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• She has an overall sweet disposition, and is a loving and well mannered dog

• She thrives with consistent structure and over time really settles in well with a consistent routine

• She needs a daily walk to get her energy out, and behaves best when she gets one

• She rarely barks, and does not often show symptoms of separation anxiety like whimpering or barking when left by herself

• She loves company and will generally follow you around from room to room

• She loves to be pet and have her belly scratched, but she does not like being held, or picked up. 

• She also gets along well with other dogs, but does not show an interest in playing with them (sometimes she needs a day or so in a new environment to get acclimated with a new dog)

 

• Given that she must have been abused before coming to Scratch My Belly, she does have some important triggers to be aware of so that she is not put in a situation which would make her feel uncomfortable, and subsequently act out of character

• She loves her crate, as it is her safe space. Although at times it can be hard to get her out of it. Never lift her out of the crate or her bed as that is threatening to her. Instead if you gently put her leash on her, and softly pull she will willingly come out of the crate or bed without issue

• She also feels safer and behaves better with women than with men. (We assume a man must've been the abuser when she was young)

• When uncomfortable, surprised or feeling threatened, she will softly growl at you to warn you that she needs space. She has never bitten us, but she has showed her teeth before. We immediately left her alone, and then returned after a few minutes

• Children and little ones threaten her, as she will first try to evade them if they are near, but will growl at them if they start to get too close. 

 

 

• About 6-8 months ago, she began to have frequent seizures. They grew worse in frequency and severity over the course of a couple of days, so we took her to the vet. The vet put her on a medication called "Kepra". We have checked around and the most affordable way to get this has been through Costco. (Average of about $28 per month) 

• The pills are broken in half, and then given orally 3 times per day.

• The good news is that they do not need to be given at a specific time of day. Just try to space them out. (We give her one first thing in the morning, then one as soon as we get home from work, and then the final one right before bed.)

• We have found that the best way to give her them is to wrap them in a very small amount of cream cheese. 

• We ask her if she would like a "treat" and she has now become accustomed to that and responds well.

• About an hour or so following the medication, she tends to be a bit more lethargic. 

• We took her to a neurologist to get checked out more recently, and they could not find an accurate assessment of what her issue is without performing an MRI on her. Given the financial strain of that type of test, we are not able to continue down that path on our own. 

• She has, however, been doing much better over the past 2-3 months. We have not witnessed any more seizures for quite awhile now. 

• For feeding, she eats "Merrick" small breed chicken flavored dog food. We put it out for her and she will eat it over time. 

• She is on K-9 Advantix II - for her flea and tick medication