Poppy

Poppy was born on a working ranch in Lexington, OK. She was a singleton pup that was taken from her mom at 4 weeks old. A local teenager took her and kept her in a crate in her apartment until she was 7 months old. She was then given to a lady that wanted to get Poppy out of that situation but quickly realized she didn’t know how to work with a very active border collie puppy and her 12-year-old Pug wasn’t pleased with her living with them.

Even though she was a singleton pup and taken from her mom too young, she loves to play with other dogs and any person that will play with her. She didn’t know any doggie manners when she was rescued, but her two very stable BC fosters pups were very tolerant of her and taught her “dog” manners by which she quickly responded to them appropriately. She does have some resource guarding issues with high value toys that interest her at the time and will not back down if another dog stands up to her.

Poppy is ridiculously smart. She picks up tricks in less than 10 minutes (knows sit, stay, lay down, dance, stand, shake, other paw, wait) and figures out every smart toy she gets. She is incredibly treat motivated and is an absolute cuddle bug who just wants to be with you. She loves car rides and walks, is great with kids, most dogs and cats and LOVES zoomies. She is house-trained with a bell and can open doors (and will). She has a HUGE bark but does not use it unless the situation requires it. She is an active dog in perpetual motion, so needs lots of outlets for physical AND mental stimulation to settle her. She LOVES to swim and would swim for hours if she wasn’t asked to leave.

It takes her a minute to be ok in a new situation but will start to calm down if she sees that it’s no big deal to you. She needs redirecting with praise and changing directions to break the panic cycle. She originally didn’t like to go outside by herself but has really gained confidence and is more than happy to use the dog door to go outside and play or use the bathroom now. If she doesn’t want to be pet she will raise her lip and growl a bit at you – we are watching this closely but she probably should not be around very small kids. She is *very* sensitive and does NOT take well to negative training methods. She can be anxious and nervous so she’s working on building her confidence in new situations.

Poppy has had a lot of changes and needs consistency. Her foster is currently working with her on the issues noted above but we feel with a gentle hand and stability, Poppy will be an amazing family pet or even casual sport pup! She loves to be petted and praised (on her terms) so she would do well in an active pet home where she has lots of room to run and burn off energy, as well as games and puzzles inside.