Millie
labrador retriever Mix | Female | 1 year Old | 45 Lbs
QUICK FACTS: ✔️ Good with other dogs and kids! ✔️ Housebroken! ✔️ Good in car! ✔️ Good running buddy!
✔️ Walks well on leash! ✔️ Good for beginner dog owner! ❌ Separation anxiety! ❌ No apartments!
Updates
Millie sealed the deal with her new family on January 1, 2021!
Meet Millie, my very fun and full-of-life foster pup! Millie sleeps in as long as I want her to, which is fantastic, and when we do wake up, she goes out to do her business and we go for a walk. Then it's breakfast time, and then work-from-home time. Millie is pretty good about leaving me alone and sleeping or playing with toys on her own while I'm working, though sometimes I need to take a tug-of-war break with her for a few minutes. We almost always get a mid-day walk in to burn some energy, too. Evenings have some fun play time (Millie is really into play-wrestling and tug-of-war) and walk time, too, plus dinner time, before she crashes on the couch to end her day. Still, if I want to go for a walk later at night, she's happy to join me.
She adores all people! She may adore them a little too much :) We're working on polite greetings -- jumping up on someone to show how excited you are to meet them is not polite -- but her tail wags so hard when she gets to meet a new person. She does bark and growl a little when she hears someone inside the house, which is funny because she knows it's either me or my boyfriend and she knows she likes both of us. When she hears him moving upstairs and we're downstairs working, she gives a little growl and runs up to investigate, wagging her tail like crazy the whole time.
Millie treats kids like adults, which means she adores them, but again, maybe a little more than a smaller child wants. She's also very puppy-like still, and she gets very mouthy when she goes into play mode. We're working on polite greetings with kids and adults, and we're working on putting her energy into a toy when she just needs to mouth things. She can certainly live in a house with kids but depending on the age and the level of supervision the adults are willing to give, she may not immediately be great for some families with kids.
She is a young pup and has the appropriate amount of energy for a dog her age. She is definitely not low energy, but she's not an out-of-control high-energy little monster either! The worst that happens when she has a burst of energy is she bugs me while I'm trying to work, and I'm working on teaching her that she doesn't get her way if I'm busy. And for the most part, she occupies herself with her toys or sleeps during the day. But we always get a decent mid-day walk in which helps calm her down for the afternoon, too. She does really well on walks, too! She can keep up with me on any length walk, and she's very easy to manage on a leash. She will pull if she sees a squirrel, and as already noted, she gets very excited to meet new people on walks so I have to rein her in so she doesn't just jump up on everyone, but she is a very pleasant dog to walk!
Millie loves dogs. Loves them! But, she's doesn't know how to turn off her friendliness. For example, if we meet a dog on a walk that the owner says she can play with, she is so excited! But if that dog gives a cue that they’re over it, she just keeps trying. And our neighbor's dog is dog aggressive, which with previous fosters has gone one of two ways: all-out war at the fence, or my foster is scared and stays away. Millie is this odd middle ground -- when the other dog growls and snarls at and bites Millie's paws over the fence, Millie backs down...and then goes right back for more. I haven't seen any concern about Millie being too aggressive and hurting another dog -- she truly just wants to be besties, and she's so good at play-bowing and being a good dog friend -- but she could certainly work on learning correct social cues. Millie has not met a cat in her foster home.
For better or worse, I am home almost all the time. With a dog like Millie with separation anxiety, it's good for her because she's with me all the time, so she gets little reason to be anxious. It's bad because it's hard to work on helping her get over the anxiety. When I do crate her to leave, it's good for her and me that she doesn't try to hurt herself in her crate. But she barks the whole time I'm gone. Millie will take some work with her forever family to get over her separation anxiety. But I do think time will be a big factor in helping lessen it. She was found as a stray, and she seems just so relieved to have landed in safe homes that she translated that into adoring people. She needs some work to learn that it's okay to not always be around people. Because she clearly has separation anxiety and not crate anxiety (she's fine in her crate if she can see me), and because she barks but doesn't try to hurt herself in her crate, I haven't tried leaving her out to roam free while I'm gone.
Millie is truly just a fun and sweet dog. She is exactly what you'd expect from a dog her age -- she's not one of those "wow, she's 18 months? She's so calm!" dogs. She has the energy and zest for life of a happy young adult/teenager pup. But, she's not a frustratingly exhausting dog, either. Yes, anyone who adopts her should be prepared to give her the exercise and attention she needs, but why adopt a young dog if you're not looking for that excuse to play, have a fun buddy, and go for walks? Also, she loves getting attention with training and she's food motivated, so working on basic obedience is actually a fun and stimulating game for her. She is going to take a little work because she hasn't had lessons in being a house dog until recently, but she's clearly got the right temperament and is starting off from a decent point to turn into a great forever companion!