Lexi has an adoption pending!!!

After a year, almost to the day, of having Lexi in my home, I received a call from a woman who was interested in meeting Lexi. She had seen Lexi on petfinder.com over a year ago when her dog had just passed away. Friends had found Lexi for her, but it was too soon for her. When she was ready to begin looking for a new dog, a friend informed her that Lexi was still available. She couldn't believe it. Lexi's new mom to be felt it was a sign that Lexi was hers. As she told me on the phone - she already loved Lexi and she felt maybe I had been keeping Lexi until she was ready for her.

Lexi has been having playing dates with her new mom and after October 11th she will attempt to spend the night with her new mom.

Lexi has gone through incredible changes in the year I have had her. From not being able to go anywhere public to participating in a parade with several other dogs and walking by several cars (still a trigger for her). Her last feat was to participate in the local shelter's walk-a-thon. Last year it was unthinkable to even bring her.

I know Lexi's new mom will take Lexi on new journeys and that in another year she will have had many more new successes.

March 31, 2005

It has been over 5 months since my last entry and Lexi Loo is still looking for her forever home. Lexi has gone through many many changes since October. When I look back to the dog she was in September, when she first came to me, I realize what remarkable changes she has gone through.
She no longer barks, barks, barks, at every passing item that goes by the front window. In the house her ability to take commands is pretty darn good. She will come off when jumping, chewing, circling etc. Doesn't stop her from committing the act but she sure does listen when you ask her to. Her enthusiasm for life is really coming through. She does everything with such energy and joy. This is not say that Lexi still does not have a certain amount of fears outside of the house, but her ability to focus on me and not allow the fears to take over has improved greatly.

In January Lexi began beginners agility. I just knew she would be a star in the making. In her first class, the instructer told me she would only be able to handle the jumps but Lexi went up the A frame. I knew she would do it when I saw her checking out the mini schnauzer doing it. In her second class she chose to go through the weave and through the tunnel. The instructor said her heart was beating hard because Lexi was doing so well. In her seventh class she went up and down the see-saw. The other amazing part of the class was Lexi initiated a relationship with the instructor without the instructor having to use any type of treats. She comes around much faster at trusting people. Although she still picks and chooses who she likes.

Lexi is an incredibally smart dog. Sometimes I am not sure how she accomplishes the things she does. For instance she managed to take off the metal lid of a peanut butter jar without putting any dents in the lid. She managed to take a pot at the back of the stove, remove the lid, leave the lid on the counter, pull the pot onto the floor and eat the contents of it without appearing to have tipped over the pot. Although it can be infuriating that she gets into so many things there is also a part of me that is astounded by her ingenuity. She quickly learned "if I sit real pretty I will get fed, get walked, be let outside to the backyard. There are endless possibilities for me if a sit pretty and look cute".

My wish for Lexi is that she find a home that is experienced in agility. She has such potential and the beginner that I am, I am just holding her back.

Oct 11/04

Lexi Loo Nut Dog has had many changes going on for her in the last 10 days. Lets see to start off, she accidentally (or maybe it wasn't an accident) locked me and my sister in the garage. Luckily for us, one of the back doors was unlocked. Lexi is finally learning we do not like her munching on our arms when she wants our attention. It took her awhile but she is finally learning what we will and will not put up with. It's the stuborness in her that makes her not give up but she is finally seeing it our way (yeahhh no more bruises). Lexi is also progressing in obediance class. She has decided that it is okay to join the rest of the class instead of hiding away in the kitchen. She even decided that she liked the teacher and that the teacher could use her to demonstrate a few commands. Of course that silly dog in the corner who made all the noise with the chair almost ruined it all and scared the crap out of her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to rush back to me or stay with the teacher for the treats. Lexi decided to stay with the teacher but get her back legs stretched out behind her incase she had to make a quick getaway. Lexi is also traveling in the car with me to as many places as I can take her. We stop at places like the mall or at a local shelter. Depending on how busy the place is, I either let Lexi stay in the back of the car and open the hatch (I have an subaru outback) or I let her out for a small stretch. I give her treats every time a person goes by so that she associates people with good things (the treats). Sometimes I get people to throw her treats. This works well with Lexi as long as they don't talk to me. Lexi has become slightly protective of me and now thinks that when people talk to me, they are threatning me. Of course, once she sees a person a couple of times, she stops doing this. Luckily for us, Lexi doesn't do anything more than bark. Lexi still finds going for walks in places where people are stressful but when there is just the two of us out walking together, she is great to walk on leash. She doesn't pull and generally stays by my side unless there is something she wants to sniff. Even then, she "heels" very quickly with just a "here" command.

