ADOPTED
This is Mizu, and by the end of this bio you will know her name. Mizu is a 6yr old female spayed Labrador/Poodle mix, often called a labradoodle. She is about 60lbs and more poodle than lab-like in build, with a deep chest and long legs. She has a golden, wiry coat with a soft undercoat, the softest velvet patch of fur on the front of her neck, and an electrified alfalfa tuft on top of her head. She is up to date on her core vaccines, parasite prevention and deworming.
Prior to rescue, Mizu lived in a puppy mill and had never seen the inside of a home. Some things were scary for her at first, such as the television and staircases, but she quickly overcame her uncertainties within a few encounters of these horrifying indoor objects. Mizu is incredibly motivated to please, and will often try things she is unsure of in order to please you. Outdoors, she has never been afraid of strange objects or sounds, and does not react to cars, larger vehicles like buses or even construction. She is a bit puzzled by strangers standing around checking their mailboxes and suspicious activities like that, as most of her time in foster care has been during the winter and she has not been exposed to passing strangers on her walks. Mizu has shown some interest in other animals on walks, especially dogs, and will look at them, burst forward beside you and continue to check over her shoulder to look at them until they are out of her interest zone. In general, Mizu is curious and can be mildly hesitant when it comes to experiencing new things. Praise goes a long way for her.
Mizu is walked with a combination of a martingale collar and a gentle leader. Most puppy mill dogs are considered flight risks, as the greater world is often new and scary, and a martingale adds an extra layer of security in possible moments of panic. Although Mizu has never bolted or become spooked outside, it is always a possibility, and as such it is a requirement to walk her on a martingale collar. Mizu walks a bit like a cartoon hound, in that she always has her nose to the ground and walks with a wide stance to permit the best sniffing angles. She absolutely loves a good sniff walk, but will benefit from a bit more structure and training. As long as she has a good smell to follow, she walks fairly well beside you, but if that scent happens to track in front or behind of you, she will divert immediately after it, whether you are in the way or not. After very little conditioning (again mainly because Mizu is so motivated to please), we added a gentle leader to her walking gear because tension on the martingale would cause her to shutdown and huddle down on the ground, so it was difficult for her to learn some structure and manners while sniffing. Now that Mizu understands she can still sniff with the gentle leader but perhaps not knock into you her skills have greatly improved. She does not shut down if there is some pressure on the gentle leader, so she is in a better mindset to learn. She is also starting to accept treats on walks, so a more structured walk should be within her grasp soon. She currently walks about 30 minutes per day, but could definitely walk longer or more frequently, we have just been increasing the duration over time so as not to overwhelm her physically or mentally. It is a big adjustment from living in a secluded barn to walking outside on a leash beside people in neat lines, and she is doing so well already, and has started checking in for approval on her own. We expect she will enjoy trail walks in the future too, but she also finds daily city walks very rewarding. She could live quite easily in a semi-urban setting with some acclimatization and training, because she is not fearful of her current semi-urban environment.
Travel with Mizu is calm and uncomplicated. She may need some guidance to get into the car, but once she understands she hops right in and settles down on the backseat for the ride. She does not bark or whine, and has not had any car sickness on car rides, and has travelled up to an hour without issue. She will likely enjoy car trips in the future.
In terms of her energy level, Mizu is a moderate energy dog. She is definitely playful and has a silly side. She will have zoomies in the yard and was beyond excited to see snow and push her face into it (which reopened the little booboo on her nose!). We could see her enjoying fetch or games like tug with people once she learns how to play these games. Mizu can be busier than you would expect for a 6yr old larger dog and she likes to move with controlled enthusiasm, speeding up to you into a gentle and refined sit by your side.
You may have noticed the trend already…Mizu is incredibly motivated by people. Mizu does not show more hesitation in regards to men versus women, and we suspect she will get along with gentle children (about 12 and up) easily. She may have a moment of uncertainty when a new person appears, but she is very quick to make friends, especially in exchange for a pat or a treat. With repeat positive interactions as her confidence grows,
we expect her to have less hesitation with new people. She has not really encountered strangers at our home, but early in her foster time she would alert bark for a few seconds before she realized she knew the person coming through the door, which together with her hesitancy with people outside makes us believe she needs a moment to realize new people are just as friendly as everyone else. This stems from her lack of confidence when she does not know what the expectations are, rather than a fear of people themselves, as she took to us as her foster family immediately. She loves to sit extremely close to people (within centimetres), and will come over very quickly and sit perfectly still, staring at you intensely like you are the centre of the universe, waiting for you to acknowledge her and give her affection. If she thinks you may have not noticed her very subtle advances, she may place a delicate paw or two on you to assist. Mizu does not really jump up, but does softly place her front limbs on people in this way, while her bottom remains seated. She loves to sit on the couch with you, and that is often where she is the most relaxed, and quickly falls asleep, and will often rest her head and one paw on you like a little baby.
As Mizu is so keen to have attention from people, she does struggle with some separation anxiety when you leave the home and she is crated. She is absolutely excited to enter her crate, and will dance in front and run in to please you and get a treat, but once you leave the home she becomes quite vocal. We started working on her separation anxiety very quickly, and Mizu is always crated with a Kong-type puzzle and dental treat which keep her busy. Mizu is a dog that thrives with structure and having a sense of expectations. We have had an incredible amount of progress in a short time with a predictable structure for her: she gets a walk, calming music or white noise, and a Kong whenever she is crated. We crate her for a variable amount of time to help her understand that time alone does not need to be stressful. Mizu also enthusiastically eats her meals in her kennel exclusively to associate the crate with good feelings. We do recommend a slow feeder or food puzzles as Mizu tends to inhale her food! We would say Mizu does love her crate, she just does not like the idea of you leaving her alone within it. She sleeps soundlessly overnight in her crate in our bedroom. Mizu would probably prefer a home where people are home with her more than not, or have the ability for someone to visit her during the day for a walk, break and reset. She can be crated for about 8 hours during the day with success, but she will likely bark for a bit if she finishes her puzzles too quickly. We do not recommend apartment living or housing where sound will travel for her as a result; her volume can be quite disruptive to neighbours! It is important to continue to help her by crate training in a positive way to encourage her development as a confident individual, as dogs encounter situations where they need to be kenneled in real life such as emergency situations, the veterinarian and the groomer.
