Adoption Pending!

Just wanted to quickly post that Koko has an adoption pending! Yay :) He is such a great guy and deserves an amazing home, as do all dogs! Can't wait for them to meet him this weekend :)
Paws crossed that Koko has found his forever home! :)

Will post more soon!

Quick Update Time!

Hi all! This is just a quick update of some photos for Koko!

To read his full recently updated bio click HERE

So as mentioned in that bio, Koko loves walks, and is very good off leash. So I try to take him to the off-leash trails by my place at least 1-2 times/week. He LOVES it! And he is very well behaved so everyone loves stopping and saying hello!
His TG "Adopt Me" Bandana always catches a few eyes and sparks conversations about Turtle Gardens :)

I have a couple pictures and videos of him along the trails :)

Here is one where you can see how he is around bikes!

And one to show a bit of his recall while on off-leash walks (he usually responds faster, but this was taken near the end of our 3 hour walk and he was very tired!) 

Also, I had not mentioned to you readers yet - or maybe I did :S? Well anywho - Koko is afraid of indoor stairs. He would whine at the opening, and give the stairs as much room as possible. He literally would slink along the opposite wall to get past them, while being as far away as possible. I should explain though that we have two floors, the top floor is mine/the dogs, and there is also a lower floor.

We found out that when I would go downstairs and leave the doorway open for him - he was not happy and was clearly very nervous about the opening. So I worked with him. Slowly but surely, I got him to the point where he would come right to the top of the steps, and would no longer whine. But I knew he could do it... So, long story short here is a video from a couple days ago... ;)

I am so proud of him! He is so willing to please! He just needs someone who understands his moments of insecurity, and to guide him through :) Once he knows what we want, and knows he can do it, he never disappoints! :) He's such a sweety :)

Okay now here are some more pictures of some of the walks through the trails! :)
Enjoy, and please feel free to comment! :)

One of my fav pics!

Trail Blazer

What a tail!

Recalling

Got any water?

Whats over there?

Running when called 

Standing on a huge block!

Sniff Sniff

Wonder where this goes?

 After the walk we were both tired and hot, so I hosed us both down! And then Koko went to dry off in the sun and lay in the shade :)

Izzy (Chika) Needs our Help!

Hello everyone!

If you have been following my blog for a while you may remember one of my first foster dogs, Chika!
She was later adopted to a wonderful home on the island where she is loved and adored by her mom and dad and by her young human sister too! They named her Izzy!

The link to that update of her first day home is here: http://juliafostertg.blogspot.ca/2012/03/chikanow-izzys-update.html

They love her so much and it was a very sad day when I recieved an e-mail from them...

It was not good tiding... Izzy had been limping and they took her to the vet, where they got x-rays done.

Her x rays showed the ball of both hips where ground down to an almost point and that were not in the socket. Both of her hips are in really really bad shape - especially for her age, Izzy is only 10 MONTHS old! She has hip dysplaisia. And many of you will know how devastating that can be! That is NOT a minor issue with dogs. 

They were given two options: Get her hips replaced ($10,000 +) or restrict her activity and keep her quiet to hopefully prevent her from blowing out her hips. Which means no playing with other dogs, no running etc... But if she blows out her hips... well I think we all know whats next....

Needless to say this family loves her with all their heart! And they are going to try their very best to raise enough money to help Izzy get new hips!

So this is me reaching out to all of you readers for help!

Even if it's only $5 or anything, Izzy really needs our help! I am donating to help her, and I hope many of you will too! I get approximately 70 hits per day. That is probably abuot 50 people - if each of those people donated $20 that would be $1000!!! That would be a huge help towards her surgery! And think about it - it's only $20 to each of you - that is maybe one less pizza night, or an hour or two of work - but all together that could equal new hips for this pup!

Lets show Izzy and her family what can happen when those of the dog community come together to support one another! LETS GET IZZY HER NEW HIPS!

To donate visit this page!
http://www.giveforward.com/izzysnewhips

You can view the Turtle Gardens Blog Post Here: http://www.turtlegardens.org/blog/?p=31670

Koko's Bio!

