dogname: Tootsie (German Shorthaired Pointer)
bitten: no
timeowned: 6yr
where_purchase: "breeder" when young pup
sex: Female
age: 6- born Feb 2004
weight: very overweight
color: liver/white
purebred: Purebred
spay_neuter: Yes
papers: don't know
housebroken: Yes
utd: Yes (we were told she's up to date for vaccinations, but didn't see records)
hw: don't know
hw_test: don't know If tested for heartworm or results.
react_dog: unsure- needs to retest if foster home needs the info. Got into face of male dog and this didn't go well. With young small female was unsure. Lives with a dog and seems fine. Other dogs gives off appeasement signals to Tootsie. Would need to re-eval if foster home needs info
react_strangers: fine, excited and friendly, jumps, but gets off if told "off" and/or person turns away from her
react_men: don't know. told that she has growled at male, but don't know the situation. Lives with a male and is fine
react_women: fine. Told she trys to protect June (elderly owner with Alzheimer).
react_child: don't know. Don't think she's seen. I'm guessing fine and probably jump on them and be very excited by their noise and movement.
react_crate: fine. crates well.
react_carride: don't know, but think okay. probably very excited
react_petting: fine. excited, doesn't like feet touched. She just pulls feet away
react_treat: worked on leave it/take it and did fine. She was fine when I picked up some kibble that was on the ground. Am told she will resource "hard bones" (don't know what that is, I'm guessing similar to a raw or smoked bone)
react_toy: doesn't know drop it and will try to play keep away. Besides for that fine. Can take toy. She isn't allowed to have toys a lot since she destroys them. No one plays with her. We had 3 toys and she was interested (almost obsessed) with all of them. She would trade for a treat and once a bit calm/focused would give it to you, but wanted it back right away (in a playful manner)
react_food: didn't do
react_feet: doesn't like. Doesn't growl or show teeth. simply pulls her foot back. Once she was a bit calmer she was a bit better. Seems that her left food she liked being touched the least and tolerated the right front a bit more along with her back. Told that the vet is the one who trims her nails
react_tail: didn't do, but fine with being petted down her back and butt scratches
leash: horrible leash manners- pulls. If you stop she eventually does check in. I think with consistent work she'll quickly learn to check in and not pull. I'd use a sensible harness (front clip) on her.
storms: Yes- told she whines during storms. Also that she barks during thunder, rain, or other loud noises
guard_food: don't know. told she has growled over bones, but we didn't see it.
recall: Sometimes. While there sometimes she'd respond to her name and other times not. I think she has recall, but it's not the best.
destructive_home: No. She does counter surf and appears that she tries to get things she wnats
Tootsie seems to know:
kennel up (go to her crate)
sit
down
shake
she has the concept of stay, but needs a refresher
we briefly worked on a release word, leave it, take it, eye contact, hand target and she picked it all up very well. We did this toward the end of the visit once she was starting to find her brain, a wee bit of self-control, and starting to show us she can chill out. Tootsie has great potential! I live with an obnoxious GSP who has my dogs and I being leery of GSPs and they need to prove to us why we should like them- Tootsie did. She was over the top, but considering her circumstance it is understandable- she did show us how much potential she has and how she'd be sweet, calm, fun to train, play and work with if she were given just a bit of structure and reinforcement for the correct things. Of course she needs exercise and lots of it too. Her willingness to learn, play, and want to work with people (again, after a bit of settling from the initial intro) reminded me more of a retriever or herding breed than a pointer. I know the adjustment period will take time so some of these traits might not be at first obvious to a foster home. If possible the foster home should have experience in positive reinforcement based training and time to work with her, lots of structure, be prepared for lots of managing and redirecting at first, but once a routine is established and Tootsie is getting exercise, mental stimulation, and working on socialization I think a completely different dog will emerge and probably won't take too long to see it. Despite being 6 I think there's potential for agility, rally, or other performance activities or at least a good hiking companion for an adopter who wants an active dog to do stuff with ranging from hiking, playing outside, training tricks, etc.
Traits marked "yes" are ones that she shows. Please also see more info below.
