Blair

Blair (06-035-D) is a nine month old black elkhound cross female. She has been living in the bush for three months paying regular visits to various acreages for food. So, although she became adept at staying out of the reach of the Bylaw Officer, she was also regularly in contact with people and children. Therefore, she is not overly timid but she does need to establish a bond of trust with a human rather than assuming she has to fend for herself. She will accept attention and caresses but is not efusive about it. She has shown no aggession when being handled or picked up. She spent the first night in her foster home quietly sleeping in her crate and has just been for her first walk on an extending leash. She did very well and enjoyed being outside and was wellmannered with all the other dogs in the offleash park. She did, however, have to be lifted into the vehicle.

Blair has an old injury to one of her hind legs and has an appointment at the vet clinic shortly. Xrays will be taken and we will see what we can do to save the leg. At the moment she pretty much walks on three legs and, as the Bylaw Officer will no doubt attest, does pretty well on three! So watch this space to monitor Blair's progress.

Update: Unfortunately Blair's vet trip showed that she will have to loose her right hind leg due to the injuries she sustaines

24 Feb - Blair has settled down well in her foster home. She is not an overly nervous dog and has really come around since being with us. She is quiet and polite in the house, spending most of her time either sleeping in her crate or just outside the crate on the rug. She does not like walking on the wooden floors so sticks to the rugs, which limits her movement within the house. She appears to be housetrained and has not had one accident indoors. She will go to the door when she wants to go outside and whine if nobody is taking notice of her. She gets along very well with other dogs and has started to play with the other dogs in the foster home.Today she had her first offleash experience (in a fully fenced and secure offleash area) and was very well behaved, not wandering too far and sticking pretty close to where the other foster home dogs were exploring. She came to us regularly during the walk for reassurance and pets and when we were ready to leave she was more than ready to come with us. She sure didn't want to be left behind. She is still too scared to jump voluntarilly into the vehicle and has to be lifted in. Her broken hind leg does not appear to give her any discomfort and she runs and plays effortlessly. She will have the injured leg amputated next week. Blair ignores the cat and loves children.

Update 4 March - We picked Blair up from the vet clinic this morning. She had her hind leg amputated on Thursday. Amazingly, she is already very mobile with no balance problems whatsoever. She jumped out of the car unassisted when we arrived home and was happy to be sniffing around the yard once more and greeting the other dogs. She will have the staples removed from her leg in two weeks time. We are sure that Blair will live a long and happy life on her three good legs and we are looking forward to finding just the right home for her. She is a very sweet dog and once she gets to know and trust you (which doesn't take long) she has good recall and is affectionate and eager to please. She will probably do best in a calm home where she can spend time outside, which she loves, and where she has a cosy corner in the home to retire to when she is inside.