Saturday, May 31

Sabrina Meets the Children

Sabrina's foster parents sent a lovely long update on Sabrina a few weeks ago. Here are parts of it, along with some photos of the very photogenic Sabrina:



"I took her to a friends' house today and had Sabrina meet their dog, a greyhound, and their children (ages six and eight/nine). She met the greyhound first, and was afraid of him and tried to avoid him. They took him upstairs so she could meet the kids without any distractions. When she met the kids (and the parents), she was nervous at first too; she didn't tremble but she stayed very close to me and acted like she wanted me to pick her up. So I gave the extremely well behaved kids a bag of Wellness venison treats and turned them into walking, talking treat dispensers. Sabrina fell in love in no time, and charmed her young audience immediately.

Now that we're three weeks in, we've just about seen the last of the submissive peeing. Hooray for no more piddles...not even at our friends' house today when she met four new people and one new dog! She is definitely a little bit shy when she meets new people out of the house, although she seems much more comfortable with new people in the house when we're home. So we're going to recommend that her new family take things slow with her. I do think she could go to a home with kids, but it would probably be ideal if they were 6+ and well behaved and respectful. Once she gets comfortable, she has a tendency to jump on people and at people's faces when they're kneeling(although she does it with love and has never so much as nipped, even in wild excitement).
She has pawed at our faces though, and for some people, this might be scary. Her only other bad habit is flying off the sofa- the arms, the back, and the front. She also seems to have some allergies and scratches her ears and licks her paws frequently. Our town is also covered in yellow pollen right now which is aggravating my allergies, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's a contributing factor. I may take her into the vet this week just to make sure she doesn't have an ear infection, but
quite honestly, her ears look great. They're clean and beautiful, she has just been scratching at them a bunch, which is what makes me suspect allergies. I just love the noise she makes when I rub them...it's the deepest grunty sigh you've ever heard! She also has a strange habit of licking the sofa, licking the dog bed, and licking the comforter when we go to bed...anyone have a clue what that could be related to?

Fair Sabrina will be joining us on our road trip to FL. She'll definitely have a lot of new experiences there, from the road trip to meeting my family, including my six young cousins ranging in age from 2 yrs. to 15! She does beautifully in the car and likes to look out the window which is always closed, of course, so I have no worries on that front. All in all, she is still an absolute pleasure. I have full confidence in her housetraining, and she is going to make some family so, so lucky! Here are some pictures of Sabrina and our friends' children."

She's a beautiful girl, and we can plainly see that she has a great sense of humor.
Not unlike your own
Frog Princess

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sabrina is really coming along. She is a beautiful girl. I have a Rat Terrier who also licks her bed, the chair, etc. so if you figure out why Sabrina does it, maybe it will help me!

Karen B. in TX

RHz said...

I think a lot of dogs/animals lick - our beagle used to do it and all of my cats do it.

I'm so glad to hear that she is making great progress - she's a beautiful girl.

Anonymous said...

2 of our 3 frenchies have allergies, and the dermatologist told us years ago that some dogs with allergies lick compulsively. Our male sure does; furniture, himself, me. Hope that helps.

Anonymous said...

Sabrina sounds like she is coming along beautifully!
My male 1 year old frenchie licks the covers or bed when he falls asleep, the vet told me it is a way they soothe themselves. He just does it right before he sleeps for a minute or two. Hope that helps.