Gremlin?

                        

               Okay, does anyone see the resemblance between Sassy and Gizmo (the Gremlin)?!?!?!?

This made me laugh, so I thought I would share :)

One Week with Sassy!

Miss. Sassy has been with us for almost one week now. We have managed to come up with many nicknames for her some our favourites being....Sassy-Monster.....Sassimo.....Silly-Sassy.....Sassinator.... and Sassirole (to name a few!).

She continues to love romping in the backyard with our Roxy. Sometimes she gets so excited to run outside that she basically throws herself off of our deck (instead of taking the 3 stairs down!) so her little body can get a good head start on the race to the back fence :) A short video clip below:

It hasn't taken Sassy long to find the treasures in the "toy box" we have upstairs and down. Her favourites are by far the nylabone chews! She happily surrenders any toys or bones to me whenever I reach for them. A short video clip below:

 Sassy continues to be a very good girl with no accidents!!!! She has also been very respectful in the house, being very careful to use her toys for chewing (and not our shoes or furniture, which we certainly appreciate!). She stays quietly in her crate when we go out, however she does bark when she hears us come back. Sassy is learning very quickly that in order to come out of her crate, she must sit quietly inside first (smart girl!). She also sleeps soundly in her crate at night (which is in our bedroom) with no incidents to report at all. I have really found this little girl to be a very low maintence dog - she likes to play, and she likes her walks, but she sure enjoys sleeping the day away in any sunny patch on the floor that she can find.

Her leash manners are coming along nicely, however she gets nervous when new people and new dogs approach/come towards her. We continue to work on this daily since we know that practice makes perfect!

This little cuddle-bug has just had such a rough start to life....having at least 4 different homes in her short 12 months! Please consider making this precious furball a loved member of your family!

Big Steps....Not so Scary!

So when Sassy arrived a few days ago...she was petrified of going up and down the stairs. Then she decided it was okay to follow me up....but would have nothing to do with going down!

Last night, I put Sassy's leash on her and tied it to my waist. I walked around the mainfloor with her following behind...and headed straight up the stairs. At the top, Sassy would "sit" and get a treat! Then I would do one lap upstairs and head down the stairs. She put the breaks on, but with her leash around my waist she had no other option but to follow me back down! At the bottom of the stairs, she would "sit" and get a yummy treat.

No word of a lie we did this little exercise for 5 minutes and now she has no issues with the stairs at all and flies up and down them like she is a superstar :)

She also decided to watch some tv with my husband and opted to lay with us vs hiding in her crate or under the bed. BIG steps Sassy! We're so proud!

More Sassy!

Sassy has one of those faces that can melt your heart....and of course the endearing snorting....grunting and other pig-like noises that she makes only add to her charm! Doesn't she look like a little ewok or gremlin?

She loves a good romp in the backyard and always gives her head and body a good shake after diving in the snow banks!



We have had her now for 3 days. She is really still settling in, but its obvious that her socialization with new things and people will take continued practice. She has really taken to me but in Sassy's world, the jury is still out on my husband :)

I would not say she is housetrained because to me a "housetrained" dog will ask to go outside when they need a potty break (which she doesn't do) BUT we have her on a routine, and to date she remains accident free and she knows what to do when we open the door! Sassy is crate trained, and actually really enjoys spending time in it, often sneaking in a nylabone chew toy or a fluffy sqeaker.

Today I was able to have Sassy sit for her food and leave it until I said "ok" so I know this is one smart cookie!

Super Sassy

We would like to introduce you to Super-Sassy!

Sassy joined LOYAL Rescue early January and was adopted......

but unfortunately was returned today due to allergies.

Sassy does have a beautiful, long, silky coat - but please note....*she does shed*

Sassy is 1 year old. She is marvelous with other dogs, and would likely be great with dog savvy cats as well.

While she is friendly and likes to snuggle, we are working on exposing her to all of the nice things this world has to offer for sweet little poochies just like her! Please check back. We will provide updates. 