Lexi has also made friends with a nice trainer in Texas who has a fearful male Australian Kelpie. She also will soon meet a woman locally who owns a femal Australian Kelpie. I figure I need to learn as much as I can about Kelpie to be able to understand Lexi better.

Lexi now sleeps in a large kennel at night instead of my car. I put the kennel up, put some blankets in it and a blanket over it to make cozy. I left the kennel door open but did put her food in there. Lexi chose to sleep in the kennel as I did not want to force her. She sleeps in there with the door open as I do not want her to feel trapped but want her to have a place she feels is a safe haven. If Lexi does go into agility, she will need to learn to stay in a kennel.

Oct 01/04

Lexi has been with us for exactly 3 weeks now. She came to stay with us when we already had a foster dog who was soon diagnosed with cancer. We had also adopted a 14 yr old female cat as a companion for our 16 yr old cat. There were alot of animals in the house and alot of thing Lexi had to adjust to. Unfortunately, Butch's situation required that he go through emergency surgery so poor little Lexi got a little bit ignored by us. But things have settled down some what and I can now concentrate on working with Lexi and helping her to become a wonderful little girl who anyone would want to adopt.

Lexi would probably do better in a home without so many animals as she feels she is not getting enough attention. I believe this is why Lexi jumps up and bites on our arms. She is like a puppy trying to get her mom's attention over the other dogs. The only way she knows how is to chomp down on or arms. It maybe that Lexi was not with her mom very longs as most moms quickly teach their pups not to engage in this type of behaviour. We are getting control of the behavior by using something called "green apple". It is a foul tasting spray we spray on or arms so that Lexi will get a foul taste in her mouth when she does choose to nip us.

Lexi also would do better with a dog who is not submissive as she will take advantage of the situation and bully the dog. She has done this with Butch. I believe both Lexi and Patrick sensed that Butch was sick. They both handled this situation differently. Patrick became incredibly protective of Butch while Lexi took it as an opportunity to tell him exactly who is boss by mounting him every chance she got. Patrick watches out for Butch so we don't have to intervene too much.

Although Lexi does have some bad habits (who of us doesn't though), she does have some good habits. She incredibly clever and listens very well. When she is in the back yard, I only have to call her once and she comes running straight to me. And boy can she run. She is an agile, very graceful thing despite the big paws. She also has learned her basic commands quickly. I am very pleased to say that Lexi gives me a wonderful "watch me". She looks me directly in the eyes. Anyone who has dealt with shy/fearful dogs will know what a feat this is for her. It means she trusts me to look after her.

Lexi also walks well on leash and knows the heel command. However, when she is scared which still happens easily, she slinks down to the ground and pulls on her leash. If Lexi is in a new environment and something gets to close to her, be it a dog, person or scary noise, she becomes scared. She will either slink down with tail tucked under or she will misbehave by jumping up and knawing on her leash. This is an indication that her andrelin levels have sky rocketed. But with time and patience, we will be able to work out her fear issues.

Lexi has started her basic obediance class. She has attended 2 classes and has 4 more to go through. We will probably repeat the class. The obediance class is more for her to become socialized with other people, dogs and scary things in a very safe environment. The first class we attended, Lexi and I spent it mostly in the other room hidden away from everyone as she was too frightened to be out in the class with everyone. We saw a huge improvement in her in the 2nd class. Although we still spent time in the other room, she actually joined some of the class exercises. She even took treats from a few poeple's hands. The instructor was quite suprised at how well she did with other people considering what she was like in the previous class. She also thinks that Lexi is a very intelligent dog. She could end up being a star pupil. Lexi's instructor has a fearful female border collie cross at home so she is very good at working with Lexi and her fear issues.

