About Athena 1774 |
- Status: Adopted!
- Adoption Fee: 325.00
- Species: Dog
- Rescue ID: 1774
- General Color: Black with Tan, Yellow or Fawn
- Current Size: 65 Pounds
- Current Age: 5 Years 9 Months (best estimate)
|
- Location: Alexandria VA 22305
- Microchipped: Yes
- Housetrained: Yes
- Reaction to New People: Friendly
|
Update (March 11, 2020) -
Athena will be 1 year old on April 9 and would love to celebrate with her furever family!
In a nutshell, Athena is a beautiful girl with a gorgeous coat and sweet disposition. She seems to love being around her humans and is excellent in the car, housebroken, and crate trained. She is not used to heeling on a leash but we're working on it! She will need to be spayed; SSR will cover those expenses. More info on this pretty girl below!
DECOMPRESSION/MEETING RESIDENT GSD
Athena had a lot of time to decompress since she was sick (and contagious) when she came to Virginia. She didn’t see the female resident GSD for three days and then only saw her from a distance occasionally for several more days. After a week, Athena got to see the resident GSD; after two weeks, they slowly met nose to nose until they finally got to play. Athena is very energetic with the resident GSD and plays with a puppy energy.
TRAINING/ENERGY/LEASH/NEIGHBORHOOD WALKS
Athena needs training and a strong leader to help her become the amazing dog she can be. She has a very sweet disposition, is food and treat motivated, and is quickly learning “sit” and “crate.” She is also learning to take her treats gently/“nicely.” Athena is 11 months old and has puppy energy, so she needs a home where she can get enough exercise. She can play hard but she can also take long naps and chill when her human is teleworking or away. In her foster home, she gets at least three 30 minute walks per day with additional play sessions with toys, balls, and the resident GSD. Athena pulls on the leash and is very strong. She does walk straight (vs stray constant roaming left to right) and if you stop dead in your tracks and tell her to stop, she will. After about 30 minutes of walking, she slows down and mellows out into an easy heel. Every now and then she will pick up a stick or rock or pine cone but she doesn’t mind when you take it out of her mouth and most times will drop it herself. She does not know heel yet and pulls hard to go toward dogs and people (walking/running/biking) but she is manageable if you are confident and can handle a 65-pound German Shepherd. Due to her high prey drive, she will pull hard to get to a squirrel (and some birds). She can jump extremely high toward squirrels in trees.
AFFECTION
Athena is a very sweet girl, and if you don’t like doggie kisses, she is not for you. She absolutely loves giving kisses, and likes to lick your hands and arms and face. She sometimes nibbles your ears and will also chew on ponytails! When Athena comes toward you to kiss/lick, sometimes she starts with her mouth open as though she is going to bite—but she doesn’t. With that said, she is still less than a year old and very mouthy like a puppy, but it is getting better. She doesn’t mind being touched all over, and sometimes likes to nap with her head in your lap or her paws on your lap. While she doesn't want a belly rub and never rolls over on her back, she loves a good pet and leans into you for a scratches and pets. Athena wants to be with her humans all the time, but she’s fine when crated (see crate section below).
RESOURCE GUARDING
Athena has not displayed resource guarding and she doesn’t mind being touched all over, even when she’s eating/drinking/playing with toys. She'll allow you to take a toy out of her mouth no problem.
CHEWING/MANNERS
Athena does not chew on furniture but she does jump up on the couch sometimes to sit beside people. Sometimes she does jump up when she's excited and sometimes she paws. Occasionally she will pick up a shoe to chew on but she is easily corrected. She has not been destructive at all. She is tall enough to reach the table if you have food on the edge; she has attempted to counter surf once but was told "NO" and immediately corrected stopped. She is not vocal or upset during rain or loud noises (firetruck/ambulance). She is an angel in the car.
TOYS/GAMES
Athena loves to chase a ball or frisbee and will bring it back (not quite “fetch” but she brings it to your general vicinity). She also likes to chew on bones and sometimes will play tug. Note that when she plays tug there's a risk of her trying to gain hold of her tug toy and nipping with teeth.
