JOSIE

February, 2012 ... Josie continues to be a great girl. She has finished her heartworm meds so she's ready to go.  (It must have been a very light case, I never once heard her cough but we still went through the entire pill treatment).  She's a joy to have around, everyone who meets her describes her the same way - "bouncy".  She knows she's not susposed to jump on people, so she just bounces in place, it's really cute.

But I think her favorite past time is chasing her tail.  And yes, she has a normal boxer nubbie, so she basically just spends hours spinning in circles chomping at the air.  Poor girl.  She will occasionally play with toys, but not often, and doesn't have toy aggression.  She also does not have food aggression despite the fact that meal time is her favorite time of the day.  Twice I've picked up her food bowl to check for aggression and she just stared at me, totally heartbroken.  Picture Cindy Lou Who catching the Grinch stealing their Christmas tree; Josie has definitely mastered the wide-eyed innocence "Why would you do such a horrible thing" look, so I don't have the heart to do that often.  But she eats right beside her foster brother and sister with no problems.  Leash training is going good.  As long as I stay on top of her, she does fine.  If she feels a little slack, she'll pull, especially after going outside to do her business, because she knows she'll get a treat once they're done and back inside.  Honestly, the biggest fault is her basic training is taking some time.  Luckily, she's by nature a pretty well behaved girl, but does get a bit too nervous when she's corrected during training.  Even just a simple hand on her tush lightly encouraging her to sit upsets her and she leaves the room and runs in her crate.  It shows her more than likely abusive past, and she doesn't respond aggressively, she's more hurt - like she's disappointed you and her little heart is now broken.  So, training is going slow and really being reinforced with treats and love.

She gets along with her foster brother and sister very well.  Her foster sister is a bit bratty and it doesn't bother Josie a bit, she ignores her when she's grumpy and plays with her when she's willing.

She and her brother cuddle quite often.  She is a good snuggler, and will curl up on the couch with you in a heartbeat.  :) You can see from the pictures, this is by far their favorite spot.

She has calmed down a little, but I still think she'd be happiest in an active family.  She loves every person she meets and will get excited for every visitor because of course they've come to see her and her happy dance.  She has not knocked down the 6 and 7 year old that visit frequently, so she's okay with children.  I don't have a cat in the house, but the neighborhood Tom has decided that my porch is the happenin' place to be and be seen, and Josie doesn't seem to notice or care when we pass by him on walks. Josie is still being crated during the day, not to any fault of her own but because of long hours that I'm working right now.  She no longer needs treats, I just call her and point to the crate and she bounces right in.

Overall, Josie is a sweet little girl that deserves a happy loving family.  She's very entertaining with her bouncing and tail chasing and has a lot of love to give.

In the pictures, she's the lighter brindle.  Her spoiled foster brother & sister think that any time a camera is picked up, it's SHOWTIME! which makes it difficult to get one without the others. :)

January, 2012...  Josie (Josephine) did great last night when I picked her up from her first foster home.  (there were no issues in her first foster home, just shuffling pups around a little to make room for another little boy coming from a shelter that needs a new home) She rode well in the car, even with it being strange surroundings and another dog in the back seat.  She seems to be a very "roll with the punches" type of pup and is very easy going.  She's approximately 2 years old, I wouldn't put her any younger than that since she's pretty filled out, she's actually pretty muscular and has a good build.  But she's definitely young and her teeth are in great shape (see her "smile" picture) I tried to get pictures last night, but it was very difficult!  Most pictures turned out a brown blur but I managed a few decent ones hopefully, but she's much cuter than these show.  She's a really pretty flashy brindle, with really cute markings (love the white on the one ear!).  She did come from a bad situation where she was over bred and left outside tied up but doesn't seem to let that affect her a whole lot.  She hasn't had any accidents in the house so far, and walked in her crate this morning for a piece of cheese.  Her first foster mommy left her loose in the house, and I'm sure I will once she gets used to the place, but for now she seems content in the crate.

She's a very submissive girl, as her current foster sister is a little spoiled and bratty but Josie doesn't let that bother her at all.  And she's definitely enjoying playing with her foster brother, they spent hours doing the whole "freeze" game; where they stand nose to nose "frozen" and wait for a clap to tell them to jump.  It was very, very cute.  She did pull on her leash pretty badly, but we can work on that.  Overall, from what her first foster mommy told me and from what I've seen, Josie really is a great little girl.  I do think she would be happier in an active family, she seems to enjoy playing A LOT, and while she never jumped, I could see her accidently knocking someone down.  And she's got a great little boxer wiggle dance, she's a very sweet, happy little girl.  She's currently taking medication to treat her heartworms, but other than that this pretty little girl is healthy and will make somebody a good hiking or running partner.

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