PIP AB#18-086- F, 4 Years

Foster dog name: Pip

Gender: Female

Age: 4yrs

Size/Weight:35lbs

Color: white and liver

Breed: English Setter mix, probably Brittany

Good with Children: Yes, Pip is a sweet girl who is usually patient with kids. However, she does get excited and uses her paws when she plays, so children under 10 might be a stretch.

Good with Dogs: Pip is not the most confident of dogs, and can become nervous if the other dog is off –leash. She is very submissive and hits the dirt frequently when approached. If she’s on her tummy and a dog comes over to sniff her she sometimes reacts poorly. However, on walks she happily touches noses with every dog she meets so it may just be a matter of properly introducing other dogs and allowing her to continue to build her confidence.  

Good with Cats: I have not had the opportunity to cat test her. She loves squirrels, and I could see her chasing a cat. 

House trained: Pip is 90% housetrained. Accidents happen when I can’t get her out the door in time in the morning or when I come home. She will last through a typical work day but if you’re home with her she will need to go out every few hours.

Crate Trained: I do not crate Pip. The first week or so I had her she was cordoned off in a specific section of my apartment. She wasn’t destructive, and not being able to see the whole apartment seemed to really stress her out. Since allowing her the run of the apartment, she has been much more comfortable with letting me leave during the day. She will willingly go into the crate and lay down while locked in (her best time is probably 20 minutes), but she would need a lot more training to calmly be crated for a full day or night.

Leash trained: Pip is aware of the leash and is adept at untangling herself if she gets caught around objects. But for Pip the world is too exciting to walk nicely all the time. She pulls quite hard sometimes, and has spun me around. I’m sure with more time she would be a perfect lady on a leash.

Behavior: Pip needs to know where you are at all times. She’ll lie down beside me when I’m washing dishes or reading, and will follow from room to room. She loves having her belly rubbed, and will promptly fall asleep if you give her an ear massage.  But she is not a velcro dog. Having you in her line of sight is enough, she doesn’t cuddle very much. 

Activity Level:   Pip is a moderate to high energy dog. As long as she is exercised she is laidback in the house, but you will absolutely know if she hasn’t been exercised enough. We go for two 2.5 mile long walks a day and she usually will want to play for a bit inside the house. Other than that, she’s a napping extraordinaire.  

Fence:  Walks are sufficient, but they need to be longer walks. I also take her to a baseball field or fenced in park every other day or so for some off leash time. She has never tested a fence beyond putting her front paws up on it. I’m not sure how she would do with an invisible fence. She’s pretty unfocused outside, so it might take her a while to really catch on to how an invisible fence works. 

Medical History: Pip came to me with ear infections, which are in the process of being treated. She also has a small hernia, and is not spayed. Both of those issues will be treated before she goes to her forever home.

Foster Comments: 

Pip is quite simply the happiest dog I’ve ever met.  She is constantly smiling, and for her the outdoors is a wondrous place. We’re working on basic commands like sit, paw, stay, up, down, and we’ve recently tacked on come. When working with her, you get the impression it’s more just dusting off the cobwebs than actually training new behaviors. Inside she will respond to commands the majority of the time, outside there is just too much to pay attention to--we’re working on it. Pip loves going for walks, but is much more into interval training than endurance sports. She does not appreciate sustained runs, but when allowed off leash will zip around the perimeter of the space as fast as she can—for about 30 seconds at a time. When walking, she will remind you to stop and smell the flowers, notice the birds, and take breaks. I don’t want to give you the wrong impression though—we go for two 2.5 mile walks a day, and she’s still plenty energetic inside. She’s been learning to “leave it” when pointing at birds on walks, but squirrels and bunnies are simply too tempting to ignore.  I’ve taken her to breweries and she delighted everyone there. She has never met a person who she didn’t love, and doesn’t really pay attention to other dogs unless they show interest in her.

Inside the house Pip is a million mile-an-hour couch potato. She loves playing fetch or tug of war, and will keep you laughing with her antics. Coordinated, she is not. Again, her endurance is terrible at best: twenty minutes into play time and you’ll notice her trying to sneak her toy to another room so you can’t throw it away from her again. Also, this dog runs HOT. Ideally, she’d like to lay next to you on the couch or the bed, but it is too warm and she only lasts a couple minutes before giving up and moving to the cool floor. 

Pip struggled with housetraining and separation anxiety at the beginning of our time together. Now she rarely has accidents and is more comfortable when I leave the house. As long as I give her a filled Kong she will settle. Pip has been finding her voice recently, but I’ve still only ever heard her vocalize when she felt there was a visitor coming. She is a pro counter surfer, and needs to be repeatedly told “no” and to “get down” at dinner time. Also, I would caution any potential adopters that she has not learned not to jump up on people yet, and has used me as a launching pad before. She also uses her paws to punch at you when she plays.

I think her ideal home would be one where there is a yard for more unstructured and sporadic exercise. She loves running after birds though I doubt she would ever be able to catch one. She loves people and a family would be great so there is always someone to pay attention to her and give her the love that she absolutely deserves. 

Adoption Fee: $300.00

Foster Location: Pip is only available to certain Geographic Locations. Please inquire