Ani

Ani is an OR due to an illness in the family.  She is 2 years old (DOB 4/4/24), 32 pounds, UTD, spayed, heartworm/fecal negative.

From Ani’s foster mom:  Ani has become a bouncy, lively, barky, Sheltie which is a huge change from when she first came into the program. It took her a while to adjust to her new surroundings. Inside she would hide in her crate or run away from us if we even looked at her. Outside she would stand frozen and trembling. It was weeks before we saw a tail wag and more weeks before we heard her bark. I had thought that it was nice that she was a quiet Sheltie but that is no longer true — now we’re working on “hush”! At first, we had to leash her to get her out to potty and to get her into the utility room for meals. Fortunately she appears to be leash trained. Although getting the leash on her was sometimes a challenge. It was easy enough when she was in a crate but more difficult if she was loose. She’s very good at “keep away”’ If I went one way she would go the opposite way. She would go around the kitchen island, through the living room, back around the kitchen island, etc. Needless to say, it was challenging. Her foster dad gave her a nickname, “Zoom-zoom” because of her speed and agility in evading us. Eventually, with help from our dog, Buddy, she has learned our routine and now readily comes into the utility room for meals, without being leashed . Of course I quickly shut the door so she can’t escape!  Initially I had to feed her in her crate because I would put her meal down and she just wouldn’t eat it, but she would eat it in the privacy of the crate. Now she eats with our Buddy but she seems to want me to pat her head or at least make that motion before she starts eating. Occasionally she won’t finish so I put it in her crate and she finishes there. A similar problem with treats. I would put a treat on the floor in front of her and she would look away and refuse to touch it and now she eagerly eats her treats.

The other challenge has been house training. We are now at the point where she is almost completely house trained. And, also, thanks to Buddy, she learned the routine of going out and now does so without being leashed, mostly. She is very “routine” oriented and the most recent accidents occurred when I was distracted and took care of something else when it was our typical time to go out.

She loves to be brushed. Buddy gets brushed first. Ani waits until it’s her turn then stands calmly for me to brush her. Ani is still skittish. She is also somewhat aloof but she has started coming to me occasionally for petting. I pet her and when I stop she moves closer. But, I’ve noticed that sometimes she’s looking around and I suspect that her friendliness is just a ploy to get Buddy to come and see what’s going on; that she’s just using me to get Buddy to play with her. Ani loves to play with Buddy and they have fun running through the house.

We crate her at night and she goes right in, sometimes even before we’re ready! We sometimes crate her during the day, especially if we’ll be gone for a few hours. And we crate her if we are having work done in the house. In fact we recently had repairmen going in and out and she did very well in her crate and was quiet throughout. Her crates in the bedroom and living room are her safe spots. Another safe spot is the computer desk in the kitchen, as long as no one is at the computer! That’s where she spends most of the time during the day.

Ani will need a home that is willing to be patient with her and work with her as she becomes part of her new family. I’m not sure if she’ll ever be a dog that wants to be close to you or sit next to you and cuddle. She will need a crate or a safe place. I consider her a flight risk. She still “zooms” so we’re especially careful when the front door is open. She will also need another dog to play with and to guide her in her new home. She is a beautiful Sheltie. Zoom-zoom is one of her nicknames and I’ve given her another nickname, Bonny Ani, because she is a bonny lass!