About Kali

Kali is...desperate for love. I know that's not generally a great thing to say, but it's true.

She is guarded at first with people - when I first met her she wouldn't even let me touch her (!) - but she warms up quickly. At this point, I can do anything with her - roll her onto her back, chase her off furniture (she's still learning that furniture is by invitation only, and she's never invited), and tell her to wait for food.

I don't think she had much love in her prior home, and she doesn't get as much as she'd like here since she's competing with 3 other dogs for hands and cuddle space. She's looking for a family willing to put up with her initial outward bristle-y-ness in exchange for a deep capacity to love.

Leashwalking

Although she occasionally needs a reminder, for the most part Kali walks nicely next to me on a loose leash. But that's only true as long as she's wearing her harness - if I have the leash on her collar, she doesn't seem to recognize it's the same thing.

Kali's Favorite Position

Available for a belly rub!

Daycare

Kali will be at daycare today and tomorrow. To view her, click here, then follow the "watch the Fiesty Fidos" link. While initially at daycare she hung back and was a bit wary of the action, she now joins right in. (But still eagerly greets any person coming into the play area - she's always up for a belly rub!)

Dinner Time

This was Kali's dinner routine about 1 1/2 weeks ago. Since then, she's gotten better about waiting for "ok" once she's in her crate so I no longer hold my hand up and tell her to wait. Instead, she looks at me for guidance and waits (only a little impatiently).

Cuddlebug

Kali loves to cuddle close. While she takes a little bit of time to trust new people - it seems to take her 2-3 meetings to fully let her guard down - once she decides you're one of her people she's very affectionate. She loves to sleep right against her people, so she's do best with an adopter looking for an interactive dog, not a houseplant.

Enthusiasm Unbounded

In a lot of ways Kali is still very much a puppy. She has an enthusiasm she's slowly learning to contain (or at least restrain temporarily) - when there's the promise of something good, she pounces and twirls and flips on her back. After some encouragement, she's added sitting to her repertoire, but sometimes she needs to pirouette before settling back in.

Her current training task is improving her self-control - she sits at a slight distance when I bring her food into the room, then goes into her crate when I tell her to, then looks at me and waits for my "ok!" before diving into her meal. She's got a ways to go - she still can't help twirling a few times while I'm carrying her food bowl into the room (although she no longer charges or jumps up on me) and sometimes she prematurely runs into her crate - but she is working really hard to figure out what I expect of her and at this point doesn't try to start her meal early.

Kali's Home!

It's nice to have her back. She seemed to have a good time - she's nowhere near as anxious to be near me as the last time she came back from a week of boarding, just settled back into the house routine. She also bonded at daycare with Daisy, another Helping Paws pup who is also looking for a home, so if you're interested in a pair of pups who get along great, you should consider the two of them together!

Daycare

Kali spent this week playing with other pups at daycare. She's coming home tomorrow, but if you want to watch her during the day, click on the "feisty fidos" link here.

Play ball!

Kali loves playing ball - she'll pounce and chase and (sometimes) fetch it. When she does bring it back, she's sooo proud of herself so teaching her to consistently fetch shouldn't be hard.

Meet Kali!

Kali is a sweet young dog who is looking for her forever home. Brought into Athens-Clarke County Animal Control as a stray, it's obvious she previously had a family (because she was wearing a collar) but they don't seem to have spent much time with her.

Since coming into a foster home in late June, Kali has learned to sit and wait for her meals until she's told "okay", walk nicely on a leash, and meet new people without being frightened. Her foster sister is currently teaching her to play chase, and she's a pro at ball-chasing. Kali is housetrained and cratetrained, and starts a basic obedience class on August 13th at Pawtropolis (www.pawtropolis.com). She'd do great in a home with a family interested in continuing her training (and perhaps even advancing to agility - she's quite the athletic clown!).

Kali is approximately 2 years old,up-to-date on her shots, and spayed. She weighs 32 pounds and has a beautiful brindle coat. She is available for adoption through Helping Paws Rescue. If you'd be interested in meeting her, please leave a comment on this blog or contact Helping Paws (http://www.pawtropolis.com/dogs_adoption.html) today!