Lexi is also the most curious dog I have ever met. She is continually cocking her head to one side when ever she sees something new or hears something new (she is incredibly sound sensitive). It looks like she is really trying hard to figure out what is going on. In class, she could hear the instructor but could not see her so she kept cocking her head to one side. When the instructor would ask a dog to sit, Lexi would sit down. It was sooo cute.

I wonder if Lexi was a back yard dog kept for breeding purposes as she was found in the woods with a litter of 6 pups. She also seems to take a survival tatic on feeding time. She has gotten into some spats with Patrick around feeding time so I know put her away when the food comes out. Lexi is not overly food motivated so it seems like she views feeding time as survival time. By the way, she usually wins the snarling match. Patrick is such a wooz.

As I continue to see small changes in her every day, I continue to hope that we will find the right home for this little sweetie pie girl. I still believ she would make an excellant agility dog or even a fly ball dog. Man she can move. And she is very clever at figuring out her obedance commands.

Aug 21/04

This is an entry I posted on a local pet rescue web site in the hopes of finding a home for Lexi. Despite my best efforts, no one took the bite.


This is the last dog I will post. I am only working with 3 because I can’t handle more than that. Lexi is the dog who brought me to the Surrey SPCA as a volunteer. I was visiting her in Maple Ridge which meant I could only see her once a week. I asked both the Surrey and Maple Ridge shelter if I could have her transported to closer to me. I only live a 2 minute car ride away from the Surrey shelter which means I can visit Lexi not only on the weekends but after work. Both shelters agreed to the move.

I was very worried about whether or not I was doing the right thing as the Surrey shelter is a very stressful place due to the amount of animals they take in on a daily basis. I am very aware that shelter is a very unnatural environment for animals especially for dogs that normally do not live in such large packs. I won’t even mention how stressful it must be on the cats.

For many reasons, Lexi has thrived at this shelter. She feels quite safe there and has stopped barking at people in the shelter. She even licks the hands of staff and volunteer. Lexi has been very fortunate that a young male employee who works at the shelter took a shine to her. Considering that she barked her face off at him for the first few times, it is amazing that this young man was able to look past that and see Lexi’s true “goofy” nature. Since Lexi is more afraid of men than women, it has been a great asset to Lexi to have this man take an interest in her.

BTW, only the above mentioned male employee and I walk Lexi at this moment because she can be quite the escape artist. She escaped from her pen 3 days after arriving at the shelter. I spent 3 very sleepless nights worrying about this girl before she came back. Of course getting up early in the morning and staying up late looking for her did not help matters. But I had faith that this little girl would come back to me and that is what she did. I believe the whole experience forged a bond between me and Lexi.

As I said, Lexi has been doing very well at the shelter thanks to the staff and volunteers. She feels safe there and is no longer afraid of the people who work and volunteer there. But things are different for Lexi when we leave the shelter. I have taken her to a couple of local parks. When away from the shelter, she is fine with people being probably 20’ feet away from her but as soon as they look in her direction (mostly this is by accident since they happen to be walking her way) or talk to me, she becomes fearful and begins to bark. Unfortunately, Lexi is not overly food motivated so I have nothing to give her to combat this fear other than making sure I do not get her too close to her trigger point.

Lexi is at the same stage Bonnie was when I fostered her from the Delta SPCA. Bonnie felt safe at the shelter but she needed to move past that and experience more of the world. That is why she was placed in foster with me. I need someone to do the same thing for Lexi or she will be “stuck” where she is.

