Soogaii

Where do I begin?? My heart is so full of love and I feel more lucky every day to have her in my life. She is kooky, she is silly, she is playful, she is a handful, and she is so full of love. She is also just the best, most amazing dog, and although 5 months at the shelter is a really long time, I'm so glad that she waited for us.

As to be expected, she has a few things to work on! We have had adventures with counter surfing, car chasing, over-exuberant greetings, furniture hurdling, indoor soiling accidents, mirrors, vacuums, brooms, and pulling on leash. Wow - she sounds like a nightmare! But really, her gentle, sweet, loving & pleasing disposition wipes all of that away. And she learns super fast! Every day sees her getting more comfortable and understanding the nature and expectations of where she now lives. The accidents were only on day one, she is calming down more every day which helps with her greetings and curiosity, and a chest-ring harness and long daily walks have improved her pulling on leash. Mirrors are understood now (did you know that it's not another dog who has snuck up on her?!), and she has learned quickly and easily which furniture is okay for dogs and which is not. Although, apparently she thought the hood of the car in the garage made a good lookout when we were working in there one day!

She is in heaven with many toys, frequent puzzle toys throughout the day, and loads of reward-based training to tire her little brain out. In fact, years now since I packed up my dog training business, she has gotten me re-interested in training and dusted off my old skills. She is so paw-oriented and a heavy sniffer, I see some great scent-training and dog-dancing opportunities for us to come!

The introduction with our old dog has gone so well. We are still progressing slowly with baby steps, but he has now approached her several times with a beautiful friendly low tail wag to smell her and check her out -- a big step for him (he is 15 y.o., deaf, missing an eye, and had dog-dog aggression as a young dog)! And while on the first two days she was a freak, near-screaming in anticipation of greeting him (she did NOT get to, not like that), she now senses his unease and hesitancy and sits for him quietly, watching but not moving to him -- which is perfect. Lots of praise, attention, and treats for this! I'm so glad, because I was unsure if she would be too much for him, but she clearly reads other dogs and can adjust her bhx appropriately. This could have been developed during her time at the shelter, or it could have always been within her. She is an amazing dog. Maybe she can even be involved in helping fearful dogs adjust in the future: a training dog. 

Next door we have a 3 y.o. gentle giant (another Yukon special) who is dying to play with her... they will have their first play date soon. That will be great for them both to get excess energy out, something her older brother will not be able to do.

Anyway...TLDR! Hope this gives you a peek into how this special girl is doing. She belongs. And I couldn't love her any more... and yet somehow every day -- every HOUR -- I do. <3