ADOPTED
Say hello to little Nyla, a low-maintenance love-muffin whose name means “winner” in Swahili. She’s a three year old cross between a Pug and a Dachshund. If she wa
s a male, we could have called her Dug! Anyway, she’s 100% adorable, full of playful energy and snuggly affection, and has a lovely disposition. Nyla is a small dog, weighing in at about 17 pounds. She has a silky, short-haired caramel coat with a curly tail, cute little black nose, dark eyes, and ripples of light grey on her ears. She’s a beautiful, easy-to-care-for dog with a pleasant demeanor and lots of personality. We’ve told her more than a few times that she’s going to make her future forever family very, very happy!
Nyla was rescued from a puppy mill, where she was used as a “mill-mama”. But, surprisingly, she shows hardly any traits of the typical mill rescue. She’s not fearful or shy, she’s well-mannered and confident around people, she has a good appetite, is housetrained, and she settled into relaxed household living right away. Usually there would be at least a few mill-related behavioural issues that would warrant discussion with new owners of dogs with this history, but we’re happy to say there are none that we have noticed in the months we’ve looked after her.
Nyla is excited to explore the world around her, which is evident in her enthusiasm for her daily walks. Because of this, however, she needs to live in a secure environment, free from opportunities to escape and run loose. She will take opportunities to dart out a door if given the chance so everyone in her forever home needs to be fully aware of this and prevention has to be in place to ensure she is kept safe. If her home has a fenced yard it has to be fully secure for a small dog and have no gaps or holes where she could sneak though. Alternatively she could do well in a home where there is no fenced yard and she is taken out on leash every time for walks and potty breaks. Nala can never be off leash outside though as she would gladly take off after a rabbit or squirrel.
She is, for the most part, very quiet in her day to day living, but will occasionally bark if she’s surprised by neighbours talking nearby or a dog barking in the distance. This never lasts very long, typically one or two barks and then she quiets down. However, we believe that this behaviour will subside as she gets used to her environment. She used to bark at birds in the backyard and is now completely indifferent to them. Squirrels will still get a reaction out of her, but this behaviour too is slowly calming down.
As mentioned above, Nyla loves going for walks, and would be very happy to have at least two 20 to 30 minute walks per day, which will keep her fit, limber,and give her some mental stimulation. Because of her initial enthusiasm, she tends to tug a bit in the first 5 to 10 minutes of her walk, but will calm down and won’t tug so much afterwards. Continued training in this area will certainly help her to relax a bit more on her walks and not tug so much. Likewise, Nyla has a habit of barking at other dogs she sees on her walks. We’ve never had any altercations or anything more than just barking, but an effort should be made to train this behaviour out of her, for both her safety and the safety of other dogs. Having said that, she doesn’t mind other people or children she sees or approaches on her walks. The training received at dog school will go a long way to help Nyla with her leash walking and her confidence.
Nyla is a low-maintenance munchkin. She is housetrained and we’ve never had a single accident with her. That being said, she’s very subtle when trying to indicate when she wants out. She’ll just stand near the door, hoping you’ll figure it out! She also has the bladder of a camel, and can hold it in for what seems like forever if the weather is wet outside. Luckily, a short walk down the street and back is all it takes to get a pee or poop out of her when needed. She doesn’t get into mischief, doesn’t chew things that aren’t approved toys, and doesn’t even go after dirty dishes if they’ve been left out and within her reach. She is most content to lie with you on the couch or follow you around as you go about your daily routine.
Nyla is affectionate and playful, but can adapt her energy level to yours. If you’re up for a good walk, so is she, but if you want a snuggly little couch-mate for a two hour movie, Nyla is more than happy to accommodate! She is very trainable, and does well sleeping quietly in her crate each night. We are continuing to work on having her alone in her crate while we’re out through the day, and she is showing steady improvement in this area. The most we’ve left her alone so far is 5 hours in one go, but we’re sure that could be increased incrementally if need be. When taking her for a car ride, we’ve typically secured her crate in the back of our hatchback and she’s been content to ride there. The longest we’ve had her in the car was about half an hour, and we only ever noticed a bit of whining. Again, with more exposure to car rides, we are confident she will settle well into this experience.
