She is a young girl, about one and a half, and so wants to play with my other dogs. I have a 14 year old sheltie-mix who isn't interested and Mattie respects that. I have a 40 pound poodle, Missy, who is a little too big to play with her but they try and Mattie is submissive to Missy. Miles is my fussy male. Sometimes he gives the foster dogs a hard time and sometimes he just shows no interest in them. Well, I can tell he loves Mattie! He wants to play with her. They have played some tug and have played with some balls. Regular tennis balls are a little big for her so I went out and bought some pint size Kong tennis balls. She has been having a great time chasing them. When she doesn't have a partner to play with she will entertain herself nicely with a ball or a fluffy toy or a nylabone.
While she is young and playful she is not hyper at all. She loves people and enjoys just being near. As a family we did a three hour TV marathon last night and she squeezed in between my husband and me and sleep the whole time.
I work from home and during the day she hangs out near me. She sleeps on a blanket next to my desk and will occasionally move to the nearby sofa with the other dogs. I take her on a short walk in the middle of the day and she has been doing well. I don't think she's been trained on a leash before because she doesn't stay on one side of me and moves from side to side and front to back but that's okay. She's getting the hang of it and doesn't pull which is good.
Her prior foster mom (while she was nursing the pups) says that Mattie got under the fence one day but she found her at the front door a little later. So, I kept an eye on Mattie the first couple days I let her in the yard. She's been just fine. She goes out and does her business and snifs around awhile but then comes back in when called. The other day on our walk I lost the grip on her leash and she started trotting off to go see the Golden Retriever across the street. I called her and she turned around and came right back to me. Good girl. I wouldn't suggest letting go of her leash but it's nice to know her nature is to want to come back.
She has long, skinny legs and has a thin frame. Her hair parts down the middle of her back much like a terrier's would. I can tell that some of her hair is soft and shiny. But, then she's got a lot of wirey hair as well. She has an adorable face and when she looks up at you her ears fall back and open and she's so cute. I don't think she's going to win any beauty contests with her scruffy appearance but let me tell you that there is one gem under that scruff. Don't judge her by her scruff she is just a fantastic girl with so much to offer.
She has finished nursing her puppies and will be spayed on 12/17. So she'll be available for adoption after that date. She is fostered by us in Arlington Heights, IL.
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| She did find a sock (not hard in this house) but gave it to me nicely. |