***Adopted: February 17***

Before coming to rescue I had the blues....
But today I heard some real good news!
A family wants to take me home
To love me, walk me & give me bones!
All my dreams and wishes have come true
So here's a "woof-woof" and a big "arrrrrrouuuuu"!

.......To the Vet!

*Spayed * UTD on Shots * HW Tested * HW/Flea Prevention * Fecal Test * De-Worming*

This morning we had our scheduled vet appointment. Dr. Liston gave Miss. Aspen a very thorough exam.

Age: Aspen is approximately 5-6 years old.

Skin/Coat: Her skin and coat will certainly improve with a continued premium food diet (fish based) and her omega supplement. Currently Aspen has no hair on her tail - although its not noticeable unless you really focus in on it, because her skin is black! Dr. Liston also thought that somewhere along the lines, Aspen has some Chow in her - which would explain her all-black tongue and the texture of her coat!

Ears: Aspen has an ear infection (bacterial) in her left ear. Both ears were cleaned out and we now have her on drops and we are continuing to clean both ears about 2-3 times per week. Aspen is such a great sport about it! The hair is very sparse on both ears, and the back of them are dry and scabbed. She had a few skin scrapings done to ensure there was not a mite problem going on.....and thankfully there was not! With time, patience, TLC and a premium diet, her ears and tail will fill in no problemo!

Teeth: Hmmmmm. Her back teeth were good. Her front teeth (top and bottom) are practically non-existent because they have been worn right down to the gum. She was likely locked up in a pen at one point and tried to chew through the metal bars (awww). She eats and drinks without any issue and appears to be in no discomfort with the little nubs she has for teeth!

Other than what was mentioned above Aspen is a healthy girl and her spay incision is healing nicely! She is probably feeling the best she has ever felt in a very long time! We bathed her upon arrival (stinky would be an understatement) and lets just say the water was black by the time I was done scrubbing and rinsing! So I filled it up again and washed her once more. We figured having a "clean slate" should also be taken literally as well :)

Aspen & Roxy

Okay! 1 second before this photo was taken I had two happy girls saying "cheese" for the camera! For those of you who are not familiar with our dog Roxy (yes, that's white fang on the left) she can really put our fosters through a marathon of "I'm the Boss" during their first week with us. Rest assured, she is all bark and no bite, but as you can see our sweet little Aspen takes this with great stride.

Anyways I've told Roxy she's seen too many Twilight movies so she has officially been cut-off :)

Aspen has been with us now for 5 days! I have nothing new to report on from what I've already talked about in her petfinder profile. She is a true lady and we love her more and more every day. I'll take a video this weekend and of course will be sure to update you after our vet appointment Saturday morning so please check back!

Welcome Aspen!

Animal control received a call about a dog that had given birth in an abandoned warehouse mid-November. When they arrived, they found sweet Aspen on a cold, cement slab surrounded by 9 puppies. All had died but one because poor Aspen wasn’t able to produce milk. Any momma dog that has had a litter would tell Aspen not to blame herself, because producing milk is a difficult thing to do when you are practically starving and malnourished yourself.

Her one surviving pup went to a local rescue since they happened to have a nursing momma who took on Aspen’s baby boy as her own. Aspen headed to a nearby shelter in Mansfield, OH where she waited for her very own family to find her. She waited….and waited….and waited some more. Even though plenty of families passed through the shelter none took interest in spending any time with the sweet little beagle mix waiting patiently in her kennel.  Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and poor Aspen was still a shelter orphan.

Maybe they noticed that she had just had a litter of pups and that didn’t appeal to them. Maybe people thought that as a black and tan beagle mix, her breed and her coloring were merely “ordinary”. Whatever their reasons were for passing her by, I am here to tell you that this dog is ANYTHING but ordinary. If she can only steal 5 minutes of your time, you will fall head of heels for her the way we have :)

Welcome to Ottawa Aspen! We're so happy to have you. A special thank you to Susan & her family for taking Aspen into their home and caring for her while she recovered from her spay and awaited transport.

Please check back. We promise to provide regular updates on this very special girl!