Gracie

Gracie is a GORGEOUS buttercup of a pup! If you're looking for a genuine sweetheart who just goes with the flow, then definitely consider giving this girl a fur-ever home. She can lounge with you on lazy, summer days, or watch the leaves change colors on crisp, fall hikes or snooze at your feet on your heated floors on snowy, winter days, or chase butterflies and smell flowers in spring!

UPDATE (June 20)
Gracie is still doing wonderfully! Everyday is a new adventure with this girl, as she is coming out of her shell more and more. I've learned a lot about little Gracie in the past 72 hours. Namely, she pretty much has almost zero prey drive for birds, bugs, or cats, but will happily lop along after the neighborhood kids. She also sounds less like a dog and more like a piglet! When she and my dog play, she oinks around and tries to tackle Leeloo. She still hasn't displayed any canine aggression, but does LOVE playing, so if you DO have a dog and yours isn't one to play, then Gracie isn't your girl. Also, she no longer has chocolate soft-serve ice cream poops, but nicely shaped logs, and her cold is almost completely gone as well! I've been doing a lot of different temperament tests with her and I've discovered the following:

1. When you want to put a harness on her, she thinks it's a game and will roll over on her back and smile at you.
2. When you are eating, she'll rest her head on any of your available body parts, give you the most pathetic puppy eyes, and repeatedly sigh.
3. To Gracie, a rolled-up newspaper is nothing but several smaller pieces of paper magically put together.
4. When you call her name or do a "tongue-click", Gracie sits down and starts a staring contest with you.
5. When you make sudden movements, Gracie turns her head at you and silently asks, "Why are you acting like an idiot?"
6. When you remove her toys, she immediately sits down and ponders how best to get them back, before just giving up and going to the toy box for a different one, but don't be fooled, the moment you let down your "toy guard", she'll sneak around and take them back!
7. An elevator is nothing more than a big crate, so Gracie takes the opportunity to lounge about, stretch her legs, and take a power nap.
8. When you clap your hands loudly, Gracie thinks you want to play patty-cake.

There are still some behaviors I am working on training Gracie out of (namely, jumping up on people and eating things off the ground), but I'm confident in saying that Gracie has an excellent temperament and fantastic potential for training (she already knows Korean cues for sit, shake, and come). She will make the perfect pet for someone!

Gracie's (Short) Story:
Gracie was an abandoned pup and was scooped up off the streets and ended up in KARAMA shelter. With the help of a few people, she was successfully rescued on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at the ripe old age of 4-5 months! :o) After spending a few days with her and talking with her vet, we have decided that Gracie was most likely well-cared for before she ended up on the streets and was probably not on the streets for long. She sits for everything and knows the Korean cue for shake. She also walks well on her leash. And as the adage goes, "One man's trash is another man's treasure"! And a treasure she is!

Gracie's Peppy Personality:
This lovely little lady has happiness in every fiber of her 4.6kg puppy frame and is a sweetheart to boot! She pretty much just follows everything you want her to do. When you're relaxing, she's relaxing. When you're cooking, she's trying to help you cook. When you're walking, she's walking right beside you. When you're playing, she's grabbing the toys. Puppies are notoriously hard work, but as far as Gracie's concerned, her main purpose is to just wiggle herself into your life exactly where you want her. She is VERY crate trained (she'll sleep all night in it, stay in it when you're at work, and feel at home in it pretty much whenever she's there), and despite having been abandoned, has no problems with separation anxiety (although watch your feet because she has an uncanny knack for sneaking up on you ninja-style and laying between your feet) and almost never whines, so for those with picky neighbors, this is one pup you'll never have to worry about. She has barked about 5 times since coming home with me, but I simply rest my finger on her nose and she stops. This will need to be reinforced, though, as cockers can become excessive barkers IF YOU LET THEM. She loves toys and treats, so I think she will be a very easy dog to train using POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT, but if you tend to use corrections, Gracie would not be the dog for you because she's very gentle and would probably never respond well to physical or verbal corrections. For the little training I've done so far, she responds well and usually follows the cue in the first few attempts.

She's currently sharing my home with my 7.4kg mini-schnauzer, Leeloo, who is not the easiest dog to be around, but Gracie loves, loves, LOVES my dog! She loves her so much that she wants to cuddle and play, and Gracie tries to duck under Leeloo for shade when we're outside. Gracie IS a puppy, so we're working on teaching her that it's not okay to try to nibble on Leeloo's tail and it's not okay to pull Leeloo's beard, but in absolutely NO way is Gracie aggressive toward other dogs, so she'd be more than fine if you have another furball in your life (although she's not cat-tested)! Even though Gracie loves dogs, her true passion is people. She's certainly a people dog! She loves to be held and she WILL hold you back, as in her paws will be cupped over your shoulder and her head will nuzzle your neck. She loves belly rubs and curling up next to you for naps. She sometimes barks a little bit at people, in particular very old people, and while I think this just means she's smart, I am working on training her out of it. It's nothing aggressive, I think she's just trying to say, "I'm here!" and it's not very often, and most people respond with "Waegurae?" and smiles. Leeloo is also helping her get over this.

Gracie is not yet housebroken, but is well on her way. Since bringing her home, she had 2 accidents on the floor the first day she and made it to the pee pad the rest of the day. I am training her to only release outside (no pee pad and no bathroom floor), and she's done shockingly well the past 3 days. She can hold it quite well for such a young pup and sleeps through the night without having to go outside. I don't yet trust her not to release in the elevator first thing in the morning, so I do carry her outside for now, but she always waits and we haven't had an accident inside since the first day. She also doesn't seem to have a problem with submissive urination (cockers are infamous for this when they're overly excited) and I'm confident that I'll be able to call her house trained within the next 2 weeks.

She has no problem with resource guarding, but is a hoarder of toys, and she's got quite the collection going on right now. She also has no food aggression and has no problem with you removing her food (just remember to give some back). She does like food A LOT, as most dogs do, but it's probably also because she's a little under-weight right now. As such, she does put anything and everything in her mouth when we're outside. Her favorites so far are rocks, pine cones, cigarette butts, gum wrappers, and leaves. I am using a "gasp" to show her I don't like it and then I immediately remove whatever is in her mouth, which she never fights. This week, I'll begin training her on "drop it" and "leave it", but she's already getting better with this problem.

Overall, Gracie is at that very malleable puppy stage and does what you want her to do and stops doing what you don't want her to do. I'm positive she will spend the next 15 years making you smile and coo like an idiot!

Gracie's Medical History:
I took Gracie to the vet's as soon as I got her. She had the gambit of tests: infectious diseases (all), antibodies titer, blood work, chest x-ray, physical exam and fecal exam. She tested NEGATIVE for all infectious diseases, and as it turns out, Gracie came to me already up-to-date on her vaccinations and with GREAT immunity to the major canine viruses (her titer showed two 6's and one 5). Her blood work was perfectly normal (absolutely NO high/low levels in any category) and she is heartworm NEGATIVE! Her physical and fecal exams were both great. She also spent 24hrs at the vet's for observation and the vet said she is overall very healthy. She currently has a slight cold (vet confirmed it is NOT kennel cough) and is taking meds twice a day for the next 3 days, and once it clears up, I will start her on her Advocate regimen. She also has some loose stools (think slightly melted soft serve ice cream) as a result of her favorite activity: eating dirt. The vet said it should clear up in the next few days. Besides these 2 minor issues, Gracie is definitely one healthy pup!

Please consider giving little Gracie girl the fur-ever home she needs and wants! Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any more questions or if you are interested in meeting her!