Moana
alaskan husky Mix | Female | 1 year Old | 31 Lbs
QUICK FACTS: ✔️ Good with other dogs and cats! ✔️ Good with kids! ✔️ Crate trained! ✔️ Good in the car!
✔️ Enjoys doggy daycare! ✔️ Walks well on leash! ✔️ Good for beginner owner! ❌ Working on potty training!
Updates
March 31st marks Moana’s adoption day!
PUPDATE 3
Moana had her first experience with doggy daycare this week and she loved it! She got along well with all the other dogs, and the humans commented what a good girl she was. We also got a sense of her grace and agility in their fenced back yard, and we all agreed that agility training would probably be a great match for her athleticism and need for mental stimulation.
She's still learning her boundaries and the skills training continues, but it has been a delight to see her visibly relax over the past few weeks. When she first arrived, she would accept petting only in a wary standing position, but now she curls up next to us and takes in all the snuggles!
PUPDATE 2
Moana is making such wonderful progress! She is now playing beautifully with our dog, becoming more cuddly every day, and waits patiently for the OK before chowing down. We are working on “come” and “heel” this week. She’s ready for her forever home!
PUPDATE 1
Moana is a sweet, smart and energetic pup! She sleeps in her kennel overnight and is always excited to see us in the morning. After breakfast, she takes a morning walk and settles in to play with our older dog (8 years old) or her toys. She loves interacting with dogs and humans. Since she's still a puppy, we do keep an eye on her for potty training and non-toy chewing incidents :) We don't have a fenced yard so she goes out on a long leash and loves picking up scents and bounding playfully from one end of the yard to the other (it's a joy to watch!). After dinner in the evenings, she loves her family time.
Moana does very well with people! She gets excited to meet all sorts of people, and warms up quickly. She's good about not jumping up when reminded of it. If Moana is over-excited, she'll puppy-bite human hands and ankles. Our kids think it's fun but (to their dismay) we're working to train that out of her.
Our kids are 14 and 15 years old, but we have introduced her to elementary-aged kids in the neighborhood and she does well. We haven't seen her interact with the under-5 set, and we'd recommend cautious optimism only because she had 2 minor possessiveness incidents (with a treat and a dog toy) with our 8 year old dog in the first few days we've had her. Now that Moana has settled in, we haven't seen that sort of thing.
Moana is medium energy. She can be high energy before she's had exercise or or mental stimulation, and that includes all the normal puppy playfulness! Moana entertains herself by flying across the back yard, back and forth and it's a joy to watch! But she can settle down pretty quickly, contenting herself chewing on a toy or a Kong treat toy.
She does well with our 8 year old Lab (about twice Moana's size), especially after having settled in and learning to trust her. We introduced Moana to a smaller dog in the neighborhood and they played really well together too. As a puppy, Moana is still learning her boundaries.
Moana likes to interact with our older cat in a playful way, and she isn't necessarily daunted by his hisses and scratches. We keep the cat's food up high (due to our other dog, originally) and he has a place to escape to when needed, so it hasn't been problematic.
We haven't left her alone too often, but we do leave her in her create because she still has a tendency to chew on non-toys and such. Moana will whine for a bit but settles down fairly quickly. She might have a twinge of separation anxiety, but it doesn't seem like the problematic kind.
Moana is very bright! She quickly learned some of the most basic commands (sit, leave it, wait) and we're working on others daily! Initially she wasn't terribly cuddly but she loves to sit in laps and we can see her warming up more every day. Because she's a strong-willed puppy, she'll do best with lots of structure and humans who are loving and firm. As is typical for a husky, Moana does vocalize, and that can range from barking at noises or movement to the most adorable Chewbacca sounds ever (we're still hoping to teach her to say "I love you" in husky-talk) :)