It's been awhile since I've posted an updated version of Koko's Bio, and he's come a long way from the matted, nervous guy I met at the dog run! I will try to get all the info I can think of in here, but I may forget some, so if you have any questions please don't hesitate to comment! :)

Koko is such an amazing dog, I can't say that enough! Everyone he meets be it my friends, family, or even strangers on walks, they all comment on how sweet, handsome, mellow and gentle he is!

Koko is a Belgian Malinois (a type of Belgian Shepherd). He has german shepherd colouring but is smaller than a german shepherd, and does not have the slopped hips. He is approx. 60lbs, and is turing 2 year old in December, so he is currently 21 months old. And for a dog who is not even 2 years old yet, he is very mellow and cuddly!

Koko is not dominant, he wants a leader - but he needs a strong and dog-savvy leader because he will look to his leader for reassurance if he is ever unsure about a situation. And if there is situation where he is not sure how to act and he will need someone to show him what they would like him to do. He is smart, and he listens very well!

He is not what I would call a "trick dog. What I mean by that is that he is not extremely motivated to learn "tricks" like spins and weaves etc, I know he would for sure learn them with time - but compared to say a retriever or collie it would have to be a treat he REALLY wants :P
He already knew Sit and Lie Down, but he would not do them without a treat. With patience though he now Sits, Down, Stay, and Paw's without treats! (Though treats don't hurt ;P). I am also currently teaching him Crawl, Spin, and Catch.

But as I said he was smart -and is he ever! I hold up my hand and he will stop! Some other words he knows are Out, Whoa (Stop), No, Leave-it, Come, and Wait.

Koko has great recall because he wants to be with his people, so he does very well off leash!
He does not chase bikes, he will stop and watch them go by though - but that is more because he would like to say hi to the person on the bike, if they stop he will wait for them to invite him over, and then he calmly goes up for a pat :) He did the same thing for this nice girl in a wheelchair during our walk, he went up very nicely and calmly and she got to pat him - he is a very calm dog most of the time. He does have a active streak in the sense that he likes to be outdoors doing fun stuff, and likes to play, but he is more of a low-medium energy level dog. He would need about 1-2 hours of exercise a day

He is great on leash! He doesn't pull, and will usually walk next to you unless he is sniffing smells in the grass.  He does not pull for people, dogs, or birds, though does seem interested in squirrels. He seems interested in sniffing the birds, but no real interest in chasing them. With dogs, he will look at them, but won't pull. For people he doesn't pull, but he wants to say hi so he will stop and watch them, but just calling his name is usually enough and he'll trot back to you.

Because Koko loves bring with his pack, he does have separation anxiety, but he is getting used to spending time alone more and more every day. He is non-destructive, his anxiety is more of the pacing and whining kind. But we find that french or classical music calms him down and if he has a nice walk and then is given a kong or some other time consuming treat that really helps him from getting anxious.
If he does vocalize it is only for a few minutes, and then he finds a place to lie down until you're home.

Koko has great manners both indoors and outdoors. He doesn't jump up or take food from your hand, and if something falls to the floor, if you say no he will leave it alone. He just likes to be where the people are and will relax when they relax and will play when they want to play. He is a very polite dog.  He stays still nicely while being petted, and loves belly scratches! He has eyes that will melt your heart!

He is a good guard dog! When I am on walks with him if I ever get nervous about another person he will shift in front of me. At the door he is very polite and never barks, but if someone comes into the house or yard though that he has not met, and I am not nearby he will bark until I get there. He will stop when asked, and if it is a friend that was coming in, I just call Koko over and say "It's okay" and he greets them and then will suck up for more pats :)

With other dogs, he will greet them nicely on walks, and when introduced correctly he gets along with other dogs. He does prefer female dogs over male dogs though, as Koko can get nervous and defensive if a dog is too dominant and intense.

He is very funny with Rikki (female pitty x rottie x greyhound mix) - he likes her and thinks she is funny, and she runs around him play bowing and trying to get him to play, and he will play a little chase, and then just stares at her all confused hahaha! He seems to want to play but is not sure how, so we bring Rikki over once a week at least to play with Koko, and he is learning how to play!

He can be a bit possessive of his person and growled at Rikki, but only when she got very close to Adam and I and Koko - but I just gave him a push to the side and said "No." and we walked away. And as I said before he loves to be with the "pack" - so he learnt really fast, and He hasn't growled at her since! We even had them side by side petting them :)! And as I said, he is enjoying Rikki's company and he is quite a mellow guy, Rikki is helping bring out Koko's playful puppyish side :)

Koko's dog manners are very good, if they are polite he is polite, but he will tell a dog when he's had enough if they are being rude, and will walk away.

