Judy

Words from Judy's Foster: Judy’s history is unknown as she was rescued as a starving stray from a northern community. As far as we know, she has never had a home.

Judy is estimated to be around 4 years old but her energy and behaviour are more typical of a younger dog. She loves to play non-stop with her foster brother and enjoys stealing your shoes when you walk in the door. Once she trusts you, she will lean against you for pets and will roll over for belly rubs.

Judy is kennel trained and will sleep through the night, usually from about 10pm to between 6 and 7am. She is quiet in her kennel and goes in easily if you throw a treat in for her. She also is more than happy to sleep on your bed for the night. She is house trained, having only 2 urinary accidents in the house during the first couple of weeks as a foster, and this may have been due to an undiagnosed chronic UTI for which she has now been treated.

Judy is kennelled during the day if we have to go out for an hour or two but I have tested her for short periods, and I believe eventually, she could be fine to free range. She did take a bite out of my coffee table early on, and she tried biting fibres of the rug but she responded to a firm ‘no’ the first or second day, but she hasn’t shown any further destructive tendencies. While camping, she might walk by the garbage pail and grab a piece of wrap or whatever, but it’s like the shoes - more of a game where she holds it in her moth and trots away. She certainly has had lots of opportunity to dig on the garbage overnight while camping as she’s not kennelled in the camper, and she leaves it alone.

Judy has shown so much growth in the 5 weeks she’s been in our home. At first, she was completely terrified of everything and everyone. She would drop to her belly and freeze, or roll onto her back in a submissive state. She would try to make herself invisible. She has now developed trusting relationships with me, my husband and our dog. She has learned how to sit and lay down. She has learned to sit and stay while her food is set out for her. She is learning to stay and wait for the command to go rather than rushing out the door. In just a few short weeks, she has come from laying on her belly and refusing to move to walking on leash nicely about 60% of the time. She will continue to gain confidence in this area with more work. She still gets afraid at sudden loud noises and will either stop in her tracks and refuse to move, or she will try to flee by lunging and pulling on the leash. She will also sometimes get so busy following her nose that she will refuse to go in the direction you need her to go and treats are required to lure her along.

Judy needs more work to stop jumping on us. At first, she would jump on us constantly, especially if we had food in our hands. She will also jump on our backs, so it’s necessary to always be aware of where Judy is to avoid a surprise knock down. She is learning that she does not get food and she does not get attention when she jumps, but if she sits or lays down, she will get a treat or affection. She is learning that keeping her feet on the floor is a better option. The jumping behaviour has decreased by about 50% over the past few weeks.

Another area of growth is name recognition and recall. She will come when called about 70% of the time, and with more work, she will have a solid recall. We’ve been able to successfully let her run off leash in a safe location.

One area that I am concerned about is Judy’s discomfort around family/friends coming into our space. She has barked and growled at visitors and has done some minor charging actions when visitors walk by her. Judy did not warm up to my 9 year old niece, even after 4 days of camping together. She would be leery of taking treats from her, and would shy away from attempted pets. Judy needs ongoing support to learn she can trust a wider circle of humans.

Given Judy’s strength and her wariness around other people, I would not recommend families with young kids. I also have observed that Judy is quite focussed on rabbits/squirrels when on walks and she will try to lunge at them when on leash so you have to be on guard or you’ll be pulled off your feet.