GRACIE AB#18-057 – F, 1 Year 6 Months

GRACIE AB#18-057 – F, 1 Year 6 Months

FOSTER NAME: Gracie

GENDER: Female

AGE:      18 months; DOB  3/17/17

WEIGHT: 38 pounds

COLOR: Lemon Belton

BREED: English Setter

SOCIALIZATION/TRAINING: Gracie was a much loved and very well taken care of family pet.  Her family surrendered her to Above & Beyond to find her a better living situation due to an unplanned move and having to live with extended family.  She is very happy, friendly and smart.  She comes when called (unless she is hunting frogs), knows how to sit, shake and give you a high five.  She is protective of her space and barks when she sees people outside our house or the car.  We are careful when we pass people when we are out for a walk but most of the time she pays no attention and trots right on past.

GOOD WITH CHILDREN:  Yes with older children.  She is still learning not to jump up on people when she gets excited so I would worry about her knocking a young child down.  She is still full of puppy exuberance and is always ready to play so at times you need to slow her down. 

GOOD WITH DOGS:  Yes, she is wonderful with dogs that are her size and smaller.  She loves to play hard and would do well with a family with another playful pup.  I would introduce her slowly to larger dogs as she might be overwhelmed and scared.  We have had a couple of situations where Gracie and our young setter have gotten overly excited and I felt were too aggressive with one another.  Once I stepped in and calmed everyone down they were back to their usual good-natured selves.

GOOD WITH CATS:  Our dog sitter has cats and she reports that Gracie is fine with her dog savvy cats but would worry about Gracie being in a house with cats that were not wise to young dogs.

HOUSE TRAINED: Yes, she is good about letting you know when she needs to go outside.  She will urinate but will not have a BM while on the leash.

LEASH TRAINED: Yes, but she does pull when she sees something interesting.  She loves her walks and would be wonderful for someone who wants an exercise partner.  She could walk or run forever!

CRATE TRAINED: Yes, she sleeps in her crate at night in our bedroom.  She walks right into the crate at bedtime and seems to like the comfort of the space.  She sleeps through the night and waits patiently in the morning to be let out of her crate.  Our dog sitter does not use a crate with Gracie and she also does fine sleeping without a crate.

ACTIVITY LEVEL: Gracie is a young setter and full of wonderful energy.  She loves to run the perimeter of the fence, plays hard with our young setter, explores the backyard and watches out our windows to check the outdoors.

FENCE: Required - She needs to be able to run and work off all that energy.  She is a very smart dog and could be easily trained on an electric fence.  She loves her walks but I don’t think walks would be enough.  She needs to be able to run!

BEHAVIOR: Gracie can get rambunctious at times and gets very excited if she sees an animal or a person out the window.  Her previous family used a spray bottle for behavior training and you only need to show her the spray bottle and she immediately stops barking and slows down.   

MEDICAL HISTORY: Spayed and UPD on shots.  She is on a monthly heartworm and flea and tick preventative.  She is thin and needs to gain a few pounds but she is in perpetual motion so she burns off all the calories she takes in.  She does love to eat and is very food motivated. 

FOSTER COMMENTS:  Gracie is a beautiful and very smart setter.  She is still very young so she needs to be able to run and play.  She is independent but does enjoy being petted and loved.  She likes to know where you are at all time and will follow you around the house.  She was not allowed on the furniture in her previous home but has come to enjoy the comfort of our sofa and chairs.  She could easily be retrained not to get on the furniture.  Noise does not bother her and fireworks, the leaf blower and thunder do not scare her at all.  I leave her out of her crate during the day when I am at work and she is not destructive.  She does not seem to have any separation anxiety but we leave her with our setter so not sure how she would be left alone.  We came very close to adopting her but my desire to continue to foster means that we are hoping to find a wonderful family for her. She will make someone a wonderful family pet!

Foster Location: Stone Mountain, GA

Adoption cost: $300.00

Volunteer transport can be arranged in the Continental US within a 1,000 mile distance between adopters & foster home. Typically, we are able to transport your adopted dog to within 2 hours of your home. *Dogs can be adopted outside the 1000 mile transport distance; however, adopters must be willing to either fly their adopted dog, drive to a location within the 1000 mile transport range, or make independent transport arrangements for their adopted dog  

GRACIE AB#18-057 – F, 1 Year 6 Months