BRITNEY
State: NY
Age: 4
Weight: 50 - 55
Sex: female
Neut/UTD: Yes/Yes
Coat Color: Fawn
Docked Tail: Yes
Cropped Ears: No
Children Under 4: yes
Children Over 4: yes
Separation Anxiety: no
Other Dogs: yes
Cats: no
Crate Trained: yes
House Trained: yes
Obedience Trained: yes
Leash Trained: harness trained
Attending Obed: No
Microchipped: No
Adoption Fee: $250
UPDATED 10-7-04 - Britney had quite a long ride from Buffalo NY to Providence RI. We stopped
every couple of hours for breaks and to meet the other dogs at the rest area. Britney is not agressive
towards other dogs unless they get agressive first. Then she's more than prepared to rumble. Had to pull
her away from a couple of bullies.
When we arrived at home, Britney was extremely excited to meet everyone. Her excitement level is
punctuated by a series of extremely intense sneezes. The more excited, the bigger the number of sneezes!
Usually 5 to 7.
Britney has a cut on her nose from a fight with a former housemate of hers. It looked a bit infected. She
has a supply of antibiotics. I have to mask them to get them down.
Unfortunately, I think they upset her stomach. She has tossed them 5 of 7 times. I'm not sure if it's the
antibiotics or not but it seems to be. I give them to her after she has dinner and maybe 30 minutes later, up
they come. The warning sign is a large burp and then we try to make it out to the back yard. That mini
steam cleaner sure has been usefull lately!
Dispite the lack of antibiotics in her system, the cut no longer appears red and seems to be healing.
Yesterday she got sick before dinner and my wife said it looked like sinus drainings. Any thoughts from
anyone? My email is mcurran@unfi.com.
I'll be monitoring this and taking her to a vet if it continues.
Other than that, Britney has been just great. She loves my kids and licks them to death. Actually, she licks
everyone and anything within her reach. She especially likes our leather furniture.
Britney must be starting to feel at home. She just started barking at people coming to the front door.
She likes to sleep in her crate. We just leave it open and when she gets tired, she retires there without
prompting from us. Not even a good night do we get!
Britney came with a harness but I have discontinued it's use. She gets better on the leash every day. Pulls a
bit at first but a few pulls on the leash while saying heel has started to sink in.
Actually, Britney loves her walks. If I ask her if she wants to walk, she gets so excited she sneezes multiple
times then runs for the front door. If I am not right behind her, she runs back to me and then bolts to the
door again. She repeats this until I open the door to let her out. I have started to have her sit at the door
until I clip on the leash. It's hard for her but she does so after 5 to 10 sit commands. Can't have her running
out the door and getting hit by a car. Even when she does get out, she never has left the yard until she has
been clipped.
She seems to know how to behave well. She just gets a bit excited about almost everything.
9/11/04 Britney's adoptive family has made the difficult decision to find Britney a more suitable home. She
is good with other dogs, very happy and playful. She just prefers not to have to live with another dog and
that's where the problem came in. She did great in obedience class and has all the basics mastered. She
walks well on a harness and even stops at intersections and waits for you to give her the all clear. Such a
good girl. Brit is housebroke, fabulous in the crate and has very good house manners. She is fine with kids.
She is a super sweet girl!
UPDATED 4/11/04 - Wow has it been 6 months already. Britney is doing great. The leash issue is a thing
in the past she walks well and has successfully tackled the wait command on our walks. We are
trying to work on some doggie socialization. once again it comes down to us helping her tolearn this. By
understanding doggie behavior. Sometimes shes fine with dogs she sees others she stiffens. Its seems
unpredictable but I usually will move her on if she seems to stffen. On our last walk a kindly older dog
came to greet and Brit stiffened up and growled she responded to the lets go command but i think we will
need more work in this area.I had to laugh when i caught myself chiding her on having respect for her
elders. Another time she met two pugs and was great with them. wanted to play. So its just another thing
to work on and with spring all the doggies are out so i am sure we will get better at this. It also seems that
the other dog owners may think that Brit is aggresive because of the breed and are nervous she will hurt
them. i guess they feel excessive licking and dancing is dangerous. Not sure about it but just a thought. Any
thoughts on this would be appreciated. I think it just that Brit is learning to be social and unsure and we
need to be more educated to help her gain this skill. she really is a big ole love bug. I may not be giving her
a chance to scope the other dog out but I don't want any one hurt. But allin all everything is great and we
are considering a second boxer
UPDATED 2/8/04 - BRITNEY GRADUATED TONIGHT MOM AND DAD ARE PROUD. We are
all doing great. The training helped alot and Brit is much calmer and we learned to be more in control so
she doesn't do anything to hurt herself. We Love Her.
UPDATED 12/30/03 - Can You say "HAPPY" can you say "IN LOVE". Britney continues to bring our
family such joy. We can't imagine not having her in our lives. We started obedience training with her foster
mom Jill and Britney is doing well. She has made friends with Holly and Peanut in class. Although we
initially were concerned she would be the class clown she is settling in nicely. She was having a difficult
time walking on a leash and hated the gentle leader, yesterday at class we discovered that she walks
VERY WELL with a harness. Mommy was so excited she wanted to do a victory lap but BRITNEY
WANTED TO PLAY WITH HER FRIENDS.We now can really start walkingin the neighboorhood and
Mommy won't be afraid that Britney will charge out into the street or choke herself. Hurray, a big hurdle
has been overcome. Thanks Jill for working with us on that. We are thrilled with the new addition to our
family. Every thing is working out well.