He also has a couple funny quirks :)

-Koko is a shoe thief, so if shoes are left around and he gets bored or anxious he will pick them up and carry them to his bed. We have been working on that though, and he rarely picks shoes up anymore.
-He won't eat his kibble without some water in it (he wasn't very confident with crunching with his back teeth).
-And the cutest one... When he's tired he will speak in groans to you :P

Koko is looking for a dog-savvy home where he will have company most of the day. He would like a home who will help him continue to be a wonderful dog, and will love him as much as he loves them! 

If you think that could be you - send in an application to Turtle Gardens using the link in the side bar!

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Will post more soon!

Update from Penny (Jaycee)!

Hello All!
I received an update on Penny (originally Jaycee)! She is looking great! :D

Her Dad sent me an update and a photo!
He said:
I had her on leash while mowing the lawn... Green feet!  She is doing very well and has almost completely stopped destroying especially when properly exercised.  I am also cooking for her (salmon, ginger, beets and carrots) in combination with dog food and natural supliments from the health food store! :) love her to pieces thank you again!!

Hahahaha! What a cutie! She looks like she's wearing green boots! :D

So glad she found such a great home! :)

I'll have another update on Koko posted in a day or two!

Say Cheese With Koko! :D

I have been taking A LOT of pictures of him so hopefully this helps people see just how cute he is! :D

But first here is a quick update:
Koko is doing great! And enjoying every cuddle and is now Sitting on command without a treat! Lying down too and now has learnt a new trick - Paw! :D We have found that he likes to speak in groans when he's tired, and will stretch and groan while looking at you :P Also, he is a bit of a shoe theif :P He takes them from the front of the door and will take them to his bed or wherever he's sleeping on the floor. We think he likes the familiar smell of us (or maybe smelly feet :P). We have been putting a lid on this right away though and are making sure he knows that they do not belong to him. We want to make sure he never decides to try to taste them - so far he has not destroyed anything in the house. Koko has very good house manners!

Now for the pictures! :D (There are a lot of them!) Oh! And please leave me a comment with which photos or kind of photos you like best - That way I can refine the pictures somewhat! :) Thanks!

First we are working on catching treats in mid air - he's getting good!

Here is his hello! Stretch every day :)

 Here are a couple standing shots: He is a slight guy - he's not very big. He is on the small side of large size dogs.

Zoomies!

He looks like such a puppy!

A couple pics of Koko relaxing :)

And of course classic sitting shots :)

Giving Paw!

Cuddle Time!

 And a couple close-ups! :)

Sniff Sniff!

 What a good boy not moving for the photo! As you can see he isn't super big, but he IS super cute! :D
He just loves to love!

I can't wait till he finds his perfect forever home - he deserves it so much!

We'd love to see him go to a dog savvy home where he can love and be loved! And a home where he would have company most of the day, because he likes knowing where his people are, and that they are safe! It comes from his protective instinct - he likes to watch over his family - and of course also likes to make sure they know his favourite places to be scratched ;)

I will post more soon!

Quick Update for Koko!

Hi all! Just a quick update from Koko today! I took some pics on our walk this morning because I have been told his pictures online don't do him justice! So I'm going to try to get some really good ones!

He is getting better everyday with his separation anxiety! :D! And I cannot give enough thanks to Denise (Turtle Gardens Foster Coordinator) for recommending classical music! My sister didn't even know the dog was home after I'd left for school! That's how quiet he was being! Denise said dishwashers are for babies, music is for dogs! And she was right! Because of that he has been improving with leaps and bounds!
And the hunger strike has ended! He used to not eat if he knew I was leaving :( but now he eats all his breakfast without hesitation! That alone should tell you how much his stress has lifted! :) I think he also knows I'll be coming back :)

He is sneaky though! If we are on the couches or even in the house he has never even looked at the couches. But I got home and one couch had hair all over it... I said hmmm and them my sister caught him later napping on the couch! So when we're not home he naps on the couches! And i never knew till we caught him in the act, sneaky guy! ;P

Will post more soon!