Monday, September 5, 2011

Kona: Satan's Little Helper.

If you read my blog over the weekend, you've already met Kona.  No, thankfully this little adorable puppy is not a new resident of the house.  This puppy is evil.

eeeeeeevvvviiiiiiiilllllllllllll



Hard to believe, right?  Let me start by saying I might be biased.  I think puppies are great and cute and all that, but man are they trouble!  I'll take an adult dog any day of the week.  Unless that dogs name is Skye.  I've learned that lesson.



But back to Kona.  I started training with Kona two weeks ago.  She is a 4-5 month old Catahoula Leopard Dog mix who, like many many others, started in a Southern shelter, and was transferred to New England.  When I worked at the shelter, we saw a trend when it came to transfer puppies.  They were cute, they were sick, and they guard their resources.  Little Kona gets high marks in all categories. 

Do you have any food?


Kona's family decided last minute to go camping for the weekend, and asked if I could watch her and get a jump start on teaching her basic manners at the same time.  Since I'm going on vacation IN TWO DAYS (happy dance) I agreed; I could use the spending money.  Kona's family said she is house trained, loves her crate (which came with her), and loves her toys and chews- she'll fit right in!  Sinatra stayed at work, since rabies and puppies don't mix, and I brought her home Saturday morning.  She stayed until this morning.  In those 48 hours, she peed on 4 rugs, pooped on my sweatshirt (which is when I discovered the insane worm infestation), systematically cleared every flat surface of any object not nailed down, attacked (no exaggeration) Skye over 2 dropped kibble (I've never seen Skye run away from another dog so fast), and barked in her crate. 


I like food.




Barked?  That doesn't sound bad... 

She barked for 25 minutes, without stopping, while I ate dinner.  She barked for 22 minutes that night when it was time for bed.  She repeated this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Sunday.  Then, Sunday night, was the big finale.  I made sure to exhausted her; the poor puppy was barely standing.  I put her in the crate, then sat next to it to read a book until I knew she was asleep.  Then I snuck upstairs, silently celebrating a good night sleep.

Bark Bark Bark.  I wake up, it is 12:25am.  Kona woke up, and I wasn't there.  After almost 15 minutes, she stopped.  I heaved a sigh of relief and fell asleep.

Bark Bark BARKBARKBARKBARK.  2:45am.  Not wanting to risk a bathroom emergency, I went down and let her outside.  She walked 2 feet then lay down, instantly falling asleep on the grass.  In the dew.  In the cold.  And that was when I surrendered.  I picked her up, brought her upstairs, and let her wormy little butt sleep in bed with me.

And that, my friends, is Kona.  A transfer puppy.  And she is the rule, not the exception, when it comes to transfer puppies.  Many grow up to be well balanced dogs despite their puppy behavioral problems, while many do not.  We had several returned by age 2, because their food guarding now included the household children, or their nervousness with strangers had become full blown aggression.  It's an issue for another day, but saving all these puppies from the South is not without consequences. 

Sure, Kona is cute, but there are plenty of adult dogs in your local shelter who are safe, healthy, and will love you until the day they leave this Earth.  Meet them first, then shop online.



To be fair, I am also recovering from a Sinus Infection, and probably felt the crappiest I ever have from Thursday until Sunday.  Kona is a good puppy, and she'll become an even better one with time.  Her family adores her, and they're committed to working with me so that Kona is a success story.  But I gotta say, I was happy to have Sinatra home today!

Somebody owes me birthday cake.


Also!
Tune in tomorrow, when I announce the winner of my True Story Tuesday Giveaway! 

16 comments:

  1. this does sound like a handful. glad you survived relatively unscathed. and, we're looking forward to seeing hte winners and runners up!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh diabla, you better start behaving. You are lucky you are a cutie
    Benny & Lily

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes i hope you saved his a piece!

    Kari
    http://dogisgodinreverse.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. You're not alone! I regularly think that Hurley is evil. While reading this post, he did his best to destroy the power cord to my laptop. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Phew, sounds exhausting. I agree with you on the adult dogs. No matter how adorable they are, I'm never tempted by little puppy devils! (though many might say that my boy is just as evil at times but he's 70lbs of naughty instead of a little cute bundle...)

    ReplyDelete
  6. hahaha nooo I don't believe you she's so cute!! I'm glad that there are people taking them in though, I wouldn't want all the naughty ones to be left without homes :-(

    x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, dear. Poor Kona. I had no idea about the plight of the transferred dogs. :( I used to watch a show on Animal Planet about dogs trucked up to NE from the south. (Last Chance Highway) They sure did transfer a bunch of them (lots of pure breeds).

    I have to mention, too, that Kona is one of the stinking cutest puppies I've ever seen. (Those ears!)

    Have fun on your vacay!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have faith in Kona dat her will be OK when her gets older. Yay fur her family and you too Miss Jenny cuz you will not give up on her.

    Woofs and Licks,
    Maggie Mae

    PeeS Yes you DO owe Sinatra some birfday cake ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I can't tell you how many mornings I have had to drag myself out of bed & into work with little to no sleep, because of the foster or fosters barking non-stop throughout the night. I too have given up & let them sleep with me, worms & all. Thank goodness most of them straighten out after a week or a few or I would have given up long ago :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have to agree with you about puppies in general. I'm (not coincidentally) the first person most of my dog owning friends, family, and co-workers think of when they go out of town. They know my dogs get along well with most other dogs, and they know I love dogs, all dogs, almost without exception,a ridiculous amount. Simply put, I prefer most dogs to most people. But give me a adult dog any day. Puppies are ... well ... puppies.

    ReplyDelete
  11. ooh, Maisie was a wormy wormy girl when I first started fostering her and it was one of the most disgusting dog-related things I've ever encountered. I'm sure Kona will grow up to be a great dog, but kudos to you for temporarily taking her in while she;s still a puppy monster. and welcome back Sinatra! :)

    http://maisieme.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  12. p.s. I never even thought twice about letting her sleep with me while she did have worms. but now that I do think about it...ew, why did I???

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am totally with you. Puppies are cute, but give me a grown up dog any day. People underestimate the number of issues transfer dogs have and the work required to overcome them. What a dreadful 48 hours for you.

    Mango Momma

    ReplyDelete
  14. Is her adopted family living in some alternate reality? Oh, and resource guarding... the worst! We had a failed adoption over that. Nice little beagle who attacked my airedale from across the room when he picked up one piece of kibble and had my hound so terrorized that she sat down facing the wall as if to say "just kill me now."

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow! We're tired just reading about your Weekend with Kona. And pretty sure you have a little bit more patience than our Mom :) Kona is lucky to have you as a trainer. Hope her family has as much patience and determination as you! Good luck to little Kona.

    Bet Sinatra is so glad to be back home, too!

    The Road Dogs

    ReplyDelete
  16. It sounds like you had an exhausting weekend, and I can see why you made a comment about patience on my blog. :) I have often said that I am glad that our dogs were both adults when we got them. Their behavioral issues are not quite as ... intense as what we'd encounter with a pup.

    I never knew that the transfer dogs came with so many issues. I'm glad to hear that her family is committed to making her a success story, and that they sought out you to help them with that! I'll bet a lot of people try to deal with it on their own and just make the situation worse.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...