EMMY

We found Emmy on Sunday, January 27th.  We think she's a Golden Retriever/Chow mix.  She was very skinny and had frozen mud mats all over her fur.  We got the mats out, and it turns out she has the softest fur we've ever felt.  She also had the bushiest tail we'd ever seen, but we had to trim it down because of the mats.

A vet estimated that she had been without food for 2 weeks, and that she's been spayed.  She's probably about 3 years old.

Emmy is a real cuddler, and she seems pretty content just lounging around the house.  Even as skinny as she is, she's a strong jumper and a strong puller on a leash.  A tall fence would be a requirement for her.  She doesn't seem to know how to play with other dogs.  One of our dogs, Copper, is trying to teach her though.  She tolerates Pace, and has had some issues with Chance.  I think she's been trying to challenge him for dominance. 

At night and when we're not home we're keeping her in a crate.  She's not happy about this and howls terribly, unless I'm lying on the bed next to her crate.  Then she's perfectly quiet.  So she may have some separation anxiety that her new owner will need to work on.  She'll also need work with leash training.  Emmy's generally quiet, only barking when she hears something out of the ordinary, so I think she'd be a pretty good watchdog.  She's one of the few dogs I've ever known that I think would be OK as the only dog in the home. 

If we don't find her owner, and you're interested in adopting her, send me an email.  We'll get her vaccinations and blood work done soon, and whatever that total comes to is what we'll ask for the adoption fee.  This ensures that anyone adopting her understands the financial responsibility that comes with owning a dog.  The blood work will also let us know if she has heartworms, which can cost hundreds of dollars to treat.  We won't ship her anywhere - we'd have to meet interested adopters in person.  We're in the Memphis area.

UPDATE 2/11/08:  Emmy got her vaccinations Saturday.  The vet says that she should get booster shots in a month.  She also tested negative for heartworms, which is good but not conclusive.  It can take 6 months after exposure for a dog to test positive, so she'll need to be tested again in 6 months.  This vet thinks she's between 1 and 2 years old.  She weighed 36 pounds, which is less than I thought, but she's still got a little bit of weight to put on.

UPDATE 3/9/08:  Here's a new photo of Emmy in what's probably her first snow.  We're still trying to find a home for her.  She's completely housetrained, and she doesn't like cats.  She loves curling up on the couch or the bed, and at night she likes to sleep near your feet and barely moves at all.  You can see where we had to trim her tail to get the mats out.  She's a very laid back dog, but she has lots of energy to play when it's playtime.  Emmy also loves riding in the car.  She knows how to sit (we didn't teach her), and she would probably be easy to train because she's such a people-pleaser.