Luna
Lab Mix | Female | 2 Years Old | 35 Lbs
QUICK FACTS: ✔️ Crate trained! ✔️ Housebroken! ✔️ Good in car! ✔️ Good for beginner dog owner! ✔️ Could do well in an apartment!
Luna found her forever home on January 6, 2022!
Updates
PUPDATE 2
It's always fun to see how much a foster dog changes in the first few weeks, and Luna is very much changing for the better (and, she was so, so good to start with!). What I thought was her resource guarding toys from the resident pup turns out to just be that she is one of those very noisy players. At first, the resident pup was concerned and backed away from her, reading the noise as defensive. But they've officially built a level of trust over two weeks, and now they play tug all over the house and chase each other around the yard and are almost best friends. Yes, she sounds scary when they play, but she is most definitely not. Case in point, she is VERY loudly wrestling with Kirby while I type this; if she were being at all inappropriate, Kirby would be yelping and trying to hide under me, not showing her his belly like he is. They both just needed a little time to learn to adjust to the other — it does take two to have a good relationship :) Luna still resource guards the couch from Kirby, giving a low growl when he tries to come up. But, she is completely submissive to humans, and she knows that if I say he gets to come up, he gets to come up.
Overall, Luna still may prefer to be an only dog, or if she did live with another dog, they would need slow introductions and she’d prefer a dog that is not too “in your face” about wanting to play all the time.
I still cannot believe how good she is in the house! She is crated at night and when I'm gone during the day, but if I'm home, she does not require constant attention and she is yet to do anything to get a correction. Most of the time, she just wants to sleep, and that's even if she hasn't had any exercise yet that day. And when she does want to play, she just grabs a toy and keeps herself occupied. But, she loves going for walks and I suspect she'll be a great running and hiking buddy for her humans. She's also a fantastic dog for people who are back to work for full days, as she can easily hang out in her crate all day long and not be a disaster of unwound energy when you get home. I am so lucky that she's naturally one of those dogs that has all the energy in the world if she needs it, but never needs to burn it to behave!
PUPDATE 1
Sweet Luna is such an easy dog to have in our house! Our typical schedule starts with me waking up when I want to — no barking from her crate when she's ready, she waits for me to wake up — then it's morning walk time. Luna and the resident pup play in the backyard while I'm getting ready for work, then I feed her in her crate on my way out the door (she doesn't eat right away, and the resident pup will eat her food if I leave it out!). She does great in her crate all day until I get home, and then we go for a walk and have some yard playtime. Evenings are for cuddling on the couch, which she adores doing. She easily goes in her crate again at night, often makes some noise for the first minute, and then settles right in.
Luna is really good with all people! She adores them and mostly just wants to cuddle. On walks, she loves saying hello to people. At home, she barks when a new person comes to the door, but she stops as soon as they come inside, and she just wants them to pet her.
Luna has only met kids on walks, but she does very well with them. I'm not sure how she would do living with kids. I will say that when she gets excited, she jumps up, which is something we're working on. I think she's tiny, so it's not a problem for me, but a 35-pound dog happily jumping up on a small child is a different story than an adult.
Luna is okay on leash, but would benefit from some training and a harness/prong collar (she's tiny enough that her pulling doesn't bother me, but she pulls, and I just haven't had enough of a reason to get her a better collar/harness).
Luna is a perfect mix of "happy to sit around the house all day sleeping" and "has all the energy in the world for playing outside and going for walks." When we're inside and the resident dog finally accepts that she doesn't want to play, she is content to just curl up on the couch for hours. But if I let them out in the yard, they'll usually chase each other -- fast! -- or play tug. And when it's walk time, she is a little too excited to go (the jumping that we're working on).
Luna is pretty good with dogs. Pretty good means she certainly can live with some dogs — she and Kirby are doing great together! — but she's a mama alpha (our sweet little girl clearly had a litter in the recent past) and may not be right for every dog. Kirby is a very playful but submissive dog, so Luna makes it clear when she doesn't want to play with him, and he reads her cues correctly, if a little bit sadly, but all in all they're almost friends. Luna sometimes resource guards toys or the couch by giving him a stern warning, and he always backs away, so nothing has even come close to escalating. I do not know how she would do with a less submissive dog that was willing to stand up for itself. She's met lots of dogs on leash on walks and done really well with them. But then she met the often-dog-aggressive neighbor dog (who plays very well with submissive Kirby) in our backyard; neighbor dog did not respond well to Luna, and Luna defended herself right back. So, Luna could go to a home with the right resident dog(s) but I do think she may prefer to be the only dog, where she could just sleep peacefully most of the day and cuddle with her humans (when Kirby isn't around, she just melts into my lap, which is adorable and very welcomed).
Luna has only met cats on walks, and while the resident pup just kinda looks and keeps going, Luna is very, very interested. I cannot say how she will do in a home with cats, I only have these outdoor interactions to go on.
Luna is crated while we're gone for the day and at night, and she does wonderfully. She has no issues with being left alone for the whole time I'm at work. She often barks for about a minute when she goes in her crate, which is so funny because she goes in without any protest. But it truly ends in less than a minute and then she doesn't make a peep, until she very, very excitedly is allowed to leave her crate. When I am home but not paying attention to Luna, she's fantastic! She is completely housetrained -- no accidents, only chews toys, and quickly learned the house boundaries (no basement for the dogs, and she doesn't even try after I told her no once). It's nice that when I work from home or need to take a shower or such, I can trust her to behave and not have to put her in her crate.
Luna does have some tartar accumulation present, but is not in need of a dental at this time. A dental may be recommended within the next 1-2 years.
Luna is truly one of the sweetest and easiest dogs I've fostered! Her Louisiana foster said the same thing, and Luna was a favorite amongst the transport crew. I don't think Luna is perfect for every single adopter out there, but she is perfect for lots of families and someone is going to be very, very happy when they adopt this little one :)