Mohawk

Meet Mohawk (Mo for short)! This adorable pup will be spayed on June 21, and available for adoption on June 28.

Crate trained: Yes, in large wire crates with plenty of room to move around and a couple of fairly indestructible toys. We feed her in her crate and do 20 min rest after food, she will not soil her crate unless too much time goes by before we get her outside, although she will play in her water bowl and spill it all over the crate. She sleeps in a large airline crate at night next to our bed, willingly goes into any crate to rest during the day, and generally associates crates with "good things". We've never used the crate for punishment or extended confinement so she doesn't usually cry or whine in the crate unless she really has to go potty, then she'll do her best to let you know (pace, whine, and finally treat you to a few sharp barks) before she goes.

Animal Interaction Observations: Gets along with 90lb M GSD after a patient 3 day introduction period including slowly increasing interaction. Now they play constantly or sleep next to each other. They play tug, keep away, and roughhouse, and have a good time. They are not left alone together, all interactions are supervised because of their size difference, but we've never had to intervene. They play and walk well together. Unless she's with the big dog, she likes to bark when she first goes out the door for a walk, yaps at nothing for a while, and then settles down to the business of going potty and walking. She loves to carry a toy or a stick when she walks, and if she gets distracted by sniffing, she loves it if you kick the toy or stick to her.

No cat, small dog, or small animal interaction to report on. Squirrels catch her attention, but so far she hasn't tried to chase them, she just notices there's another animal running down the sidewalk. All interaction between animals should be supervised at all times.

Child Interaction Observations: She is curious about small humans and wants to explore with her mouth (as all puppies do) so some kids love her and roll on the grass playing with her and don't care about her little puppy teeth, and some kids don't feel comfortable at all. She wants to play with everyone, and some kids respond to that and some do not. All interaction between animals and children should be closely supervised by the child's parent/guardian and dog owner/guardian at all times.

Adult Interaction Observations: She can be barky at people she does not know, or she can run up and want to play, or she can simply ignore them, she's young enough to not know quite what to think of people yet, so it's a case by case basis whether she's barky, warm, or standoffish. Regardless, after a few pats and ear fluffs, she wants to play with everyone. She seems to like both men and women and just has a preference for adult humans who will play with her or pet her and speak nicely to her.

Other: She responds very well to tone of voice, appreciates praise, pets, soft reassurance, and she likes to sleep under your feet when you're working. She does all the normal puppy things like unwinding toilet paper, getting into the trash if there's no lid, and finding every loose thread on every rug or piece of furniture, however she understands sharp NO or HEY or LEAVE IT (although sometimes she just ignores the Leave It part), and most certainly understands a spray bottle with water which she associates with an "Absolute No" behavior. She knows "crate" for feeding time and rest time, and she responds nicely to "sit" and "wait" when we come in from a walk so I can unhook her leash. She's very food motivated and learns well and quickly when there's a piece of kibble as a reward. She's walked on a leash since she was 7-8 weeks old, and on some walks, she drags you along as if there is some really important deadline to meet and you are slowing her down, and on some walks, she's content to trot beside you and take in the sights and carry her toy or stick. In this heat, she prefers grass, and she likes to find shady spots and plop down and watch things go by or chew a stick. Her favorite walks are in the early morning and early evening when she gets to go out with her big buddy, and they enjoy competing for sticks, chasing toys, and he usually lets her take whatever it is away from him so she has a sense of accomplishment when she gets it and trots around showing off her prize. A new fun activity is to play tennis, she loves to chase the tennis balls back and forth across the court, and if you don't have a ball, she'll usually bring one to you to toss to her. She and the big dog like to compete for the balls... he's much faster but now and then she wins!

She has a delightful, happy personality, she's an intrepid explorer, be sure to lock the top and bottom hinge on crates. Don't expect her to be stupid and don't get mad at her for her intelligence, she sees everything, but she also learns what she's not supposed to do if she's trained with positive reinforcement and a repeated word (No Paw, Off, Wait, etc.). She sees and learns everything you and other dogs do. Potty training is going well, no accidents for the whole week of June 12th. So long as she gets plenty of opportunities to go outside and pee, she doesn't go in the house. She doesn't really like the potty bell, she'd rather run over and sit near the door and stare at you, that's her signal that "I have to go mom, now". A regular schedule of food, water, potty trips and walks/play helps a lot too, she learns the schedule and is good at sticking to it.

Note: She is a puppy, she plays with shoes, shoestrings, socks, toys, and just about anything she can get her little paws on, so her human will need to be careful to put away important things like TV remotes and expensive shoes. She can be trained not to bother these things, but her human will need to invest the time and positive reinforcement for this training, and she should not be disciplined for your mistake.

She's been vetted, wormed, examined, is on HW Prev., and will be spayed on 6/21. Her stool is solid on Royal Canin although we do some endosorb and pro-pectalin (non-prescription) as needed when we introduce a new treat or a taste of the big dog's food. She's had several formal baths, claws clipped, ears cleaned, and gets her teeth brushed every night before bed (a very important part of doggy hygiene). She loves to play in the water bowl so put a towel under it, and she did really well with her wonderful temp foster for 2 weeks while we were unavailable. She just really loves people who are nice to her, play with her, and pet or brush her, she loves gentle petting and brushing. We expect she will grow into a moderate-energy adult, and will integrate into the routine of a loving and positive home.

If you are interested in being considered as Mohawk's forever home, please fill in an application and our wonderful volunteers will process it as timely as possible.