For mealtimes, Nyla enjoys her dry kibble and a drink of water, but isn’t gluttonous about it. Two meals of kibble per day is all it takes to maintain a healthy weight and keep her content, and she won’t beg for any more than that. She’s also a clean eater and drinker and doesn’t make a mess around her bowl at dinner time.
It should be noted that Nyla absolutely loves to greet you in bed each morning with wriggles and snuggles and kisses, often rolling around in the covers on her back, trying to coax you into tickling her. She’s very comfortable having you pet and touch her, which is great when it comes to brushing her teeth, checking her ears and eyes, or having a veterinarian check her over. And she loves to have you scratch the top of her head and behind her ears, areas that are hard for her to reach on her own. She sheds a little bit, but we only really notice it on dark clothing. On the plus side, she’s a very clean dog that only requires minimal grooming. Just a nightly tooth-brushing and a bath every once in a while is all it takes to keep her looking and smelling her best!
As mentioned above, she barks at other dogs when on walks. However, if she is introduced slowly and carefully to other dogs, she gets along well with them. She has made numerous doggie friends of different breeds and sizes over the past few months and could do well with another dog in the house, provided that dog is more her speed and not too aggressive. Birds don’t cause her too much excitement, but the occasional squirrel or chipmunk might get a rise out of her. This barking behaviour should be able to be minimized with more training and exposure to other animals. Nyla would be best in a home without cats as we don’t know how she would respond to them and expect she would want to chase them.
She reacts well to most other people, men and women alike, and quickly warms up to them, especially if they show her affection and talk nicely to her. Unlike strange dogs, Nyla typically doesn’t react when seeing or meeting strange people on her walks. However, there have been a few occasions when she did bark at a friend or neighbour for no obvious reason. She did eventually warm to them, but there were a few cautious barks at first. She just needs new people to ignore her initially and let her get used to them before they try to pet her or interact with her. Of course offering treats goes a long way to winning her over too!
She’s had minimal exposure to children, but there were no red flag behaviours to note. One concern, however, would be that she sometimes gets a bit “chompy” when enthusiastically playing with her stuffed squeaky toys, and has chomped us by mistake when we are grabbing the toy from her. She meant no harm, she was simply trying to get a better hold of it. It wasn’t painful for us, but a child’s hand might be a different story. Beyond this, she is just as content and happy around the children she’s met as she has been with adults. Because she is one to try and dart out a door if given a chance we are looking for a home for her with teens or adults only so that it can be assured that doors are not left ajar for her to run out.
Nyla is a healthy dog. She’s been spayed, has a microchip, and is up to date on all her shots. She is also a well behaved girl at the vet’s, which always makes life easier! The only concern we had for her upon her arrival was a case of “cherry eye” in her left eye, which is a prolapsing of her inner eyelid and can become a hygiene concern if left untreated. Thankfully, this was successfully corrected by our vet and has not been an issue since the surgery was performed. It needs to be noted that cherry eyes sometimes to reappear but it’s been well corrected now and should be fine.
Because she is such an affectionate, playful dog, Nyla would do very well in a home that can return that love and affection right back to her. She thrives on human interaction and loves nothing more than to simply be near her family, whether it’s going for a neighbourhood walk, or just snuggling on the couch watching TV. She is a cute and funny dog that will entertain both adults and children alike, and could even do well with another doggie friend, provided they are introduced to each other slowly and allowed the time to bond with each other. Further training by her family would go a long way to making life better and safer for her, especially considering she has proven to be very trainable so far. Nyla has a lot to offer her forever family. She’s healthy, clean, well behaved, quiet (most of the time), she doesn’t get into things, and will adapt her energy level to match yours. Best of all, little Nyla is a happy dog, and we know that she will be making her forever family very happy as well!