Diva

Hello To All Of You Wonderful Volunteers, Thanks for checking-in with us as we are thrilled for an opportunity to gush about the newest love of our lives, Eva Dogoria... As I suspected, Eva did have a u.t.i. when she came to us but a 15 day course of antibiotics cleared it up. Endured lots of tinkle accidents but now she is on a good eating & potty schedule. My vet is absolutely enchanted w/ her, feels she is about 3 1/2 & is very familiar w/ the breed since he grew up w/ a succession of English Pointers. He warned me not to make her chunky (his frame of reference is treating our cats for almost 30 yrs. & they have all been portly except for 1) but said she could weigh up to 40 lbs. so that would mean putting no more than 4 lbs. on her. She will be jogging with us when she walks well on the leash & I feel that will coincide nicely w/ the cooler weather. I will ask the vet about adding calories when she jogs twice a day. As I said earlier he was enchanted w/ her & they are all thrilled at the Shores Animal Clinic that I finally have a dog after all of these years. I have wanted one my whole married life & that is 27 yrs. I bet you can imagine how thrilled I am to finally have a dog & such a great one after such a long wait! Funny, she is definitely Daddy's girl. Loves to be invited for a ride in Marc's truck & even more excited to see it stop at the La Mancha dog park where we go every chance we get since she loves it so much. The last time she went we met-up with Marga, renamed Shana. Marga was adopted by my daughter & her fiancee. The "girls" are good friends & enjoy a romp in the dog park together. Eva is friendly to every dog she meets even when they aren't so friendly back. We love that about her. Still timid w/ new people she meets but getting better. Less scared in the house with all of its noises & sounds. The 1st time I put the shower on she freaked! Every day her confidence grows & I am sure her training classes will only help that process along. From out 1st walk it became obvious Eva would love the opportunity to kill us our dinner. At times I thought I only had 1/2 a dog because it seemed the front 1/2 was always buried in a hedge. Never realized before adopting Eva that every home in our community has a hedge. That is entirely too many in my opinion, when you are trying to walk a bird dog. But I thrill at the sight of her pointing which she did to a dragonfly her 1st day w/ us! I always love to see a dog doing what it was bred to do. When Eva is obedience trained she will begin tracking. That should be fun. I have a neighbor with a standard poodle who tracks & I have been invited to go w/ her to the tracking club when Eva's ready. Eva will start her 1st round of formal training tomorrow nite. The Gold men will take her to Lori in Delray. She is a fabulous teacher I was trained with. I have been working with Eva a little & I am proud to say she can now walk better on the leash. The Gentle Leader helped. We are almost heeling now. When I stop she automatically sits at my side & waits for her treat. She can "watch me", sit, lay down, stay, shake a paw, & give a high 5. All of these commands she is capable of doing with hand signals only. She has an impressive "stay". We are working on "leave it" always as our work w/ that is never done. Consequently, we have to use the "drop it" command quite a bit. Eva is a laundry thief we have discovered. I will use that to my advantage & teach her to take the clothes from the wash basket & hand them to me for the washer & then from the washer to the dryer. That is down the rd. But she seems to enjoy learning & will work for a Cheerio. She would like to play with the cat but her method of stalking & barking at Jethro is not getting Eva her desired result. In time I am sure they will become friends. We have to laugh at her bark. It is LOUD! We didn't get her to be a watch dog but that bark has made her one for sure. Eva had another 1st experience this past week. She spent the nite at the Petshotel at the Delray Petsmart where I know & love the staff. She went to Doggie Daycare the next a.m. where they report she had a blast & then off to the salon in the afternoon for a bath & primping. Everyone said she was a good girl & minded her manners beautifully. We want Eva to get accustomed to all of that early-on so if & when we have to use their services she won't freak out! To sum it all up we are thrilled with Eva a.k.a. Diva! Eva has brought a lot of joy to our lives & we look forward to many long happy & healthy years together. Thank you for saving this girl's life & the work you put into her & her puppies. We would love to be put in touch with Dara & Dagwood's pet parents if that info can be shared. We are curious to see what Eva would do if & when she is reunited w/ her puppies! You have given us a tremendous gift in Eva & we praise you every day for the work you do. Thank you! Sincerely, Marc & Gloria Gold