knows you have a treat.  She is a very smart dog and would probably pick up and benefit from basic training and/or agility training.  She also will need some training on the leash.  She will pull when walked on the leash and because she is only 33 pounds it is easy to control her but it would be better if she was worked with so she had leash manners.  She also seems to get a bit anxious on car rides.  She will whine and go from window to window unless a window is open for her.  She would benefit from some exposure therapy of taking her places often in the car or some longer trips in hopes that she would realize that a car ride can be a relaxing and enjoyable thing to do.