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Angel Steele: Notes on a foster dog

Angel transferred here from another foster home because she was not getting over her fears and is badly stressed out which affects her behavior.

Last updated: Feb 10, 2018

Base Info:

  • Date Arrived: January 13, 2018
  • Breed: Beagle/Shepherd mix
  • Sex: Female
  • Age: 8 Months at original admission
  • Weight: approx. 55 pounds
  • Spay/Neutered: Yes
  • General Health: Good
  • Temperament: Good. She’s a blend of active and submissive. I suspect she’d been mistreated when young.
  • Departure: Angel left on Rescue February 16, 2018

History

Set out beside a road outside a campground.

Known Issues & Progress

All I know about her so far is that she has been frightened of people and destructive of household furnishings and personal accessories. I will be working on building trust with her to get her past these issues.

Housebreaking

No major incidents in the Bunkhouse. She has peed on the floor a couple of times but that’s because she needed to “go” and she was stressing over my attempts to get a leash clipped to her collar. Nothing deliberate. As she’s learned my routine she is not stressing over things.

She does well with her crate. She likes to get outside, but is eager to get back to her “room” in the evening: partly because it’s getting chilly . She doe not like cold. She is rough on her bedding, she does well with a good blanket but anything quilted or fiber-filled (like a pillow) is history. She IS still a puppy.

Gets Along With Other Dogs

I was told she got along with other dogs. Observations of her interacting with my dogs (through a fence) and with Mystery (her roomie in the bunkhouse) is that she is benign and submissive.

01/14 This evening Angel and Buddy were in the yard together. She invited him to play and they had a great time chasing one another.

01/17 I took Angel and Mystery out together this morning. I was late, they were desperate, so I took a chance. They took off and chased each other through the snow for about 15 minutes (pausing momentarily now and then to relieve themselves) before they both came, panting and licking the snow, back to the gate to the bunkhouse. We all went in, they each got a big drink of water and went back to their crates for breakfast. Angel demanded a belly rub before she’d go into the crate, but otherwise was cooperative.

See Angel and Aggression video in the gallery below.

People Skills

Angel was, reportedly, frightened of people. She and I are getting along fine. She always seems happy to see me. We’ve had little other people traffic out here lately to test her on.

01/17 As she’s becoming more comfortable here she is coming out of her shell and becoming more rambunctious. She wiggles around so much I have a hard time getting a leash clipped to her collar, and she pulls really hard. I’m shopping for another Walk-Right harness. We have two but they’re both in use.

01/22 Harness arrived. It makes a big difference in walking her. Because she chews things up when bored I take the harness off before crating her.

Miscellaneous

Angel has become quite friendly and eager for attention. A belly rub usually puts her into a blissful stupor!

She is still destructive of bedding because she’s high-strung and gets bored easily (the Shepherd part of her). When weather allows (it IS January) I get her out to run in the yard with another dog as often as possible to wear her out (see Angels Play Day below).

Gallery

In roughly chronological order, newest at the bottom. Click the thumbnails to enlarge. Some pictures are linked to Doggy Tales about Angel, click those to open the related story.

Upon arrival Angel kept her tail tucked and her head ducked.

That tail is up and she’s making friends.

Angel doing her famous Lizard Run

Hugging or wrestling – depends on the intensity!

Happy about yard time

Angel and Aggression
Click for Vid

The next day I let Angel play in the yard with her roomie Mystery:

On a particularly nice day, she got an extended play session.

Resting after a busy play time.

Enjoying a sunny day

Conversation with her friend Callie

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