Indy (1 of Sandy's 9 puppies)

**UPDATE (5/20)**
Indy is really learning a lot of things these days! Her potty training is going so well that she hasn't been using the pee pads in her pen too much, which shows that she's definitely getting the concept that outside tinkle times make a happy mommy. She still has 1-2 accidents a day, but that's perfectly normal for her age. She is also doing really well while out and about. She can be in a group of annoyingly squealing kids and still roll over for belly rubs. She isn't phased by the unexpected, the noisy, or the scary. She's exactly how you want a dog to be in these situations: not scared or excited, but somewhat oblivious. So far, so good for the Munchkinator!

**UPDATE**
Indy is doing awesome! She's as sweet as ever and LOVES people! She loves meeting new people and cuddling. She loves giving kisses and being held. She's such a crowd-pleaser! On Saturday, she received her 3rd round of vaccinations (3rd DHPPi and 1st kennel cough) and is fully vaccinated for coronavirus. She went on her first road trip to Pyeong Chang to a dog-friendly pension. She is such a good traveler! She slept the whole way there and the whole way back! She was very well-behaved and had a blast exploring the fenced-in areas. She was quite intimidated by overly active dogs, but was still curious. She didn't have any potty accidents the entire time! Indy also got her first taste of swimming and seemed like she'd be a natural (when she's older and less awkwardly clumsy). To me, Indy seems huge because she is so much bigger than when she first came to my home, but after seeing another 2 month old puppy (a samoyed) and 3 month old golden retrievers at the pension, I now realize that Indy is much smaller than I was thinking. I think she'll be 15-20kg and no more. She's also quite mature for her age. She knows when it's quiet time and when it's play time; she's very quiet and perfectly content playing on her own. She is going to make her future family so happy! I'd really like to see Indy in a home in the next few weeks, so she can really start to find her own way in this world. Please spread the word about Indy!

Indy, a.k.a. the "Munchkinator", is a high-spirited, independent, friendly furball who pretty much loves everything and everyone. She is an 9.5 week old jindo/labrador mix (born around Feb. 27 with her 8 siblings to Sandy) who definitely got the best of both breeds! Indy was named after Indiana Jones because she's both curious and brave, and she is such a little explorer, but at 5.9kg and growing, she won't be little much longer!

Indy has both sweet and sassy sides to her personality. She wiggles up to anyone and everyone to lie on their shoes or flip over for belly rubs. She gives kisses (and sometimes an outright make-out session) to anyone who puckers up! This little bunny-hopper has successfully learned to keep her paws on the ground when meeting new people, so she does great with all ages, which will be a blessing when she's full-grown. ^^ Indy is a huge hit wherever she goes! She's been to restaurants and cafes with me, and I'm always surprised at how cool she is about everything. She just sits, lies, or sleeps, taking everything in stride. She's great with other animals, even strays on the street, which she doesn't pay too much attention to. She loves riding in cars, peering out the window at all the interesting things passing by.

As to her sass, Indy can be quite head-strong and determined when she wants something, especially when it's something new and exciting, but she's easily managed and re-directed. She will quickly stop doing naughty things when you point out that their naughty, but expect to be fully entertained by the exciting world of Indy; I can't help but enjoy and admire her spunk.

Ideally, I'm looking for an adoptive home with someone who is active and experienced, and has the time, energy, know-how, and willingness to work with Indy. I think Indy will do awesomely in a home with either other (small) animals or with a family with children, but if no one is home all day, you work 10 hour days, and live in a studio apartment, I think Indy is not the dog for you. I would ideally like to adopt Indy out to a home within driving distance to Seoul because home visits are part of the adoption process, but if you live further, we can work something out. Indy will only go to a home that guarantees to spay her when she's old enough; this is non-negotiable and I will ask for proof of sterilization.

Training Tips (Puppies are notoriously frustrating at times, easily distracted, and sometimes down-right stubborn, so Indy's adoptive family will need to understand this, be in agreement about training, and be willing to put in the time and effort to make Indy a good canine citizen.)
* Indy is currently being potty trained. She hasn't pooped inside in the last 3 weeks, but she still has pee accidents. Since she's only 8.5wks old, this is expected and shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who adopts her. Her adoptive family should understand this and be willing to put in the exhaustive work to finish potty training her. Her peanut bladder means that she is simply physically incapable of holding her pee for more than a few hours at a time. However, she's definitely getting the concept, as now she will often go to the door and whine to be taken out (not always though). I have no doubt that with age and continued training, she'll be fully potty trained.
* Indy can be both submissive and dominant when meeting other animals, depending on the animal. As such, her adoptive family will need to commit to continued interaction with other animals of all sizes, ages, and energy levels. Indy hasn't shown any aggression towards other animals, but given her breed and her ability to sometimes control the situation, she will definitely need to keep up with play dates and meeting other dogs. As of now, Indy is a bit timid with large dogs who are extremely energetic, so she will need to be eased into these kinds of greetings to ensure she has a positive interaction and won't become fearful of bigger dogs. Since she's been so small, I think this has a lot to do with it. As she gets bigger and gains confidence, I don't foresee too many problems with this, but her new family will need to keep up with this.
* Indy has really started to learn what is off-limits and does very well following these boundaries. She is no longer mouthing and fully understands that her teeth shouldn't be making contact with humans. She does have a few slip-ups when playing tug-o-war and she'll accidentally bite down on your hand, not realizing that it's not the toy. When this happens, I simply let out a shrill "ouch" and she stops and will lick my hand. She's done quite a good job with this, but her new family will need to be aware of this if they have children or if she's interacting with strangers (safety/liability issues). She's also not destructive in my apartment, but my apartment is also extremely puppy-proofed, so her new family will need to keep in mind that everything new is fair game until boundaries are set.

