Maeby

I’m so excited to introduce you to Maeby!

Maeby is a 5-1/2-year-old red cocker spaniel who is about 25lbs of pure love. She has soft white markings on her coat and luxurious curls on her head and ears. She has big expressive eyes and a powerful tail that almost never stops wagging. She is still adapting to her new life but so far, she is a big fan!

Maeby came to us as a retired breeding dog from a large-scale breeding operation. She has been able to leave that life behind her for the most part and embrace her new duties as full time cuddler and loving family member. She is a bit timid with new people and new situations, but her friendliness always wins out! She just needs a patient home to help her continue to learn about life outside the barn.

Maeby has been very quiet since joining my home, the most I’ve heard from her are some whines and cries if she wants out of her crate. For this reason, I think she would be good in any home environment. She is able to do stairs although she still needs some encouragement and because she is not a dog who requires endless amounts of exercise a yard will not be mandatory. Maeby has gotten good at walking on the leash and more practise will ensure that she doesn’t pull or swerve. She will, however, stop to sniff at every leaf and twig! After a life of seclusion in a small space she is still overwhelmed with excitement at the vastness of the new world around her.  If we see other people when we are out walking her entire back end starts wagging and she is happy to meet anyone, young or old. She may even let out an excited little pee. This was a regular occurrence when she first joined us, and not at all uncommon for a cocker spaniel, but this improves every day. When seeing other dogs, she may stop to watch them for a moment but never does anything other than wag her tail at them. Little creatures scurrying about garner more attention and even a half-hearted run or jump in chase.

Far and away my favorite thing about Maeby is her cuddling – she is an expert. She has the softest coat and the biggest paws and I love to hold and pet her. She loves it too and has not yet found enough of this love! She has made great strides in adapting to life outside the barn but she needs a patient and consistent home where she can continue to blossom.

In the short time that she has been with us she has adapted perfectly to crate training and happily rests in her crate when I am away from the home as well as overnight without a peep. I work out of the home 3 days a week where she is crated in the morning and again in the afternoon with a bathroom break at noon. She handles this schedule fine and would be ok to continue in this way or similar. She also eats in her crate without issue. Aside from the submissive/excited peeing she has not had any accidents in the house. This is not a house training issue, it is simply excitement and with more time it should continue to resolve. She enjoys her walks and readily takes care of business once we are on our way. She does not require enormous amounts of exercise but she loves a good, fast paced walk with lots of opportunities for sniffing. She does quite well in the car, riding in a crate for everyone’s safety. She could also ride in the backseat with a seatbelt with a bit more exposure. Maeby has a coat that will require regular grooming so her new family must be ready to keep a grooming schedule and be familiar with the costs associated with this. Failure to keep her coat at a proper length will result in painful mats. She has had several baths since coming into rescue and her coat is still recovering from years of neglect. She has a bit of dry skin but that will continue to improve with regular grooming and good food. 

Maeby is being fostered in a home with multiple dogs and she has shown great dog manners with dogs of similar size. She should not be housed with very small dogs as she gets too excited and does not know how to interact with them properly. The same would likely be seen with cats so a home without cats would be best at this time. She would also be fine as the only dog in the home, gobbling up all the attention for herself.

Maeby has met lots of people at this point and has fully approved of everyone as long as they can pet her! She would be fine in a home with children over 6yrs of age as long as they were taught how to properly engage with her and treat her kindly. She can be a bit of a bull-in-a-china-shop as well, in typical cocker spaniel form, so small children may also be easily knocked over. There is an inherent flight risk associated with dogs who have lived only in a breeding environment and as such any children in the home should be old enough to be trusted to keep doors and gates closed.  

Maeby has shown to be a smart dog with how quickly she has picked up on the routine of the home. She will thrive in obedience training and this will be a mandatory requirement of her adoption. She has come to love her treats and she wants to make her people happy so I think she’ll be a great pupil. She is working hard on learning how to be calm so this will be an ongoing lesson with her new family. Her new life is just so wonderful, she can’t contain her joy!

Maeby has been microchipped and spayed and has healed up without incident. On her initial exam by the vet it was determined that had an inguinal herniation which was surgically repaired. This was likely an issue that she had since birth and it’s amazing that it never caused issues. It was a more lengthy recovery after this but she is all healed up now. She has had all testing and vaccinations appropriate for her age and her teeth did not need any attention.

Sweet Maeby is looking for a forever family to call her own where she is never again mistreated. She needs a patient home with a family who will introduce her to new things and include her in their adventures. She will require a family who can ensure she gets the vetting, grooming and training that she needs so she can feel healthy and safe and supported. And most of all she needs a family that is committed to giving her the endless love that she craves. I promise that she will give it all back tenfold. If you think you could be her love match please fill out an application and I would love to talk to you about her!