Like all dogs at the PSPCA, she is up to date on shots, spayed, and microchipped. She is in very good health, with a pretty coat and a perfect smile. She's a master of cute dog stretches.
Josephine is a 3 year old darling- some kind of pit bull terrier mix, maybe with a kind of sporting dog? It's hard to tell from the pictures, but she has little brown spots in her white coat like a German Short-Hair Pointer. She's about 45 pounds and is a full-grown, medium-size dog. She was found on the streets, so not much is known about her background.
Josephine has shown zero aggression, and the shelter's behavioral test indicates that she isn't aggressive and gets along nicely with other dogs. In fact, she seems interested in making dog friends. We met a big, energetic doberman in the park on our first day together and she greeted him perfectly, like a very well-adjusted dog. She has met dogs of various sizes, ages, and energy levels on our walks- she was excited and happy to meet all of them. She is mostly interesting in sniffing and getting on with her walk.
Josephine is an incredible leash walker. She doesn't pull, and tends to walk just behind me (Dog Whisperer style). She's got a nice, steady gait. She really enjoys going on walks and checking out the scenery.
Josephine is housebroken. Her stall was never soiled at the pound and she's been holding it till we get outside at my house. She hasn't gone to the door to tell me that she needs to go out, but I've been taking her out so frequently that it hasn't come up.
She's not very good with the sit command, but she comes when you call her. When she's off-leash in my back yard, she doesn't wander far from me. If I give her even a hint of a firm tone about something, she stops what she's doing immediately. She's a fast learner, and keeps her eyes on you to make sure she's following directions. A dog this eager to please is going to learn fancy tricks. We just started obedience school.
Here's a video of Josephine scratching her own back. It's really entertaining to see in person.
Josephine is very quiet and shy- but in no way hostile- around new people. She sometimes flinches if you make sudden movements, so she might have been abused. She appreciates it if you take it slow. You might mistake her uncertainty for a lack of affection, but this dog will lick the crap out of you once you give her some time to feel safe. Her tail didn't move when I first met her, but I'm getting full body wags now. She's definitely a dog in a shell, so it may be months before we see her true dog self. I do want to emphasize, though, that I haven't witnessed any odd behavior from her except the flinching and the shyness. With some patient love, nobody is going to suspect that she's a shelter dog. She just needs somebody to help her with her confidence.
She was nice and calm in the car during the ride back from the shelter. Being in a car is a new thing for her, so she's still working on her road legs.
This dog loves her some water. She jumped right in the plastic pool at the shelter, and she tried to wade into my parents' fish pond. Whether she can swim is currently a mystery. She isn't interested in taking a dip in Pennypack creek, but frankly, neither am I.
It doesn't seem like she needs obedience lessons, but we're taking some training classes to help her develop confidence and open up. I'll update this post as we learn more.
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