Rue is one rad Pomeranian!
She has the most beautiful red/mahogany colored hair and her tail is so fluffy she can dust your coffee table in under 3 wags! Rue is excellent with other dogs, and would LOVE to have some dog siblings in her new home.
She is gorgeous and a star in the making. She can belittle shy at first, but once she gets to know you, she reveals her sweet and friendly personality. Rue is hoping to find a great family with other dogs.
Here are some notes from her foster:
Rue has a beautiful fuzzy butt, and likes being told so! She likes being talked to in general, and will even chime in with little “roofs” here and there. She loves long walks, now that she’s not so afraid of cars after gradual exposure therapy. Rue has quite the bit of energy for a senior! She tolerates grooming well, except for scissors (around her head and feet), and clippers but we’re working on desensitization.
Her first few weeks here were really rough, but she has a lot of love to give. I’ve been working with her nearly every day on things that make her fearful and she’s made great progress. Rue will adjust to limited and controlled exposure to the things that make her fearful. That being said, she will most likely regress some in her fur-ever home, however for a fur-ever home with experience, they can pick up right where we leave off. If she is allowed to hide for the rest of her life, she will, so we need to have the experience to lead her out of her hiding space with love and confidence.
Her triggers are predictable, which is a strength. It means that there can be targeted and repeated gentle, gradual exposure to those feared or reactive things and they subside over time!
Rue may not like anyone to start, but if the family gets on the same page and uses their experience to work with her every day, I believe the fur-ever family will be successful. We are prioritizing fearful behavior like fear pee-ing and poo-ing and potty training. Rue does exhibit some excitement piddling. She will only nip when she feels (or actually is!) cornered and has no other option. She is not reliably potty or pee pad trained yet, and she will fearfully urinate and deficate often until she feels safe which can be a few weeks to months. Rue is learning that leashes and harnesses are for fun walks, but that took a few days. Belly Rubs are her favorite when she trusts you, and she will even give you a toothy grin while you give belly scritches! We are also working on basic obedience (sit, stay, come here, kisses, potty training).She also responds favorably to a game I’ve coined “Stompy Feets”. I’ve put it on cue, because she responds to it so well that if I pick her up after a few rounds of “Stompy Feets” turning into belly rubs, she doesn’t fear pee. The “Stompy Feets” game is me sitting on the kitchen floor, with a pee pad on the floor just in case of leaks, and gently tapping the palm of my hand on the floor. She will come out of her playpen and stomp her feet on my hands and then I’ll put my other hand on her paw, and she’ll stomp her other paw on the floor and we just go back and forth until she turns over on her belly, then I pet her belly, rinse and repeat until she’s like like, “just belly rubs, please!”
