UPDATE 5-12-10: Sierra has continued to improve with her social skills. She will now warm up to women during the first visit and even give kisses before they leave. Although it's still taking time with men, she is now comfortable with the neighborhood kids that visit on a regular basis! But, the thing that was the most encouraging this week is that she is remembering people immediately even if it's been months since she's last saw them - and is giving excited greetings like all the other dogs!
UPDATE: 10-23-09: The one word that describes Sierra best is “snugglebunny”. There are several people who have been blessed to experience this because they’ve invested time into helping socialize her. She will actually crawl up into your lap and let you hold her like a baby. She rubs her face all over your face and it’s like she can’t get close enough – like she tries to get inside you. Aunt Ann was the first one, Uncle Dick and Aunt Stephanie were close behind (not to mention the intentional visits from and Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Vince to help her get used to strangers). She loves to cockroach and will roll from side to side like she's scratching her back - and has been known to fall off beds (and even the couch) doing it! We’ve come to see that she can feel comfortable around men in time – and just ask Uncle Dick what a thrill it is the first time she comes over to lick your hand or nudge your arm for lovin’! She finally is not afraid of my dad anymore when he comes to visit and goes right up to him with excitement and will even let some of the neighborhood kids come up and pet her if they are not in a big group.
Sierra (or sometimes known as CeCe) has done 3 obedience classes so far and shows improvement every time with strangers, but continues to be more confident when other dogs are around her. She knows the commands to sit, down, wait, come, this way, beep beep, and off. She has been with us for over 10 months and is completely weaned out of the crate to have free reign of the house, although when strangers first come over, it’s her safe place. She is still a barker, and has different barks for different reasons. Excitement, play, fear, and when someone walks by the house. No need for an alarm system with Sierra around! She gets along with all personality types and really needs the company of other canine companions, as well as a fenced yard. She runs laps every day and loves to play chase games with the other dogs….as well as dig in the sand box (but never in the yard). She does love going for walks, and car rides are even better, but big fluffy toys are a must. The bigger the better and her new favorite is talking Elmo. Finding Sierra her forever home is going to take multiple visits, but it will be worth it because she’s going to fill someone’s life with lots of love.
UPDATE 3-8-09: We are working more intently on socializing Sierra and she’s made some good improvements. A few days ago we walked with a friend who had a German Shepherd and after doing some parallel walking to meet first, they had a wonderful stroll around town. She will still darting when there’s a loud noise or quick movement, but has really calmed down on leash more than I expected. She does seem to be afraid of all strangers, but especially men and kids. I will say that she used to start panicking when she saw someone coming from 2 blocks away, and now we can actually walk past someone on the sidewalk without too much trouble. She did a pet therapy visit with us and did well when she was in the midst of the pack. When encountering a wheelchair on the street, she will put on the breaks and buck to get back away. So, for now, we just pick her up and carry her past and she totally relaxes in my arms – then away we go! She seems to really pick and choose the people she feels comfortable with. We will continue to work on her confidence while out and about (she LOVES to ride in the car now), but inside the house you never see her shy side. She's a fun, balanced, outgoing dog that is easy to fall in love with.
Initial description: Sierra has changed so much in the 2.5 weeks she’s been in foster care. It took her about 2-3 days to warm up to me and stop darting away afraid if you’d look at her or try to pet her. When it’s just me home with her, she’s very outgoing and affectionate. When new people come over, she’s coming around faster. Last visit she didn’t let a new person pet her, but did stay in the room. She’s really funny with her toys – likes the big ones! She has a spurt of energy after I get home from work or after dinner and likes to throw the toys up in the air and run from bed to bed. Cracks me up every time! Today she threw the squirrel up and took off into the other room, then came back and was looking all over for it. When she found it, her eyes lit up and she dove on it! So funny! She gets really excited when it snows out, and enjoys running laps when the ground is covered.
Sierra actually knows her name and has already learned to sit on command. We’ve almost got “wait” at the door down and she listens really well. I did test her home alone one day and it was not good – crying, barking and panting really hard the entire time and was very worked up when we got home (we were only gone 20 minutes). If there’s a loud sound outside, she will dart and sometimes panics on leash in those situations, so for those reasons I’m going to say she’ll need other dogs and a fenced in yard. She seems to be able to hold it pretty long, when I get home after 6 hours, she wants to play before going outside to potty.
She really has some endearing qualities and loves to be kissed and snuggled with. No space issues at all. One night we watched movies and I put all the dog beds together in the living room. She got so close to me she actually had her head and legs over top of me, and I loved every minute of it! She taught herself steps the first day! I think she will be happiest in a quiet household and is very content and happy to hang at home and enjoy being retired!
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