Mizu responds so well to positive reinforcement, and she will often offer a sit automatically as an attention seeking behaviour. We are working on capturing these behaviours and linking them to words, but Mizu has not had too much formal command-based training yet. We have focused on confidence building, establishing expectations and structure for her. Mizu is a smart and motivated dog, and we don’t foresee her having any issues in a formal dog training class. Success with training will also do wonders for her confidence. She really wants to please! Mizu takes treats very gently, and we have been working on her impulse control as she is learning when treats are usually given to her (such as after handling) and will check your hands in these moments!
In terms of grooming and handling, Mizu is very well-behaved. Being a doodle type dog, her coat is a bit of a mixture! She definitely has an undercoat, and will sprinkle the delicate golden fibres around your home–expect to vacuum daily. She is not a “hypoallergenic” dog. Her undercoat also sheds into her thinner, more wiry top-coat and is very quick to form knots in spots. It will be important to comb out her coat more frequently in the shedding seasons to keep her knot-free. Mizu is very tolerant of this combing and as she appreciates physical attention so much. She did have some dirty ears when she came to us, and was so good for us when we had to handle her sore ears. This issue has cleared but should be monitored in the future, as she has large poodle-sized ears that tend to trap warmth and moisture. She will also offer her paws to you and is accustomed to having them wiped off after a walk outside, and has tolerated nail trims well. Her quicks are still quite long from a lack of grooming prior to finding rescue, so they will have to be worked on over time. She also tolerated bathing quite well, but did lay down in the bath at times. Mizu does tend to fall to the ground submissively with any sort of physical pressure and expose her belly when you handle her at times due to her lack of confidence. This behaviour is an appeasement behaviour and she is not asking for a belly rub, she just does not know what to do and shuts down. We pair all handling with a positive reward like a pat, gentle praise or treat at some point during the activity to help build her confidence and understand what is happening. We have found in her short time with us she is becoming more confident with handling now that she is learning expectations.
Mizu is doing very well with housetraining! Apart from not being sure how to alert us, she is nearly perfect in her housetraining. She does not look to urinate or defecate in the house, and only had an accident or when we first brought her home. It will be important to monitor her in her forever home to teach her how to alert more reliably. She will use the bathroom in the backyard on the command “duties” but is not always the most prompt, preferring to sniff around a bit or go on a small stroll, especially to have a bowel movement.
Her house manners are also quite impressive given her lack of indoor experience. Mizu may gently sniff the edge of the counter if you are preparing a snack for her, and likes to stand very close to you at the table during dinner, but has never tried to jump on counters or take things or intrude in any way. She prefers to sit with you on the couch and is the most settled beside you, otherwise she will busy herself with toys. Mizu will occasionally rest in a dog bed, comically preferring the tiny beds of our smaller dogs over the more size-appropriate options. She appreciates a soft spot to lay down, and she hopes you don’t mind that it is very, very close to you! She is generally quiet in the home when you are home, but may alert bark if she can hear a strange noise outside or if someone knocks on the door, which is in line with her poodle heritage.
Mizu has really come into a love of soft toys in her time with us. Like her love of too-small beds, she likes to pick up the small toys that often come hidden in larger hide-away toy puzzles, and carries them around. In general she has not been destructive with these toys, but she should be monitored to ensure destructive behaviour does not develop–she is part lab after all. Mizu did destroy one toy in her kennel where she had hidden it away, but we suspect this was more due to boredom. We do not recommend leaving her unattended with soft toys, but in your presence she loves to collect them and plays with them gently.
Mizu also co-exists well with other dogs, and is currently fostered with two medium-sized older but active and playful dogs. She has not tried to play with them indoors, and we have not had the opportunity to let them play outside off leash yet so we are not sure how she would respond. Mizu would be fine as a solo dog as she does not seem to draw confidence from the presence of other dogs. She would likely prefer dogs who are responsive to her communication, as she has growled a few times to communicate her need for space, or rarely if she wants a toy, and does very well with dogs who listen. She tends to be more vocal the less sure she is of her place and expectations, so her growling occurred when she first arrived and when she
first started enjoying toys. As she has learned her place in our home and that no one is looking to battle her for things and resources are plentiful, she has settled in quite well. She is very content to sit right beside our dogs with a toy, and to line up to receive treats and share praise from people. A puppy or rambunctious teenage dog as a housemate would not make her very happy, especially if they did not listen to her when she was unsure.
Mizu is also fostered with two cats. She is very respectful of our cats, and only sniffs them briefly when they sit almost directly on top of her or on an adjacent lap. She is not excited by them playing and does not mind feline company at all. We expect she will be well-tolerated by any future feline friends.
You now know Mizu’s name. Is she the right fit for you? She can likely go home to a first-time adopter who is comfortable learning about some confidence-building in dogs, as she is sweet-natured and eager to learn and please. Thank you for reading her bio. If you would like to see some of Mizu’s time in her foster home, you can find her on Instagram @twiceluckyfosters. Thank you for considering a rescue dog!