Mikayla

Mikayla is a very cute GSD with a charcoal black coat with cream colored undertones and tummy, a curled up tail that is constantly wagging, and a mischievous glint in her eyes. She came to us as an unclaimed stray from a local area shelter, so nothing is known of her background. As such, her exact age is unknown, but we estimate her to be approximately 8 months old. She has shorter but very stocky legs and weighs about 55 pounds.

Mikayla is housebroken, and loves to run around outside with her pack, as much as she loves to hang out around them in the house. Although she is on the smaller size, what Mikayla lacks in stature, she more than makes up for in drive and enthusiasm. She has a very playful and affectionate nature and a pleasant energy about her. Her play style is very assertive at times, and she does not hesitate to mix it up with the much larger alpha male GSD in her foster home. Because she plays this way, she can sometimes come across as being a little bossy. However, she is presently learning appropriate behavior thru consistent correction from her human and canine pack mates.

Mikayla came to us without much in the way of manners, but she has already learned sit, wait (for in the house, and food), and she's starting to very well walking on a leash. She's also learned after a few corrections that no matter how excited you are, jumping up on people is not cool (even if you're not a big dog), With a little more one on one time, she will pick up a lot more, but this is a dog that will need a full obedience training with her new adoptive pack. She will respond to treats for training rewards, but is far more praise motivated. Mikayla is clearly teething, as she has a taste for hard bones, and hard rubber toys. Anything she plays with that is fibrous or soft is likely to get shredded, which is normal for a dog her age.

While she has not quite figured out how to retrieve, Mikayla loves running with hard with the larger resident dogs in her foster pack to chase balls. She shows signs of a Dog that will love to play fetch once she masters the idea of the game. It's too early to say if she will actually jump in and become a water dog, but she does show a keen interest when the resident Dogs in her foster pack jump in the pool. She loves to squat at the edge of the pool and splash her front paws, and she is staring to walk around on the first step of the pool on all fours.

Although this is a very active and high drive little girl, she also knows how to enjoy a quite moment as well. When relaxing with her foster pack in the evenings, Mikayla generally prefers to lie on the open floor near her people, but not right on them. At bedtime, she does not always go easily into her crate (we're still working on that) but will settle immediately with her pack mates once she's in and the lights are out. Whatever extra work it is to put her to bed is more than compensated for when you wake her up and uncrate her in the morning. Mikalya greets the day with raucous enthusiasm and a squiggly dance of circles around the floor until she get's a hug and licks your face. We should all wake up so happy as this dog does!

Mikayla has not chased the resident cats, and has only expressed passing interest in them. She's a likely candidate to live in a home with a dog savvy cat. She would need to be tested for compatibility with any potential resident cats to be sure. Mikayla does run around and get excited with her foster pack mates when they go on alert and start barking, but she has not yet figured out how to barks on her own. So if you're looking for a good watch dog, just be aware that she will need to be taught to properly alarm bark. She does like going for trips in the car, but will generally sniff out the windows a few times, then lie down quietly for the duration.

Considering her personality, Mikayla would probably be happy being an only Dog, but she may also do well with another Dog in her new home such as an older male. Because of her high intelligence, she will thrive with a family that will include her in daily outings and activities as well as continue to work on her training, and possibly get her involved in some kind of sporting work, or activity. This sweet little girl has a lot of love and energy to give, and will bring a lot of love and joy to the right forever home.

This is a Level 3 Dog. Please be sure you understand what a dog of this Level requires.

Added October 2014