* Indy has been walking a lot on her leash and is doing SUCH a good job for her age! She does very well on walks and moves forward most of the time, and when she gets distracted, she's easily redirected forward. She is beginning to understand the concept of loose-leash walking, but will certainly need continued training on this. She does sometimes pull, usually to try to say hi to passing strangers, so this will need to be addressed in training so that she learns to only greet people on cue ("say hi, Indy") and will otherwise ignore passers-by. She also does an excellent job focusing on me on walks, keeping eye contact and waiting for guidance. She has the cutest habit of putting the bottom of her leash in her mouth and walking, so it looks like she's walking herself. This would be an awesome trick for her to learn!

* Indy's socialization has been going fantastically well! She's not scared at all on her walks, even in new places and with lots of things happening (passing cars/bikes/motorcycles, loud noises, rain, different surfaces, kids running, etc). She's been socialized with as much as possible and has already created a huge memory bank to draw from when it comes to new experiences. We are continuing to socialize as this critical stage will be ending in the next several weeks, and in the next 2 months, Indy will be entering the fear stage of her development, so her new family will need to continue socializing her so that her fear responses during this next stage are normal and won't lead to life-long fears.
* Overall, Indy is fairly quiet. She sleeps through the night and plays quietly. She still whines a bit when in her crate/pen when you come home and when you first wake up (to tell you she has to go potty). This is steadily decreasing and most of the time, she sits quietly and waits for my attention. This issue is easily overcome by ignoring the noises. Recently, Indy has started play barking with one of my dogs, Winston, when he is eating a treat and she wants it. This is the only time she does it and can easily be curbed by giving her a time-out for a few minutes and removing the stimuli. This will teach her that fun play time stops when she makes these noises. Otherwise, Indy is very quiet. She doesn't bark at any other time, even when my own dogs are barking and even when someone comes to the door. I would imagine that she will become one of those freakishly quiet dogs, BUT there's no guarantee, so continued training will help ensure a quiet Indy.^^
* Indy is beginning to learn other basic obedience skills like sit, drop it, and leave it. She has a natural proclivity for these and while she hasn't learned any of the cues yet, she definitely is learning the skill, so I'm sure in the next few weeks, she can be taught the verbal cues and hand signals for these. She's very smart and picks up on things quickly. She can get distracted sometimes, but does a pretty good job of staying focused, especially for her age. When I look at her natural behaviors, I can't help but think that she would do such a wonderful job with any kind of training.
* Indy is not at all concerned with food. She likes her food (Orijen Puppy), but she doesn't care where the food is coming from, be it a bowl, your hand, or one of my other dogs. She doesn't get bothered when my dogs or cat are around her while she's eating even incredibly high-reward foods like bully sticks or such. You can easily take the food away from her and she just shrugs it off and finds something else to do. This does make for an interesting feeding time and I sometimes have to encourage her to eat, but it's never taken too much encouragement and she easily finishes her bowl in under 5 minutes. I think she just wants to play, play, play, and since she knows food is going to be there, she's not too worried about not gobbling it all down at record speed.
* Just recently, Indy has started to do these weirdly controlled half-jumps where she'll rise up on her hind legs. She is also very interested in jumping up on the bed and couch (she's too small to get up there now, but I imagine in 2-3 weeks, she'll have no problem at all). I've been very careful about not encouraging this and making Indy sit for everything, but since she's a jindo/lab and is already testing the jumping waters, her new family will need to be cautious that they aren't accidentally rewarding or facilitating any jumping behaviors. A puppy jumping is cute; a 20kg adult dog jumping is a hazard.
* For the long weekend, I'm taking Indy to a dog-friendly pension outside of Seoul and will introduce her to swimming. She doesn't seem bothered by water (as evidenced by her sticking her paws in the full water dishes), so I think she'll enjoy swimming. I'll update on her swimming skills after we get back!

Medical History
* Indy is UTD on her DHPPi and Corona vaccinations. She's received 3 rounds of vaccinations. She has handled these well and hasn't had any allergic reaction to the vaccines.
* On April 14, Indy had her first Heartgard/Frontline Plus combo preventative. The same day, she pooped some rather disgusting, long roundworms, but Heartgard treats these and after a day, they were gone. We did a fecal test and her poop was clear.
* On March 26, she was de-wormed, but is due for another round this weekend.
* On March 26, Indy weighed 1.1kg and has steadily gained weight. On April 29, she weighed in at 5.2kg. We estimate her adult weight to be around 15kg, but there's no guarantee how big she'll get. Right now, she has a very healthy, sleek frame. I think she'll be tall and muscular.