Anyone who is interested in fostering or adopting Lexi would get me along with the package (hopefully that is a good thing). I insist on being available to continue her training. As it is, Lexi cannot learn anymore than she knows right now in a shelter environment. The shelter environment is way to busy. There are way too many distractions for her. She needs a quieter place. Oh yah. I forgot to mention that, although Lexi is fearful, she is not your typical fearful dog. Her mind goes a mile a minute. It is like “zitzitzitzitzitzitzit”. You have to really work hard to get this girl to concentrate on you.

Lexi requires a quiet home with people who will have patience with her but will not coddle her as this will just allow her to give into her fears. Lexi really needs help. I would like to state that although Lexi is fearful, she is in no way aggressive. She would curl up in a little ball if cornered or run away if she could find an escape route rather than hurt anyone. It is just not in her nature to bite even though she was severely neglected. Lexi is like Bonnie. Given a chance, she too has a huge capacity to change herself around and present her true nature to the world.

July 12/04

This is an email I sent out about Lexi trying to find her a foster home.


I have been visiting Lexi at the Maple Ridge SPCA for the last month. I have been told she is a young border collie/shepherd cross. This is her story as I know it. Lexi was brought in as a stray to the Coquitlam SPCA. She was found in the woods with a littler of puppies and only weighed 23 lbs. Everything she had was going to the puppies. What ever experiences Lexi had gone through while trying to raise her pups on her own had made her an extremely fearful dog. She was slated for euthanization in the late fall. But a volunteer at the shelter saved her from this fate. Lexi lived with Charity and her family until the end of May. She was brought into the Maple Ridge shelter where Charity now works as an SPCA employee as Charity's family could no longer keep her in their home.

I did visit Lexi once when she was in her foster home. At this time, she would not come near me and would only take treats if I threw them out (away from me). The shelter has been somewhat could for Lexi as it has exposed her to all sorts of people. She is not quite so reactive to people. Although she continues to be fearful of people, she will choose a walk with a stranger over her fear. She barks at strangers when in her kennel or on when on a walk. It is not an aggressive bark. It is a fearful bark. She will do a play bow with ears pinned back and bark. Lexi also has displayed incredible bite inhibition. She has a very soft mouth.

I believe Lexi is an intelligent dog who does not have a shy personality but is fearful. I think something has shaped that fear in her as I don’t think she is naturally a fearful dog. At this point I really would like to see Lexi either adopted or placed into a foster home as I think she will not improve anymore than she has at the shelter. Even though I have been visiting Lexi once a week I believe this not enough quality time spent with her to really help her out. She needs someone consistently working with her on a daily basis. I will be honest. I fear for Lexi. She does not show well in her kennel and I am worried about her future. When visitors come, she often stays at the back of her kennel and barks in fear. Sometimes, Charity will put her away so that the public cannot see her as the stress of people staring at her get to her.

As some of you may, my last foster dog was recently humanely euthanized due to extreme aggressive problems. I cannot take Lexi at this time as my house hold needs time to properly grieve for Seeger. I know from my past behavior that if I take Lexi in now, that all my feelings for Seeger will be pushed aside while I work with Lexi and I will pay for it later. I have made myself physically sick by pushing my feelings of grief aside before and I do not want to go through that process again. So I am begging every one I know in the rescue world, please help me find a home for Lexi.

These are the things/observations I have noted about her.

• She needs a firm but gentle hand. Lexi wants to know what the rules are so she can follow them instead having to make decisions on her own. For example, when she barks at people, I would give her an “off” command and she would comply instantly. She wants a leader.

• Once Lexi becomes comfortable with you, she is an affectionate dog. It took me 4 visits with her to break through her fear, but she finally let me touch her, play with her and hug her. It was a wonderful feeling to know she let me in.

• She does not have a shy personality but a fearful personality. She is actually a goofy dog.

• She feels more comfortable with dogs than people. She is, however, bossy with them. She would do well in a home with another dog but that dog needs to have a dominant (in a good way) personality so Lexi can learn from it.

• She has no doggy manners with other dogs or children but I know she can learn them once she gets over her fear. I believe she is highly intelligent and will learn quickly