Zoie's Web Page

Zoie was seen running loose in the town of Tonawanda, NY for approximately 2-3 weeks. She still had a collar and leash attached to her at this time. She wandered over to the town of Amherst where she hopped a fence and in the process her leash became stuck on the fence. The town of Amherst dog control officer was then able to catch her using a catch pole. Due to the town of Amherst not having a proper kennel set up she was taken to another towns shelter to wait out her 5 day hold period so that hopefully someone would call and report her missing. At the end of her hold period the shelter was going to have her euthanized due to her breed. She was becoming "cage aggressive" while in the shelter. She is NOT ans aggressive dog, she was terrified. The men working there were as scared of her as she was of them which caused her to feel threatened. She did not once snap or attempt to bite anyone but she did show her teeth, again she was terrified, confined and felt threatened her only instinct was to keep the men away from her. We were then called by the Amherst dog control and asked to step in and help her. With that being said we now have Zoie. I did an assessment on her the day she came in and here are my findings. Temperament: Zoie has shown no signs of food aggression,you can pet her the entire time, walk past her and a hand can be placed in her dish while she is eating and she does not so much as even say a bad word about it. You can take things out of her mouth. She was more leery of men than she is women but will approach them, allow them to pet her and thank them for their kindness with a few licks to the hand. She will play with toys although she is still trying to figure out if she's allowed to or not. Tug of war is her favorite game. She will get into it and growl, yet she will allow me to put my fingers in her mouth and touch her tongue during this. Once my finger touches her tongue she immediately releases the toy and gives me a concerned look as if she's trying to figure out if she accidently bit me. She is very gentle with people, especially those she has a bond with. She knows come, sit, lay, crate, high five/paw, off (when she wants to) and leave it (we're still working on this one but she's getting the hang of it). She is very obedient and would probably make a good agility candidate, she clears baby gates with a foot to spare, whether it be in a backyard or at an actual event (after thorough training of course). She walks nice on a leash (with a training tool such a halti, holt or gentle leader). She would be best suited for an only pet household. If you hug her, she will reciprocate the gesture with some kisses. She has no qualms about her mouth being opened or lips lifted to view her teeth. An estimate on her age is about 2 years old as her teeth do appear to be in good shape with little tartar build up and no graying around her muzzle. I have laid on her, put my fingers in her mouth, ears and nose and she retaliates with kisses. I have played with her feet rolled her over and nothing phases her. I have clipped her nails and she while she did want to play when this was being done she was very tolerant. The best way to do this the first few times is clip a nail, rub belly, repeat. She really is a love in need of some patience and understanding. She is a gentle soul. Some additional info about Zoie. Her "quirks": Zoie did have extreme separation anxiety when she first arrived. She has improved greatly with this and has realized that she is not going to be left again. While out of the crate she will let you know she has to go to the bathroom by going to the door, coming back to you and then going back to the door. It is recommended that frequent potty breaks be taken during the first week as she will need to learn what door to go to. Taking her out the same door every time will help her realize this more quickly. When she first came in because of her separation anxiety she would bark constantly in the crate and even have an accident while in there. She has never had an accident while loose though. This is not her fault and is only caused from all that she has been through. She just needs patience and understanding. She is now to the point where she will not have accidents in the crate and is quiet while in there. Please keep in mind that when she goes to a new home it is likely that her separation anxiety may pick up again. If it does, she will need reassurance that everything is OK. Yelling or disciplining during her anxiety will only make things worse. What will help is leaving for brief time frames and returning and letting her know you're coming back. She is a wonderful girl and will make a great dog for the right person. www.diamondsintheruffanimalrescue.com

About Zoie