Posts Tagged ‘dog adoption’

Arabella! Dog of the Week!

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

Arabella (2)

Arabella is a beautiful Border Collie (cross?) with a wonderful temperament and lovely manners.

She has only been in Waikanae a couple weeks but I expect she will be in hot demand. She gets on well with the other dogs and walks nicely on a lead. She has obviously had some previous training. The work I did with her was simply to introduce her to the clicker and help her get comfortable in her new environment. (Clicker work is a fantastic confidence builder!)

Spring is on its way already, so now is a great time to get that dog you have been wanting to keep your feet warm all winter! Arabella loves a cuddle and is a soft and gentle soul. She would love to spend time, and maybe even go to work with you!  As a Collie she will have a lot of energy, and she is not quite 2 years old, so you may want to think about doing agility, she is a quick learner and would love the exercise!

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Moe! Dog of the Week!

Sunday, July 24th, 2011

Moe (6)

Moe is a playful and sweet, 7 month old, who has been brought up in the puppy run of Newtown and has now been down in the dog run for 2 months.

He is confident and confortable playing with most other dogs and loves people. So far in training, we have practiced sit, down, focus, target, choosing to heel and stay! He really enjoys the training and is very attentive! a couple weeks back I decided to see how he was on a walk. With Moe’s confident attitude, in play and socializing, I figured he would be a bit of a lead puller, boy was I wrong!

We walked for 30 minutes around the SPCA/Newtown area and he was calm but by no means a confident puller. He stayed close to me (especially if anything surprising happened) and responded very well to the clicking for a loose lead exercises. We had a really nice walk, no barking or scared behavior, just a little unsure of the big wide world. He seemed happy and relieved to have me there to watch his back!Moe (4)

If you are thinking that Moe might be the right, new member of your family, I would suggest calling the SPCA and setting up an appointment to meet him in the play yard where you can see him at his best, then take him for a short walk to experience his more cautious side. If you meet him in his kennel, keep in mind that he has been in the stressful dog run for a while now and is not doing well in the kennel environment, not enough contact with people! He acts desperate to be let out and this can include barking, if this happens simply ask for a sit and offer him a treat and he will calm down quickly.

I think Moe will be a great dog for practically any home, but will need a fair amount of exercise (at least 2 walks a day and lots of play) for quite awhile.  If you are interested in an active dog, that will really enjoy training and maybe agility in his future!? Then get down to Newtown and check out Moe!

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Cole! Dog of the Week!

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

Cole (5)

Cole came into the Newtown SPCA at the age of 5 months and is now 7 months old. He is described on the website as a Huntaway Cross, but he is completely Tan and has a a huge notch taken out of his left ear, evidence of abuse from his previous life?

He was under protective custody for the first few weeks at the shelter until he was officially surrendered.

Personality wise he gets along really great which many of the dogs, he especially likes to hang with the younger pups  like Ted, or Veronica.

With all of the dogs at the SPCA right now, I have to admit I have only had the chance to work with Cole a couple of times in the weeks that he has been living in the kennels. Both times we have trained together he has been attentive, interested, but not pushy at all. He sits beautifully and seems very patient. He also has keen eyes that seem to look straight into your head! It isn’t a hard stare, but a look that seems to see into your soul. It almost makes me think I am looking at a Dingo or some sort of wild animal, except that he is so gentle and loves to just sit together and watch the world passDSC_0863 by.

He is going to be a tall dog no doubt, but not a big dog, he is leggy and graceful.

He is not doing well in the kennel environment because he is so social that he just wants to be with people, and interact. I don’t think he would need his new home to have someone there all the time, but someone who didn’t work full time would probably be best unless he was going to a multi-dog home.

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Tane! Dog of the Week!

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Tane (3)

Tane showed up at Waikanae SPCA a few weeks ago. I actually met him the first day he arrived so he was quite worried and paced around, wouldn’t take any treats I offered him and cried a little as he explored his new temporary home.

Still, as I sat and watched him pace and sniff, he would occasionally shuffle up next to me, give me a nose nudge and a quick lean. Then he would be off again.

A week later he was a much more relaxed dog. He had settled into his new routine and felt comfortable with the other dogs. He actually seemed to have some sort of calming affect on the other younger dogs, (although Tane is only 1 year old).

To start some training I introduced Tane to the clicker and as he realize that the click was related to what he was doing, he started to offer me, not sits, but downs! In fact I have never met a dog who is so enamoured of the ‘down’ position! If you ask for a sit you get a down, target?- down, focus?-down. And not some lazy down either but a full fledged obedience, attention giving, solid, I won;t move unless I am hit by a car DOWN.

Over the last few weeks We have worked on a few new behaviors, like sit. Tane still offers a ‘down’ first, but then has learned to fix himsTane (1)elf by sitting up from the down position, as of yet he has not mastered the art of sitting form a standing position! Although he has learned a focused eye contact (very good at this being a herding dog breed) and a pretty solid ‘target’ cue which has helped him learn to follow a hand signal and lure.

So, if you are looking for a smart, sweet, cuddly dog, who gets along well with other dogs (I have a feeling he would be very gentle with children) AND you really like a dog to LAY DOWN, then this is absolutely the right dog for you.

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