ADOPTED
Please read our dog bios carefully to be sure that the dog you are applying for suits your family and lifestyle. We at PDR believe in the benefits of post-adoption training for our dogs and their families. This allows for continued socialization, learning and helps to create a well-mannered and balanced dog. Post-adoption training is a requirement in our adoption process.
Hello everyone,
Today I get to introduce you to Ember! Ember is a wonderfully sweet 7 year old cocker spaniel who has the biggest floppy ears, and a beautiful red coat. Ember is incredibly loving, curious, and people oriented! She wants nothing more than to be a beloved member of a family and be a part of everything that is going on! If you’re looking for a best friend who loves ear rubs, snuggling on the couch, and snacking Ember just might be the dog for you!
Ember came to us after being discarded from a commercial breeding operation where she had been used for profit her entire life. She arrived to us in horrible condition and has spent the past 11 weeks under vet care getting back to health after a lifetime of neglect. Though her life story is incredibly sad, Ember is not sad about it. Ember is an incredible dog full of love and resilience and she is just happy to be alive and to be living a life full of love and joy. She is looking forward to her bright future and wakes up each day full of excitement for all the incredible things she gets to experience.
Ember has a wonderful zest for life and simply adores (almost) every experience she has. Cold fresh water, a good smell on her walk, snuggles from her humans, and breakfast are all things that get her little nub of a tail wiggling wildly! Ember is often referred to in her foster home as “wiggles” because her tail is constantly going back and forth, back and forth. Kind words and head scritches make her the happiest! She’s a soft soul who loves being treated gently. The more positive attention she gets the happier she is! She wants to be the highlight of everyone’s day and it makes her so happy that she gets to be in a home with her favourite things: humans and reliable meals.
Not only is Ember loving and sweet she’s also incredibly funny. She’s a bit of a goofball and keeps us laughing. Whether she’s rolling around in good smells, hopping across the yard like a bunny, or dragging her back legs along behind her as though she’s crawling she keeps a smile on our face. A note on the last one, when she first dragged her back legs behind her we panicked that something was wrong. Nope. Nothing was wrong. Ember is just being Ember and she does it as a happy behaviour. Often when one of her foster parents gets home for work she’ll start dragging her legs and wiggling her tail. She’s just SO excited and can often go faster and cover more ground than she can walking regularly.
Ember has lived with dog foster siblings and does really like her dog friends. She wiggles her tail and likes to be close 
by them but gives them their space as well. She is an incredibly polite dog and exhibits very respectful behaviour. Ember would be fine to live with another dog so long as they respected her and did not intentionally push her boundaries. As Ember cannot see very well so it can be hard for her to move out of a way of a rowdy dog or to read the other dogs body language if they’re imposing on her space. Ember did have to let her foster brother know if he was being too much a few times but did so with a quick correction then moved on. A dog who enjoys company and the occasional play session would be a great fit for her but she also would be incredibly happy as an only dog as well!
Ember has never met a cat but we’re fairly sure she would be indifferent to them. Any cat she lives with would need to be gentle and respectful to her as she has limited vision and would not be able to dodge a swat.
Ember often wants to kiss her favourite people right on the mouth. She gets so excited sometimes when you’re on the couch cuddling and all of the sudden she’s stomping up on you trying to let you know just HOW MUCH she loves you! It’s very sweet but if you’re someone who loves your personal space Ember is probably not the right dog for you.
Ember is curious and food motivated and has learned some very basic commands in foster care. Ember isn’t a dog who will learn a tons of fancy tricks but she does love a bit of brain work and will do best with an adopter who likes to engage with her. Ember loves treat puzzles and kongs and engaging in sniffing out her surroundings! Ember is playful and loves gently playing with her foster parents hands and the occasional game of very slow placed chase. Given Ember’s lower physical ability, using her brain and engaging in play with her is incredibly important!
Ember is often under our feet just excited to be a part of the family and join in with everything that is going on. Ember is curious in nature and could get into mischief if she’s not being engaged with. She loves to follow us around when we’re cooking or doing household chores. She just loves to be involved! Ember would do best in a home where all family members are 10+ as she does get nervous around large amounts of commotion and would not be able to move herself out of the way of a toddler or small child’s path.
