Cheyenne Summer

While summer winds down across the nation, Cheyenne Summer is just winding up!  She's growing accustomed to life inside a house after years of producing puppies.  Her foster mom loves her!

"Cheyenne had her spay stitches removed yesterday and my vet pronounced her to be in excellent health.  Her ear/yeast infection is rapidly clearing and is expected to be gone within the week.  Her foot yeast infection is also responding well to the medicine and the related stains are fading.  She has neither type of mange and with a good diet, her coat is starting to shine.  She doesn't like her teeth brushed, LOL.

It has been rewarding to see this dirty, cowering little dog come out of her shell.  She loves people -- all people -- and greets visitors at the door with her entire little bottom wagging.  She has learned not to jump on them and we've been working on hand signals and she's learned sit and stay, but her "stay" doesn't last long.  She loves my husband and will ignore me to snuggle with him when he comes home from work.  When he's not there, she follows me all day long and doesn't like it if I'm out of her sight. 

She gets along extremely well with both of my English bulldogs and she and my male play constantly.  Her only problem with other dogs is that she hoards toys and guards them.  She snarls and growls and pretends to snap, but this is only posturing and she never tries to bite or fight.  I am working on this by telling her "NO" and taking her toys away for a short time.  It's working.  She has no food aggression whatsoever and doesn't care if I put my hands in her dish while she's eating.  If she does finish first, she tries to steal food from my other dogs.  I watch this carefully and let her know it's not okay.  My dogs aren't food aggressive, but if she goes to a family where they are, this might be a small problem.  I feed her last so they all finish pretty much together, but it's hilarious to watch them run to the other's bowl to see if they left anything.

Adoptee applicants should be made aware that she has one funny little quirk.  She likes to suckle blankets - all blankets.  Whether it's a blanket on the bed, couch, or laundry, she will steal them, bring them to the middle of the living room rug, scratch and place them until she makes a binky type wrinkle and then suckles.  She had blankets everywhere and I tried giving her baby receiving blankets, but she doesn't like those.  She wants REAL blankies.  So, I took an old blanket and cut it up and put the pieces all around the house and this satisfies her blanket cravings.

She's doing very well with potty training and always goes to the door, but doesn't make any noise, so I have to be vigilant.  If she does go, it's right in front of the door and not her fault.  I don't know how to make her bark or scratch.  Hopefully this will come in time.  I don't think she will go in her crate, but she's in it so seldom I don't know for sure.  She spent so much time in a cage, I don't have the heart to put her in it.  She sleeps on our "doggie" couch behind a baby gate and loves it.

I give nightly wrinkle sponge baths to my bulldogs and Cheyenne gets hers also.  She loves them.  Today she gets her first real bath since her stitches are now gone.  With her temperament, I know she will love this too."

The blanket suckling may be from having been taken from her own mom too soon.  We once knew a kitten rescued as a tiny little kitten who would suckle on any exposed skin you left lying around on the couch or bed.  The toy guarding may have to do with puppies that were taken from her.  It's hard to know.  But she's a dog who has learned very quickly, and so what if she has some funny little quirks?  As long as she doesn't swallow any fabric, it's a harmless compulsion.

It's not like she's staying up all night buying stuff on QVC or sniping French bulldog collectibles on eBay.  Not that we'd know anything about that, hurriedly adds

The Frog Princess