Ella has a home. And not just any home, but the perfect forever home. It must have been fate… they submitted an adoption application almost six WEEKS before Ella became available. It was still in our queue when we decided to make Ella available and something about their app just JUMPED out the next time I was thumbing through them. They traveled to NYC to meet Ella this weekend and ended up adopting her today and taking her home. They’ve already emailed us that the trip went well and Ella is settling in quickly.

I want to say a HUGE thank you to Mitch Fuchs of The Jindo Project for taking Ella on as a foster when we were starting to lose hope and to Pete Campione of Kindred Souls Canine Center for giving Mitch the training ideas that put Ella on the road to being adoptable.

Also big thanks to foster dad Scott (who loved Ella enough to keep all of us hopeful), foster mom Zennia (who put up with being growled at), foster mom Molly (who continued Mitch’s work and put Ella across the finish line), and foster Mom Lydia (who took Ella to “test” if her training would stick through a transition and helped introduce Ella to her new family).

Most of all, thank you to Ayako and Dan for giving this wonderful girl the forever home she deserves!

Posted on January 22nd, 2008 by jenna
Filed under: Ella | 3 Comments »

We’re all so excited… eight months after arriving in foster care with serious resource guarding issues, Ella is available for adoption. There was a time when we almost gave up on her! I guess we’ve learned our lesson about not giving up, because she has turned out to be a great, GREAT girl!

The latest update from Ella’s current foster mom - Molly - says:

Ella is happy and playful. She LOVES to run around in the yard and play, especially with people. She also loves cuddle time on the couch. We can take toys from her now and she is gentle with food. She is very, very affectionate and loves to “purr” when she is happy. She can be a bully with other dogs, so should be the only dog.

Ella is moving to a new foster home tonight, so we can confirm that her new training and self-control will transition to a new environment. We’re so excited for Ella!

Posted on January 16th, 2008 by jenna
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Wow!!!! Ella is looking AMAZING!

 

   

Posted on November 4th, 2007 by jenna
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From Ella’s New Foster Mom, Molly:

Ella is a love bug. I can say that I know no other shiba who loves tummy rubs as much as she does. Ella loves talk. She grunts and grumbles while playing with toys and chasing her buddy Haiku.

Her training is going extremely well. Ella is a very smart dog and knows very well that with hard work comes great rewards. Her sits are amazing, her downs are getting there, and most important her attention is amazing. She is definitely a food driven dog.

Ella is getting better and better on her toy and food possession issues. She has now learned that if I want something that means a lot to her, I will trade it for something as good or better. Food works really well for this. She is learning that the world is not trying to take everything that matters away from her.

Ella is a very confident dog who we now know thrives on structure. She knows when it is her turn to be let out to play, and she is almost always ready to go in when play time is over. She is happy to go in her crate as well as content to be by herself with a toy or just a mat to lay on.

Sadly we have stopped allowing Ella to have tennis balls. They create too much emotion in her and all she does is tear them apart. This event usually leaves her agitated and stressed. Instead, kongs have replaced previously favorite toy. Plushies come in a close second.

Ella’s energy is up and she loves to play and chase. She is learning to retrieve as we speak. Her weight is perfect now and her winter coat is filling in a little. She is such an huggable plush right now.

I am so grateful to be working with this smart and loving dog. She really will make an amazing companion for someone.

Posted on October 28th, 2007 by zennia
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Wow. The latest status report on Ella is SO encouraging. Foster mom Molly says Ella is happy, fun-loving, outgoing and loves to learn. She is improving all the time on dropping on command. She will happily trade one toy for another. Her obedience training and general manners are also coming along well. Although her toy and food aggression have diminished greatly with people, she can still be pretty aggressive with other dogs when resources are in question. When she is available for adoption, she should go to a home with no other dogs.

