Sarafina is a playful and bouncy young dog who graduated from foster care in December and is in our adoption room waiting for a new home! This beautiful Boston Terrier/Boxer/Stafford-shire Terrier puppy came to the shelter when her owners felt she was too vocal and was sent to a foster home when she became sick with kennel cough.
Her foster parent writes:
“When Sara came home with me, she was initially a little quiet and shy, but that lasted all of maybe two days. She did have some nervousness over new situations (like stairs or rain!) but with some guidance learned it wasn’t scary at all. She is/was very comfortable when being crated overnight and would even go in there on her own for naps during the day.
I would take her to work with me every day and she met a variety of people and “loved on them” all! She was also a great passenger in a car – you’d never think so with all her puppy excitement over everything and anything, but she was very responsible during car rides and never tried to sit on my lap while I drove – always a good thing!
My home is also infested with kitties (no idea how they got here…hrrrmmm), and the worst thing Sara did with them was try to play with them or steal their food. Somehow my cats didn’t appreciate Sara trying to play, but she didn’t ever respond badly, even after a couple of kitty smacks when she got too in-their-face. And Sara NEVER ONCE tried to eat cat poop. That in itself is a miracle! For some reason she also had some strange bond with one of my guinea pigs. I would find them nose to nose (through piggy’s cage)…just barely touching and both sniffing just being curious about each other. It was really weird, and I should have taken a picture.
Sara is extremely smart, and really treat motivated. That being said, she is also very stubborn when she wants to be. She knew the command “sit” when she came home with me, but was very sporadic on when she would listen. It took probably an hour a day for a week and she knew how to sit quite well. She also learned “lie down”, “shake” and “hi-five” in that week. When she gets confused by commands, she will do a variety of all of them until she gets her treats! I think she would be a great dog to go to an agility course with – she’s brilliant when she has fun learning! I also substituted plush squeaky toys for treats, and she loved those too.
She has also been good meeting other dogs ( okay – ONE other dog…ugh, you know those owners in Petco who INSIST their dog should sniff your dog???). A beagle met Sara head to head and I’m sure my anxiety streaming down the leash didn’t help, but Sara was a good girl and not rude. We also met a toddler at that same location on that same day who ran up yelling “DOGGGGGGGIE!!!!!” With verbal reassurance, Sara didn’t jump and was happy with the attention. Me? I needed an aspirin.
Sara didn’t bark really in my home or at the doorbell…she did bark at dogs walking by the yard a couple times and she does have a scary BIG GIRL bark when she does it. But it happened so rarely I didn’t even think it would come up.
Regarding things she still needed to work on…
- “Tells” for needing to go out. She was actually very good at pooping outside, but on peeing inside she still needed a little work. I found if I asked every few hours, “Do you need to go out?” she would go to the door if she needed to. It would have most likely been a matter of time before she understood that “telling” me she had to go was easier than waiting for me to ask.
- Mouthing/Jumping – Sara loves attention and loves people. She also did respond to corrections when being jumpy/mouthy and telling her to sit. A treat or squeaky toy always got her out of this jumpy state, and she would sit. She also submissive urinates sometimes when she first sees a person and they baby talk at her. I found ignoring her for a minute when first walking in the house did the trick.
- Walking on a leash – She does great after about a half block. But for the first half block she spins around, tries to walk herself (taking the leash), and is just generally WAY excited for a walk. After about a block, she’s fine and walks pretty much like any other dog. She probably doesn’t walk well at the ACS, because all her mind is saying OMG IM WALKING YESSSSSSSSSS!!!! (She actually got away from me one day on a walk, and I was like ACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK- SARA STOP. And she did. Scared the heck out of me.)
Honestly, if I wanted a forever dog, I’d take her in a second. In retrospect of her first adoption (and return), please understand puppies are puppies, even if they are bigger, and if you jog/run/bike lead an active lifestyle – all the better.”
If you’re interested in meeting, and potentially adopting this incredible dog, visit us any day of the week after noon to see if she’s the dog for you! For complete adoption details click here.