CRATE/HOUSEBROKEN
Athena is crate trained. She is used to being in the crate overnight and when she doesn’t go in when told intermittently throughout the day, it only takes a little coaxing. Sometimes she goes in on her own when she wants a quiet moment to herself. Sometimes she whines for a few minutes when she sees her humans still out and about while she is in the crate, but she soon settles down. She is also housebroken and has never had an accident in the house. In addition, she will go to the door to let you know when she needs (or wants!) to go out. Currently Athena does #2 first thing in the morning and last thing at night; she does #1 in the morning, during the day, in the evening, and at night. She likes to nap on the floor or on the doggie bed or on the family couch.
BARKING
Athena barks every now and then, mainly if the other dog is in the house is out of the crate and she isn’t or if she wants attention. She does bark at a running Roomba. When other dogs bark at her on neighborhood walks, she doesn’t bark back. When we are inside the house, she doesn't bark at things outside the house.
PREY DRIVE
Athena chases birds and squirrels and seems to have a very high prey drive. Because of this, she needs a home with a fence (preferably not chain link since she’d be able to see through it for the birds and squirrels and preferably not an invisible fence because she will bolt to get to a squirrel). She could easily pull someone and hurt them if she’s on a leash and sees a squirrel. She can jump extremely high toward squirrels in trees. Keep in mind that a German Shepherd can easily scale a 4-5 foot fence.
DOG-FRIENDLY / CAT-FRIENDLY / CHILDREN
- Dogs: When other dogs bark at Athena on neighborhood walks, she doesn’t bark back. However, she does pull hard to go toward the dogs. She could use some socialization, but she loves to play with other dogs, licking them and sometimes jumping to get them to play with her.
- Cats: Athena might be ok with a dog savvy and confident cat, but a skittish cat would not work because she will chase it. In her cat test, it was not determined if she was completely a pass or fail; at times she was uninterested, but at other times she barked and growled at the cat, barked, and jumped toward it. (See cat video on webpage)
- Children: For a short time, Athena lived with children in her home in Texas and is said to have played with them well. However, keep in mind that she is still a puppy and sometimes jumps on her humans for affection and at times can be very mouthy. In addition, she is very strong and will pull on a leash so this is also something to consider (After a long walk, she mellows out and doesn't pull as much on the lease; Athena can learn "heel" with training). She recently did well and had fun on a play date with two tween boys. *Please note that Athena is still mouthy as a puppy; as mentioned earlier, she sometimes shows affection with her mouth wide open and presenting her teeth before a kiss/lick. She is also very strong and can paw at someone for affection. And sometimes if she gets excited, she might jump up on someone. If she jumps on a young child, she could potentially knock them down. If there are children in the home, the adults would need to supervise so that noone is hurt due to her puppy nature.
MEDICAL
- Athena was very thin when she came to Virginia but has put on some pounds and is filling out to be a lovely girl with a gorgeous coat.
- Athena came to Virginia with an Upper Respiratory Infection – this included lethargy, occasional loss of appetite, lots of sneezing with snot flying everywhere and a terrible cough (Google “kennel cough”). She was sick and contagious for about two weeks but is feeling great now!
- Athena needs spayed and should have surgery as soon as possible; SSR will take care of these costs and will help the adopter through this process.
- Athena is not microchipped but we have the chip to provide to the adopter (to be placed by adopter’s vet).
- Athena is heartworm negative.
- Athena does inverse/reverse sneeze – nothing to be concerned about, but if you have never heard it before Google it and watch a video. It’s hilarious but can be scary if you’ve never heard a dog do this before.
Update (Feb. 25, 2021) - Athena is currently under the weather with an upper respiratory infection. While she is healing (and contagious), she is unable to interact with other pets. Once she is feeling better we will be able to observe her with dogs and cats and different aged children.
If you are viewing this animal on Petfinder, please see our organization’s Petfinder home page, linked below (on mobile) or to the right (on desktop), to read about our adoption process and to start your journey!
