Thelma
lab Mix | Female | 5 months Old | 33 Lbs
QUICK FACTS: ✔️ Good with other dogs! ✔️ Good with kids! ✔️ Good with cats! ✔️ Good in car! ✔️ Good for beginner dog owner! ❌ Working on potty training! ❌ Working on crate training!
Thelma found her forever home on July 27, 2022!
Updates
In a typical day for Thelma, she and the resident dog are fed right after waking up -- they may try to steal a bit of each others' food, but neither gets upset. Then, they either chase each other around the yard or we go for a walk. Most days, I have to go to work for part of it, and Thelma is crated, where she does well (but not perfect -- she does protest a little). Evenings come with dinner, more walks, and more playtime. She loves having another dog around, but doesn't require one. The pups usually have one last wrestle session for a while pretty late at night (9 or 10pm-ish), then it's time for bed. Thelma is slowly learning that wake up time is set by the humans, not by the sun and her desire to get the day started. But she's young and still learning. And it's not because she has to potty, either. I used to let her out in the middle of the night since she's young, and half the time we'd be out there for 10 minutes and she wouldn't go. So now I stopped doing that, and when I do let her out of her crate, she often doesn't potty immediately either.
Thelma is very happy meeting new people. She's interested in pretty much all of them. With adults, she may get a little too excited and jump up, but she calms down quickly, and she is learning that jumping is not okay. We've had several visitors to our backyard since we've had Thelma, and everyone is so impressed with how calm and polite she is. I think more than one of my friends has tried to accidentally take her home!
Despite sometimes jumping for adults, Thelma has figured out not to jump on kids. Maybe because they're her height. She has met so many neighbor kids and has done really well with them. The kids know to ask, but then they let themselves in the backyard to play with her. I'm always around to keep an eye on things, but she is just happy to have the attention.
Thelma is a medium-high energy dog -- just a typical puppy. She has lots of energy, but she also takes long naps. Playing with the resident dog tires her out a lot, but walks also help tire her out. She is pretty good on a leash. She doesn't always walk in a straight line, and she will pull pretty hard when she sees a rabbit to chase, but most of the time she's easy to walk.
Thelma warmed up to the resident pup right away, and she's done great with every dog she's met on a walk or who has come to our yard. She doesn't always jump right into playing, she may need to investigate. And she definitely avoids it when the resident pup and a visiting dog play rough -- but she is currently only half the size of the resident pup, so that's understandable.
Thelma met my friend's cats recently, and while she was certainly interested in them, she was very respectful of what their body language was saying. She got a paw swipe to the face right away, and that taught her everything she needed to know. After that, she would tiptoe up to the cats, never charging at them, and they'd hiss at her a little and she'd just stop. She didn't run away, but she didn't fixate on them or stalk them. Thelma very likely will do fine in a home with most cats, but I'd still recommend following the slow-intro protocol just to increase the chances their long-term cohabitation goes well.
For short times -- while I'm showering, or cooking -- Thelma can be left unattended and she does well. For longer times, like at night or when I'm at work, she is crated. She is pretty good about her crate, but not perfect. I coax her in with a kong filled with a dab of peanut butter and she's happy to go in her crate. She will cry a little before I leave, and I'm not sure how often she cries while I'm gone. At night, she initially cried a lot in her crate, waking me up every few hours when she did. Now, she hardly makes a sound, until the early morning. She's still waking up earlier than I would like, so we're working on learning that she doesn't get to boss me around with her schedule. She's improving! Usually if I just say her name and tell her to go sleepy, she'll quiet down and let me sleep a more reasonable amount.
Thelma is such a sweetheart, and we're excited to have her as our foster. Everyone who meets her is very impressed by her demeanor. She has some normal puppy things to work on -- getting fully used to her crate, a little potty training -- but that should come with a forever home who accepts that she's still young and learning, and needs a teeny bit of consistent guidance. Oh, and she's not a cuddler, a least not at this age. She likes being around her humans, she's not totally aloof. But as I type this up, I have all 60 pounds of the resident dog curled up on me, and Thelma is happy to be on the other end of the couch (she also likes being on the floor in the same room as us).