With Embers cheery disposition it is often very easy to forget how horrible her life was prior to rescue. Though not much makes her nervous she will need someone who is patient and recognizes that sometimes she gets a bit overwhelmed. Occasionally on a walk she might get confused as to where she is and simply put on the brakes. A quick check in and some reassurance and pets often gets her tail going and her moving again! She walks well on leash and enjoys her walks if the weather is nice! She walks at a slower pace and likes to sniff all the good smells she can! She can be unsure in too loud of an area and prefers a quiet space to do her business. A fenced backyard is not necessary for sweet Ember but some place quiet to go to the bathroom is needed! When we took her to a friend’s place it took her a bit to figure out where it was safe to go to the bathroom and though she is house trained she will need a bit of patience when learning the area around her new home. As she is low vision, routine is helpful in this until she knows where she is supposed to go!
Ember has two things she does not like in life:
1. Car rides
2. Being alone
Ember has been on a few longer journeys in the car and though she manages to make it through she finds it stressful. She likes to be able to see both foster parents when she is travelling but still will whine intermittently. She of course will travel if need be but it’s not a pastime she enjoys.
Ember’s least favourite thing ever is being alone. When she is left alone she howls the saddest howls you’ve ever heard in your life. She has been left alone for 5 hours at a time but would prefer a home where she has someone around most of the time. She is a fantastic work from home buddy or would be a great companion for someone retired! Given her very vocal disapproval she would not be suited for an apartment as she would definitely cause some noise complaints when left alone. This does not mean she can never be left alone, but she really wants to be close to her humans above all else.
Ember is crated when left alone. She is always more upset about the being alone part than the crate. Crating Ember keeps her safe as she’s very curious and investigative. Though she’s never gotten into anything she shouldn’t, when Christmas presents started appearing under the tree she promptly tried to unwrap them. She isn’t interested in waiting for Christmas thank you very much, she thinks every day is special and every day is for celebrating!
As I mentioned Ember was incredibly neglected when she entered our care. When we first went to the vet we had a laundry list that we needed to fix for her. She’s received ongoing treatment and now has had everything fixed that was a danger to her long-term health. I’m going to outline a few things here but I want to make it very clear that nothing she’s dealt with/deals with impacts her expected life span or her quality of life. Ember is truly happy to be alive and is a completely normal dog with a few special aspects peppered in.
The things Pound Dog has treated: Ember has had dental surgery in Pound Dogs care to take care of rotten teeth, gum disease, and to clean the remaining teeth. Ember has had her ear infections treated but will need regular ear maintenance to keep her ears healthy, but hey, she’s a cocker spaniel and that’s typical for the breed. Ember was also spayed, put on a high-quality diet, and has started exercising to combat the muscle atrophy that had happened in her back end due to not having enough room to move around in her previous life. Ember does have some missing fur in places that the vet clinic believes will improve the longer she is on healthy food and in a home environment.
Ember lives with the following: Ember has vision impairment that is irreversible. Though she is low vision she can see 
light and shapes. In general this does not impact her life too heavily, the biggest concern is simply ensuring stairs in the home have gates and there are no sudden drops she can fall down. Ember has a unique walk as she has spinal damage from whelping too many litters of puppies. This means that she has some hind end weakness and occasionally her back end gives out on her. She gets right back up though! The main concern with this is the inability to climb stairs but given her vision impairment she shouldn’t be around them anyway. It does mean that her adopter needs to be able to carry a 22 pound dog as she needs to be carried up and down stairs and needs to be lifted up on the couch. Ember does not feel sorry for herself and though she has a few health anomalies, it’s nothing that will impact her life expectancy. Ember is absolutely determined she’s going to have a wonderful life in her forever home.
Ember is incredibly loving and just wants to be around people. She is so grateful to have the life she has now and all she wants is to be treated kindly and to be a beloved member of her forever family. Ember will be your best friend and would love nothing more than to spend every minute keeping you company and filling your day with joy and laughter.