> friendly: Yes
> shy:
> scared:
> aggressive:
> defensive:
> destructive:
> affectionate:
> outgoing: Yes
> suspicious:
> cautious:
> protective:
> trainable: Yes
> difficult:
> stubborn:
> obedient:
> lethargic:
> hyper: Yes
> happy: Yes
> please:
> calm:
> driven:
> quiet:
> fearful:
> dominant:
improvements: Tootsie has a habit of barking. Years ago June's husband (he is since deceased) would give her peanut butter in a bone when she'd bark. She still will bark and barks for attention. She is easily redirected. Tootsie jumps on people, jumps all over the room not caring if it's on/over her crate, furniture, paws on piano, whatever. She has horrible leash manners. She also hasn't really had a lot of socialization with dogs or people. Tootise is quite pushy and some might term her "dominant", but it appears she just hasn't had boundaries or learned what is appropriate with dogs or humans. To me Tootise was not as "stubborn" or "dumb" as GSPs often come off (they aren't either, but she doesn't have some of those hints of traits like other GSPs). She is VERY motivated to learn and work with you. She is both food and toy motivated. Once she settled down she was able to work. She will sit and down and will stay about 2 feet away and shake. Without knowing if she knows hand signals she followed hand signals for sit and down (no lure). She goes into her crate on "kennel up" then I just pointed and in she went. On the 2nd try she understood she couldn't leave her crate even if the door opened until I released her ("break") which she did know prior. Tootsie is responsive to personal space and body blocking. One thing we were told is that she barks during thunder, rain, and loud noises and will then whine throughout storms. We were told she does not dig or become destructive.
why_surrender: Tootsie's owner is an elderly lady with Alzheimers (her husband died). One of her sons moved home with his dog to help care for her. He recently has gone through health problems (leg amputated). They are unable to care for her. Actually, all of Tootsie's life they haven't been able to. Tootsie used to be crated almost 24/7. Now she is crated a little less. She is not worked with and not taken on walks or exercised. Tootsie is severely overweight. Their vet told them she needs to lose about 15 lb (minimum). They used to feed her 3x/day and feed whatever cheap food was on sale. She is now fed 2x/day 3/4 cup of Science Diet Active Light (that is what we were told, I don't know if that type exists). Tootsie needs to learn manners and someone who is willing to work with her. She does not seem 6yr old (minus the greying around her muzzle a bit). Despite never being worked with she is very smart, eager to learn and please. She also really wants to play and run. With love, good nutrition, a healthy weight, and exercise she'll flourish. She will probably need to be worked with on her barking, learn leash manners, no counter surfing, etc. If with other dogs it'd be best to take it slowly and probably a dog that won't shut down if it's pushed around, but won't push back enough to escalate into a fight. It does appear that if Tootsie is told to back off by another dog she will. I think both mental and physical exercise will do wonders for this dog and many of her "bad habits" will easily go away with management and redirection plus not being bored out of her mind. I did not check dominant, aggressive, fearful, defensive, or destructive as traits since I did not see them. I heard stories where those terms might be used with her, but it seems it is more due to never learning proper behavior or being worked with. I also did not check driven, affectionate, obedient, anxious to please for her, but I was very tempted to since I can see with some structure and the correct environment how she will quickly show those traits. After 30min with her once she was a wee bit less flying off the handle with excitement she already was working very well and showing how she can focus and be quite biddable, wanting to please, play and how she could very quickly become "obedient".
explain_bite: dog has not bitten a human that I know of
no clue who "breeder" is
dog_kept: crated.
We're told lately she's been left loose in the living room and kitchen at night. Other times she's crated. She will bark when people come into the house and we're told when crated when people are about to leave. She's only outside on a leash (they use a retractable leash). She's taken out every few hours. She rarely is walked
blah, blah, blah.... here is what I put on the website: Poor Tootsie needs a new home. Her owner is no longer able to care for her, due to health issues. Tootsie will be 7 yrs old next month. She would prefer to be the only dog, needs some basic manners training, is potty trained, is crate trained, will protect her person, will guard her rawhides, needs training on leash walking, very little exposure to kids. If you have a quiet house and time for Tootsie, she won't disappoint you. She's willing to give you the world. Please contact us ASAP, or owner will have to take her to shelter.
As you know, my first priority are to purebred GSPs in Wisconsin's shelter system. As you know, I'm thinking "adoptability" immediately. I get a couple lines into this bio and I'm done. The dog sounds fairly unadoptable to me. And that pisses the tester off (she's with border collie rescue) because she's apparently one of those dog rescue folks who love pity cases. Who wouldn't? I mean, doesn't every being have it's worth? Why of course. But remember, my responsibility is also to adopters who come to us to adopt the "perfect" dog. As you know, they don't want old dogs, they don't want barkers, runners, aggressive, fat, untrained; well, you get my drift. So, what about Tootsie? Is any of this her fault? Why of course not. But is it my responsibility? HELL NO! These are the things that make my face go numb, making me wonder if the "big one" is coming, as in stroke time. Here is the bottom line folks. I am not God. I am not a saviour. Now I will loose sleep over Tootsie's crappy ass situation, and it's not her fault or mine. It is what it is. All I can do is put the word out, keep my ears and eyes open, and perhaps someone will come along who wants Tootsie. But today's not looking like her lucky day. And I will carry that until I get lucky enough to forget. If possible. It plains sucks. If you can't look at having a dog for the "long term", walk away. Don't make me have to be 'the responsible'. You will only shove me up one more rung on the "stroke-o-meter" ladder.
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