Delta gone already

Delta was only at our house for about a week and a half. We found a lump near her ear and so needed to send her to the vet. The vet has decided to operate because of the size and hardness of the lump, she doesn't believe it is just a fatty lump. I think we will no longer pet any of our fosters anymore. We keep finding various problems with them, most which seem to be harmless (fatty lumps, itchy skin, etc), but a good number of our fosters have had the see the vet for one reason or the other.

Delta is extremely cute, but I have to say she was probably too much for us. The first week was pretty tough for her I think. She's been moved so much that it took her about 4-5 days to settle down. She did a lot of pacing and panting for a couple of days. She started to calm down and follow us around everywhere.

We ran into two issues with her though. The first took us a few days to figure out. Delta doesn't seem to empty her bladder at once when she's outside. She'll go outside and pee, then anywhere between 1-10 minutes later, she'll pee almost as much as the first time. We didn't realize that at first. We'd let her out to pee and bring her back in. We didn't understand why she would have an accident in the house 20-30 minutes later. When we finally figured it out, the accidents around the house stopped.

The other issue is that she LOVES attention. Its very cute until she becomes insistent. We'll be sitting on the couch and she'll try to climb over you for attention. If you push her off, she starts to get excited and a little mouthy (nothing ever more than a little pressure). The spray bottle (water only) worked great in training her to not climb on us. She is extremely velcro-y though. I think she'd do great in a house by herself. We noticed she would battle for affection when other dogs were around, but when she was by herself, she was much more calm. Also, she picks up on the mood of the other dogs and when they get playful or excited, she is all over the place.

The cool thing is that she picked up retrieving while with us. When we first got her, she would only play ball inside the house. When we threw the ball outside, she would completely ignore it. However as we played more ball inside, I guess she grew to really love it, and so she started playing outside. By the time she left, she would play outside until her tongue was hanging to the ground. She's definitely a medium energy dog and needs to play or take long walks to move some of that energy along.

The oddest thing was that she was one of the few fosters we had that bonded to Mike instead of me. She would follow Mike around everywhere and was constantly looking for attention from him. That was ok with me because it allowed me to lay on the couch and read a book without having to constantly pet her.

This entry probably sounds like we did not like Delta, but that wasn't true. We found her to be extremely adorable and fun to be around. She's affectionate and sweet. She loves people and she got along with our dogs well (after the first encounter). She was very good around the 3.5 year old daughter of potential adopters. She loves nothing more than to be around us and would stay in one place while we continued to pet her. She'll make someone a great pet. I think it was tough for us in only one respect (after the housebreaking part). Mike and I tend to be pretty laid-back people (aka lazy) and we enjoy quiet time after work. Delta would not allow that from us which frustrated us a little. Otherwise, she's a really great dog. I know she'll find a home pretty easily.

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