Sally

SALLY WAS ADOPTED JANUARY 11, 2001!

THIRD UPDATE:

Sally is doing very well. She has us wrapped around her little paw. We can't seem to remember life before her. We've all settled into a little routine. Actually, Shawn has her out on a walk right now. She's become quite the Daddy's little girl. After he leaves in the morning, she flops down by the door with a very dramatic sigh and will stay there until she's sure he's really gone. I thought she might do that after I left to run errands, but when I came back, I found her sacked out on the couch with her fluffy bone. She was very meek as she got off the couch, but I have the feeling that is her usual hangout when no one is around. She's restricted to the family room when no one is home and she does very well with that. At night she still sleeps in her crate to give the cats a little break, but she seems to still like it. We're hoping that she won't need it too much longer. They are all getting along pretty well, but the cats haven't figured out that if they don't run, she won't chase them.

She made her family debut last weekend. We had a family party at my Mom's . She was the hit of the party. There were about 30 people there and she did very well with them. Only once did she bark like a fiend when someone came into the house. As soon as she realized he was ok, she was his shadow for about 20 minutes. We've been doing the treat thing and that seems to help. It seems like the less we try to restrain her when someone comes, the better she is. Delivery men, service men, etc., we just avoid altogether, but otherwise she's been allowed to greet people.

This dog is a heartbreaker. We can't thank you enough for bringing her into our lives.

SECOND UPDATE:

Thanks for the tips about Sally. Since I've last written, we've only fallen more in love with her. She's getting settled into a little routine. The past few days have been WONDERFUL!! She and Shawn spent the day together today. They went out to the pet shop where she proceeded to make friends with everyone in the store, men included. Shawn couldn't get over how well behaved she was. She's asleep on the floor right now with her squeaky bone. She's pretty tired from her big day out! I'll keep you posted on how she's doing.

FIRST UPDATE:

Hi! First of all, let me say, we LOVE her!! She is the sweetest little thing. She and I spent the day together Friday getting to know each other. We played outside, went for a few walks and took a road trip to visit a friend of mine. My friend has a 2 year old and we couldn't get over how good Sally was with him! She was either very sweet to him or completely ignored him.

The only trouble we've had is with her interactions with some men. The first was my friend's husband. He's a very tall man and when she met him she barked like crazy. The second time a friend of Shawn's came over to our house on Saturday night and her first reaction was to bark like crazy. She eventually settled down and became their friend, but she seemed to have a similar reaction when they left. We are not 100% sure how to correct her when she gets like this, but we realize that she's been through a lot lately, so we're hoping this will all settle down. She listens very well, except for those two occcasions. Is there anything that you can suggest that would help us help her through this adjustment period?

The cats are slowly coming out to inspect her. One of them has showed her who's boss, so she's giving him a lot of space. The other two don't quite know what to make of her yet, so they are sticking to the back of the house. Shawn bought her some new toys, so she had a very busy day playing with them.

Overall, we are very pleased with how things are going. How can anyone not fall in love with her!?!? I'll keep you updated an how she's doing. As soon as we get some pictures developed, I'll send them along.

Thanks so much for bringing her into our lives.

SALLY'S STORY

Sally, a 2 year old, 31 pound smooth-coated collie mix, had been adopted from us previously. Her new owner absolutely adored her. Sally had started obedience school with the intention of becoming a certified therapy dog. Everything was going very well until Sally's new owner suddenly became very ill. No longer able to care for Sally with surgery and long-term hospital stays looming in the future, the agonizing decision was made to return Sally to us so we could find her another home.

Sally's owner shares the following information about Sally:

Here are just a few details about her that might be helpful. I realize that her next humans will probably do things differently but they may find it helpful if they know what she is used to.

Her Great Points:

-she doesn't jump up on people

-doesn't go on the furniture

-doesn't chew things around the house

-doesn't pull when walked

-knows her name and learned it quickly

-loves to play in the yard with tennis balls and go for walks in the park

-she's great in the car...just sits or lays down in the back seat

-seems to get along with other dogs fine

-responds to training rapidly and knows to "sit" and seems to know "stay". If she picks up an object that you don't want her to have just say "drop it" and she will.

-She wants to please you!

-She responds to a normal tone of voice so you don't have to scream at her to get her to listen. Those huge beautiful ears must provide her with incredible hearing.

-She is house trained! If she cries to go out, trust her, she's not lying. She is incredibly smart and if you listen to what she is telling you, you will not have an accident in the house. Like I said she doesn't lie!! and is definitely very well house trained!!!) We did not have one accident in the house during a very severe case of diarrhea because I trusted her cries.

Schedule:

-We have been going on walks every morning around 8:30 and every night around 9 or 10. In mid afternoon she goes out in the backyard to "go" if she has to.

-She has been getting fed a little more than a cup of Iams (lamb and rice) in the morning after her walk and the same quantity in the evening between 4-6. (Around 2 1/4 cups total per day.)

-She needs lots of exercise. We've been taking walks in the parks or playing in the back yard. She is a great companion and a lot of fun.

-When I tell her it's time for bed we go to her crate and she willingly goes in.

-She was crated when no one was home with her. We were going to try to eliminate crating but hadn't yet.

Training:

-We went to the first obedience session and there are 7 more left. Since we already paid for the classes, her new humans could probably take her to the rest of the classes.

She is just an incredible dog. Hopefully she will find a great home and her next humans will love her as much as we do. We only had her three weeks but I love her deeply. We bonded quickly so she may miss me for a few days until she bonds with her new humans.

I am so sorry to see her go.

Please love her.

SALLY'S STORY:

Somebody moved out of their apartment and abandoned Sally there with a litter of 7 puppies. They were all taken to the shelter where the puppies were adopted out, leaving Sally behind. She has now been sprung from the shelter, after being there for 10 months, and is in a foster home. Sally is about 2 years old, weighs 31 pounds and has a very sweet personality. In fact, our veterinarian said that if he had room for another dog at home, he would take her in a heartbeat. Sally is so grateful to be out of the shelter that she will sit in front of her foster mom with a look on her face as if she is saying "thank you". As soon as she is told to go to her crate, she immediately runs in and remains quiet while crated. She gets along great with other dogs and cats. Sally has now been spayed so she won't ever have to do the puppy thing again.