Kira doesn’t know it yet, but in just a few short days she is going to be meeting her new family!
You are about to be so spoiled!
Kira is a very petite female, pulled from a shelter in Virgina with little to no background information. Based on the vet’s examination and analysis it is believed she is currently approximately 16-22 months old.
When pulled from the shelter, she appeared to be under a great amount of stress. This is not uncommon; as we see many of our Belgians arrive in this state of anxiety. Belgians don’t do well in shelter situations! Kira had was placed on Trazodone 2x a day while there and as it wore off had a tendency to constantly trot in circles and whine. After several days at the fosters, and the opportunity to settle in her new environment, she was gradually weaned off of the drug.
She was underweight, weighing only 18.8 pounds; however, she has been a great eater and now weighs just over 27 pounds. Allowed out in the yard on leash with tight supervision the first time, she appeared defensive but fine with the other dogs.
Fast-forward a few months….Kira is described as sweet, smart, and adorably cute! She has made great strides since leaving the shelter and has been allowed to settle into a normal lifestyle.
Still, we will need a Very experienced Belgian home for her placement! Her few unpleasant habits are still being addressed and worked with, and there has been improvement, but still require consistent, patient effort. Her best chance of success will come with a strong yet gentle, loving but firm, constant support system.
EXCITABILITY
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- In a kennel run, she starts out highly excitable, with a shrill, shrieking bark and a propensity to race around and around. After a short while, she will settle and lie down on her bed. Moving vehicles outside the kennel or other dogs coming/going will set off barking and circling. A raw marrow bone goes a long way to pacifying her
- She is still highly excitable, with a shrill, shrieking bark and a propensity to race around and around. The fosters have made great strides with getting her to settle quickly, but it’s an ongoing process.
- With 4 other dogs in the house, going in and out the door, we’re told is a major uproar! (It’s no doubt a herding instinct.) In the beginning, if the foster held her collar to stop her from running, her energy level would heighten to the point she was clacking her teeth, whining, panting and drooling.
- Twice (in 3 and a half months) she has bitten the foster when in an over threshold state of excitement. It is felt this behavior will continue to diminish with time, age and training. It is felt this behavior will continue to diminish with time, age and training. Regardless, the new owner needs to be very familiar with the herding dog style of “sniping” as she does have a tendency to do so.
- We believe, much of this could diminish without other dogs in the house, combined with some “brain games”, leash walking and basic obedience control such as sit, down, roll over, etc.
- As mentioned above, we do believe, much of this behavior could diminish without other dogs in the house, combined with some ‘brain games’, leash walking and basic obedience control such as sit, down, roll over, etc.
- Also in support of being the only dog, Kira has presented as not backing down from any of the male dogs in the household and has a tendency to continue pestering them once they settle inside. She will, however; give space to the Belgian bitch of the family!
- When she plays, she plays hard!
- She rests quietly in the house once the excitement of coming in is over and everybody else isn’t wild to play anymore.
DESTRUCTIVE
- Kira has NOT destroyed anything except (oddly enough) the rubbery/net kitty litter mat outside the litter box.
- She is well-behaved outside in the yard—quiet – with no digging.
TRAINING
- Kira is not fully house-trained. Foster has seen a huge improvement since she’s been here and believes house training will be complete soon.
- She is horrible on leash. Currently, Kira and her foster are attending basic manners training class. For now, she’s walked on a prong collar, but is improving with luring using treats.
ON THE PLUS SIDE!
- She is super smart and easily called away from the door and/or other dogs’ food.
- She is a good eater and easy keeper – training is easy because she’s food motivated
- Very easy to groom as she has a nice shorter coat which is easy to brush. She is well behaved for grooming – including clipping and/or grinding her nails.
- A compact little girl – approximately 20.5 inches tall and 28 pounds.
- Knows sit, wait and down, “in ya go” (to go in crate), “all done” (release word) and they are currently working on “touch”.
- She would make an awesome agility dog!
- She sleeps on the bed or on the floor at night (closed in the bedroom with her person!)
- Friendly to people and other dogs (although she can be a bit much for some dogs)!
- AND….cute as a “bug’s ear with a nice conformation – although tiny.
We realize this is a significant amount of information about Kira; however, we feel it is very important to provide the full picture rather than simply a screenshot. Kira is young, and she will continue to be a ‘work in progress’ for some time. Therein lies the reason we will be looking for a very specific home.
As we’ve said many times, most of our rescues arrive with no real background information, and such is the case with Kira. Was she an excitable puppy who has never learned to calm, or perhaps life on the streets and/or the chaos of a shelter heightened her tendencies to over-stress? There are seldom any answers to these questions in rescue, only best guesses. It is why it is so important for us to foster these dogs with experienced Belgian owners! It is so essential to allow them time to appraise their temperaments, before they are placed in what we refer to as their ‘forever’ homes.
But wait, isn’t that what BSDRT is all about?
To evaluate dogs who often come to us shattered or broken? Dogs who only know how to respond with positive and negative reactions? Dogs who so rightfully deserve the opportunity to start a new life full of unconditional love with the help of a knowledgeable human?
We think so, and we certainly hope you do as well!
THE BELGIAN SHEEPDOG RESCUE TEAM