Plum

Plum

Let me introduce you to my sweet little Velcro dog – Plum!  She is also affectionately called Sugar Plum, Sugar or Baby!  Plum is approximately 2-3 years old, she weighs a whopping 18lbs and she is a Terrier mix.  Plum has a beautiful silvery and tan coloured longer haired coat that is almost wispy looking.  Plum has the sweetest hazel coloured eyes that will watch your every move, because you can be sure that if you’re going to leave the room or try to do anything, she will be ready to go right behind you, even if she was sleeping just a moment ago!

Plum came into Pound Dog Rescues care from a city shelter  where she was an unclaimed stray.  Plum was very good from the moment we brought her into our home, she really seemed to accept the humans, dogs and cat and got right to settling in. It was clear almost immediately how much she LOVES people.  She always wants to be right where you are and absolutely loves to snuggle in.  Working from home?  She will sleep on the chair next to you.  Having a movie night? She will curl up on the couch with you, she really is a great companion.

Plum really took well to living life in our home, she loves having a backyard to explore in however she’s not the kind of dog that wants to be let outside while you carry on doing something else inside, she wants her people to go outside with her!  In these colder winter months, Plum is pretty happy just going outside to do her business and then promptly coming back in.  Plum would not require any kind of fenced in backyard, as she would happily walk around outside on a leash with you and do her business that way.  Plum doesn’t generally stray too far from us outside she really just wants to be in our company all the time.  

As mentioned, Plum does live in a home with other dogs, and while she will occasionally play with them and snuggle with them, we don’t feel that Plum requires having another dog in her forever home.  If there is another dog, she would be best paired with a lower energy male dog that doesn’t want to constantly bug her to play, but would rather a snuggle buddy!  Plum lives in a home with a cat, and she and the cat get along very well, she isn’t very big, plus she doesn’t give chase so the cat actually enjoys her company and doesn’t feel threatened by her.  Plum loves all of the humans in her home, she doesn’t discriminate, if you have a lap for her to sit in then she will be your best friend.   She would be fine in a family with children 7yrs and above who know how to be gentle with a small dog.  Plum loves to curl up with anyone who is on the couch, so her forever home must love dogs being on the furniture!  When the family is snuggled in for a good TV show or movie at night, you can bet that you will find Plum in the smallest little part curled up with everyone.   She truly is a little lap dog.  

Plum is doing very well with her housetraining, when we first brought her in she was a little rocky and wouldn’t always stay outside long enough to finish her business.  She has really caught on to what she needs to do now, and she is also very good at holding it and not requiring frequent outside breaks.  If she knows she doesn’t have to go to the washroom, she won’t bother going outside with the rest of the dogs.  When she goes outside she will generally just wait at the back door until someone lets her in again.  So in continuing her housetraining, it’s extremely important that you accompany her outside to make sure she does her business out there and then praise her when she does.  We find that giving her lots of pets and affection is the best way to praise her, since she loves her humans so much!

We have been working on basic house manners with Plum and she has been coming a long way.  We have also been starting to work on some basic commands with her as well such as “sit”, “down”, and “wait”.  These are all a work in progress.   Plum isn’t very food motivated at this point, but I’m sure that once we find the right high value treat that it will change!  She is very much a people pleaser so giving her praise and affection does work to reward her too, but she does still have some work to do.    Plum has been doing really well on her walks!  We have been very impressed with how much confidence that Plum has and she really enjoys taking a stroll through town.  Plum is currently being walked using a gentle leader head halter to help her understand some leash respect and knowing how to properly walk at our side.  I suspect that in the future Plum will be able to walk using just a martingale collar as she becomes more confident with her new family.  Plum has been doing so well on her walks, she doesn’t seem too interested in the other dogs that we have seen, and things like big trucks, loud noises or garbage and recycling bins don’t seem to bother her one bit.  Plum also gets the most adorable post-walk zoomies, she will get so excited and run small circles once you get back home, but then will stand really still while you wipe down all her paws and underbelly!  We currently use a jacket for Plum when she walks outside, she loves wearing her jacket, but if you try to put a cute sweater on her for in the house she will show you some pretty amazing moves and shimmy her way right out of it! Training is a very important and lifelong commitment to your dog, as part of our adoption agreement we expect you to complete a basic obedience class with Plum, that being said I can’t say enough how beneficial advance levels of obedience can be to both you and your dog in setting them up for success.

Plum is currently crate trained, she will happily run right into her crate and wait for a tasty treat!  We have made Plums crate a very comfy place for her with lots of blankets for her to mold around as she pleases, and she has always been very clean in her crate.  She will initially be vocal when she goes in the crate, she is very much a dog who wants to always be with you, she has a big Fear Of Missing Out.  If she can still see you, Plum will not make a peep, however if we leave the room and are in another area of the house she will make her displeasure known for a little while before settling down.  When we leave the house or we go to bed, Plum will only bark for about 5 minutes or so and then she will settle in and sleep for the duration of the time in her crate.  We have cameras in our house where we monitor and she never barks for more than 5-15 minutes, and at night when we sleep again it is only about 5 or so minutes then she settles in for the night and will sleep the whole night through.  Once you get home/wake up, she does get really excited and wants desperately to get out of her crate, but we make sure that she has calmed significantly before letting her out.  Because she can be very vocal at times in her crate, she cannot go to a home where the home shares a wall with other residences, as we would want to avoid any issues.   Plum is currently crated for her meals, at night as well as during the day if no one is home.  Plum ideally would love to find a home where someone is home most of the time, perhaps someone who is retired, who has a work from home job, or someone who doesn’t leave the house too often.

Plum has been able to take a few car rides and she has done exceptionally well for all of them.  Plum has visited our vet and she has received a clean bill of health.  Plum has been spayed, vaccinated, microchipped, heartworm/lyme tested as well as received her heartworm/flea/tick prevention.   It is important that her forever family understand the importance of continuing her heartworm/flea/tick prevention and understand all the yearly costs associated with owning a dog.

Plum is looking for a quieter household with a family who likes to take short walks and wants to take their dog with them when they go on adventures, she doesn’t want to be left behind!  She is looking for a home where someone will not be gone most of the day all week, and someone who is looking for a dog that will be a little shadow for them everywhere they go.  If you feel that you can provide this kind of home for Plum then I urge you to apply to adopt her!