11/28/03 - Britney is truely a member of our family. She has met most of the extended family and does
great with all the children.Everyone Loves her and thinks she is a great dog. We were concerned because
Britney is a big kisser but is very gentle with the Little ones. She has started barking when people come to
the door but only enough to tell her family we have company. She loves to try and chase squirrels and
bunnies and tries to play with other dogs but so far hasn't found a buddy. The dog next door, Brady, came
by and when Britney got all excited to play Brady left.(Yes it broke my heart to see her so dejected) Her
Dad said Brady had a bad experience with the shepard down the street and is a little skittish so we are
going to try again. She can be protective.... I had her out in the yard on a leash when Will came home
unexpectedly....you could only see a black silouette ....Britney stood her ground and barked until he
revealed himself. She was not aggressive only saying "Hey who are you and what are you doing here."
She is doing great at listening but we still have to get some of OUR signals straight especially walking on
the leash....But we are going to hookup with Jill in December for obedience training to help us with that.
She is out of her crate all day though we keep it open in case she needs quiet time but she will usually
snuggle with one of us for that.
She is just awesome and has been sooooo patient with us. Will's grandmother was very ill and recently
passed away....we were so worried because Britney saw us in and out of the house more then usual...she
seemed to take it all in stride....on the morning we found out Grandma passed away Will's mom and
brother came to the house.....the usually excited "someones here, someones here" Britney walked gently
up to my mother in law and bowed her head. Will and I were in awe. It was the sweetest thing i ever saw.
I heard that dogs sensed things but never really saw it until that morning.
she is not a big eater still but seems to have put on weight. We are keeping an eye on the sore on her nose
she had when she came,it seems to be slow in healing but is a little better. We'll take her to the vet soon if
it continues to be a problem.
Other wise she is strong healty and seems very Happy.
She is ours forever we Love her more than we ever imagined.
11/7/03 - Britney's first week has been wonderful. She is settling in very well despite a very busy week.
Halloween night she came on the porch with Will while I handed out candy. She was very excited to see
all the children but sat and settled oncommand when the children approached. One little girl surprised us
by walking right up to her and petting her. Britney was very gentle and and sat nicely. She likes to explore
but listens very well. She LOVES to go to the pet store and even picked out her own toy. As much as she
wants to jumpup and greet company with hugs and kisses she listens to "sit Britney" until guests agree to
pet her. WE still crate her during the day but she has her own spot in our bedroom at night and has made it
her job to lick Daddy awake at the sound of the alarm goes downstairs for her breakfast and out then
performs her other self appointed job of kissing Mommy awake at the second alarm. Believe me she does
not stop until the job is done and everyone is up for the day. WE LOVE HER and cannot believe she has
only been with us for a week. It feels as if she has always been a part of our family and already we can't
imagine our lives without her. I could go on and on about our adventures and how we are discovering each
other.
She still is not eating as much as we would like her to be. (21/2 cups per day 2 xs a day). We have put out
more but she doesn't always finish.We worry because she is a little under weight. She likes her snack and
doesn't seem to be looking to eat more. She doesn't look like she is losing weight and seems very healthy
and active. We will continue to monitor this as she settles in. She will be going to obedience training which
will help with walking on the leash. We have to watch her very carefully as she gets so excited she doesn't
hear the commands and will head right into the street. She does repond to a gentle pull on the leash. For
now we keep her very close when walking until she gets more accustomed to it. She will do well because
she is a quick learner and it seems loves to make Mommy and daddy happy. But that is not hard to do.
We really love her and know that we all will be very happy. She wa the perfect choice for our family and
we are thrilled that she is in our lives. Thank you to everyone for all the support you ahve given us. Jill for
calming our fears about the eating issue and patiently listening to us go on and on this week as well as
fostering her until she could get to her forever home. Jackie and family for fostering. Jeri for being so
patient answering our questions and keeping the ball rolling. Christine and Gail for doing the homecheck
and giving us advice on having a new doggie. Leanne for matching us with Britney. And all the other
volunteers we didn't meet who helped us along the way. You are very special people and you brought joy
to our family.
UPDATED 10/30/03 - Britney has been adopted!
10/26/03 - Little Miss Britney has arrived for what I am betting is a VERY short stay at The Kidney Bean
Cottage. I would like to thank Diana for being so kind and springing her from the shelter and Jackie & Dan
for keeping her until I could get her. She is a beautiful, petite, flashy fawn girlie with natural ears and a
docked tail. Britney could definitely stand to gain a few pounds, she's a little thin but in overall good shape.
You should see the muscles bulging in this girls legs!
She seems to love everyone especially my 8 year old daughter. I am going to let her get used to her new
resdience for a few days before I see how she is with my 1 year old son.......but I am not thinking there will
be any problems. She met one of our fur residents, Maisey, without any problems. I will introduce her to
the Boxer boys tomorrow as I don't want her to feel overwhelmed. Britney is GREAT in the crate. She
goes in easily and doesn't make a peep! That makes me one happy foster mom! Britney is already spay
and I will be making an appt. to have her updated on shots this week. You better get those applications is
ASAP Britney is the type of girl people go crazy for!