Midnight

Midnight came into our home to be fostered about 5 days ago. The home environment is not high energy with lots of activity and has 2 fosters dog sisters ages of 2 & 4.  Her daily activity is roughly 2 walks per day that are about 20 min each and she gets about a 30 min burst of energy when I get home from work that she plays with her one foster sister. 

During the day while I am at work she is not caged.  When I have checked on her in the Nanny cams she does cry and pace which could be separation anxiety or because the place is so new and she has not adjusted completely to the routine or environment.  She does not cry or pace the whole time but has pockets of doing this activity.  This does not concern me because most of the day is spent sleeping in her fav chair or the couch or looking out the front window.  I do have dog sitter that comes mid way and lets her out and does one of the 20 min walks.  She has taken a baby gate down to get to the couch she wanted to be on but did not do any damage. 

Her manners and behavior  is actually very good.  I am working with her on a few things.  Which she seems to be picking up on quickly.  She has learned the other house dogs get to go in and out the house doors before her and that she has to sit to go in and out.  She knows sit very well and does ok with stay.  I think she pulls the selective hearing card sometimes with the come command.  She started looking at me in the eyes when I say look and than waits for the next command.  When on her walks I was told that she pulls on leash. I am using a starmark training collar on her and she does very little pulling if any.  She is learning on her walks when I stop she sits.  When she sees another dog on walks she does perk up and her body language changes to being alert.  She does cry a little but a leash correction usually stops the crying and she resumes her calm peaceful walk.  I was told she has darted out open house doors in the past.  I myself will go in and out my garage door that goes out into my unfenced front yard and she does not try to run out.  I have had several friends come over to test the door darting and had them stand in the door with the door wide open and enough room for her to run out and she did not.  I am not sure if there is a variable that could change this but so far I am not seeing any behavior to say she will run out of the door.  She is not a fan of rainy wet grass so I do need to leash her to go in the fenced back yard.  My neighbors have a dog that charges my fence this is a trigger for her and my dogs.  A simple correction has been working with this.   When it comes to eating she is very nice about not jumping on me or diving into the bowl before it is down. I can sit next to her while she eats and the other dogs can walk by her with no reaction.  After about 2 days she started wanting pets and getting her back scratched and even started giving kisses and love. 

Her favorite hobby by far is interior designing.  When she gets on the couch or chair sometimes the pillow and covers are good where they are other times she moves the pillows and covers completely off until everything is where she wants it. 

Overall she has a moderate activity level between the 2 walks and the 30 min burst of play energy.  She does enjoy a soft plush area to chill and relax. She does follow me around the house after work and on the weekends.