Posted on October 23rd, 2007 by jenna
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Ella is extremely affectionate and loving. All she seems to want is belly rubs, scratches behind the ears and to give kisses. She really responds to both treats and affection as a method of training. She is very gentle in taking treats by hand. One thing we noticed about her is that sometimes when we are firm in tone with her when reprimanding, she reacts by being very scared and cowers as if she is bracing herself. We’re not sure if that means she was possibly struck in the past. She does come over to you after you are firm with her with a “NO or DROP IT” and comes to make up with you. She loves her humans.

She can be both food and toy aggressive with people. Most of the time she is great with toys, playing fetch and bringing the toy to you to play with her. However, sometimes she can be growly. It’s the same with food. Many times she will growl when you come close to her food while she is eating - fearing you will take it from her.

When Ella first came to us she was growly in many more instances. It seemed that for most things she did not like (going inside the crate for the night, having the stitches from her spay checked, etc) she would give a low growl and then show teeth. After gaining her trust we have brought that down to a minimum with her only growling at the above situations. Her progress has been on going.

Ella also gets nervous around some women. This manifests itself with growling. However when reprimanded, she responds immediately and then behaves. We’ve observed that with confident women she is not like this - she in fact will be loving. A woman who displays uncertainty, fear or is not firm with her will get back a grrrr. She should be with people experienced with dogs.

She is a moderate energy dog with 2 walks and a decent amount of playtime enough to keep her happy and tired at night to go to ed. She eats well, sleeps well, is now crate (meaning she will go into the crate without incident) & leash trained (does well with a harness, not as well with a collar), UTD on shots and negative on heartworm test.

Posted on July 20th, 2007 by zennia
Filed under: Ella | 3 Comments »

Ella is enjoying her new foster home very much! She really is so much happier as an only dog and no kids. Ella gets along with other dogs on walks and in the dog run just fine- she just needs to be an only dog in the home. Ella LOVES belly rubs, scratches and her toys. She will nudge you for more love! She is happy to cuddle next to you and be petted all day or just hang out. She’s great on leash and is completely housebroken.

Ella is making progress in learning her boundaries. We’ve learned that she definitely prefers men to women- she loves guys! And she requires a home with someone who is dog experienced; who will be patient in their work to continue to socialize her properly.

Posted on July 10th, 2007 by zennia
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Well…. Ella has been in a different foster home for the past month and we’ve decided she should definitely be an only dog. She and the resident dog in her new home can’t work it out either (and he gets along with everyone). So, now she’s moving to a dogless foster home.

We’ve had a couple of growly/snappy incidents with Ella also, so we’re working on figuring out what triggers those and continuously working on socializing her. She is such a sweetie in the calm moments - unbelievably snuggly and sweet actually - so we know she’s going to be a good companion for someone. She basically had NO socialization before we got her though, so we have to work through that with her before putting her up for adoption.

Posted on June 26th, 2007 by jenna
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Well, it turns out Ella isn’t as dog friendly as she first appeared to be. In her temp foster the day after we took her in, she got along great with the pack of dogs there. When we first moved her into foster care - with one male resident Shiba - she was a sweetie. The two dogs got along fine… for about a day. A couple days after she got there - after she had time to get comfortable - she started getting aggressive with the resident dog. They’ve been trying to work it out, but the resident dog is miserable now and we’ll probably be moving Ella to another home.

Posted on May 29th, 2007 by jenna
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Ella is less than two years old. Her former owners bought her in a pet store as a Christmas gift for their children in 2005. I guess the cute doggie in the window didn’t meet their expectations though because she mostly lived in the basement and the yard with no contact with other dogs or many people. We were told the problem was food aggression, but we haven’t seen any sign of it with people or other dogs - even when we intentionally tried to provoke her. However, her former owners had small children and we have NOT tested the food aggression theory with small children.

She seems a little unsure about new situations, dogs, and people, but she takes everything in with wide eyes and a sweet disposition. She has a new name and new hope for a life of love and affection.

Ella should probably be in a home without children under 10 years old. She gets along with other dogs. We have not tested her with cats. She will be available for adoption after she has been spayed. We think she’ll make someone a wonderful companion. Stay tuned for more!

Posted on May 22nd, 2007 by jenna
Filed under: Ella | 4 Comments »