| Cami |
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Gender: Female
Age: Young
Foster Home: Leslie
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Update: Cami was adopted in September, 2004. You can read her story below.
History: Cami was only a baby when she was dropped off at a shelter. Shelter life was all she knew for the next several months. Her name was added to the "euthanize" list. Luckily, GLBCR was contacted just in time. The image of such a sweet girl, caged in a shelter, having never known any love, was more than we could bear. Cami had a long transport and was, initially, quite scared. She was so grateful to be in a loving home, she never did a single thing wrong.
Update: 12-6-04 Since Cami has come to stay with us, she's definitely learned so much and opened up a lot. She enjoys the fun of country life and being able to run and run and run and run. She is extremely fast, has outstanding vertical leap capacity, and has developed very nice muscle tone. Her physique has filled in a bit as she's grown, yet is still lean and athletic. It took a couple of weeks to get in shape initially and get her wind, and she now thinks it's fun to go as fast as she can from wherever she is to wherever she's going. Her diet is controlled and she seems to be thriving on it. Since she's not a big fan of most doggie treats, she gets little cut up hot dog bits for rewards and treats.
Today is Cami's "graduation" day from basic obedience class. Cami loves playing with the other dogs, but really doesn't think too much of the class part. Two weeks ago, we let the dogs play and run around together after class. The instructor was in the middle of the training ring and Cami stopped by while playing for a quick pat. The instructor said sit, and she assumed the best sit you've ever seen. The instructor said heel, and Cami did the best heel and walk you could ever imagine - all the way around this huge training area. All without the leash or treats / rewards!! According to the instructor, she's a very smart little dog (probably say that about all client dogs) and wants to learn and please, but seems to learn best in a low stress / low pressure environment. She's doing much better both on and off the leash now. We've been considering taking Cami to open agility.
Cami still isn't a big fan of riding in the car, but is learning that you get to go to cool places. Her favorite is going into town just to walk around on the leash - she gets the little hot dog treats every time we stop at a corner or intersection and she sits without command when we stop walking, and then heels properly when we start walking again. She's learned to come when called, has learned to stop and let us go through a door first, has learned a "leave it" command, and has just learned to dance on command (pretty funny to see). She's learning about chasing and retrieving tennis balls and is learning that returning stuff to us often results in some good treats. She learned very quickly to stay on our property and that going next door does not always have good consequences.
She's learned that tug is a really fun game - she's not a hard tugger but rather a constant tugger. She still has one of the little stuffed animals you had given her, but all the stuffing has been chewed out of it. We just can't quite get rid of it as she carries it around the house all the time. Her favorite thing in the whole world is a good belly rub. She seems to attract a lot of burrs when out on walks or running the fields and woods in the back of our property and isn't thrilled about having them removed, but has learned that a burr removing session is always followed by a good belly rub. Our other dog has taught her two things we wish she wouldn't have: barking for practice and rolling in deer or rabbit poop. We think we have the first under control. The second is more of a challenge. She thinks our other dog is the next best thing to hot dog treats and follows her everywhere and does whatever she does.
Anyway, Cami is doing great and we couldn't be happier with her. She's at the very least everything we'd hoped for.
2-18-05 Cami is doing just great. Since the snows have come she's found another endless source of entertainment.......running and bouncing through the snow as fast as she can go and jumping over snow piles. We've taken her to open agility sessions twice in the last month at a local trainer and she's done pretty well. She even went through the tunnels first time around. Had some trouble with the weave poles and the elevated platform, but did well on the jumps and other obstacles.
We think Cami was a great find for us and just love to brag on her. As friends and neighbors talk about getting a dog, we always suggest a rescue dog now and have steered a few to the GLBCR site. Keep up the great work.
Personality wise, the best way to describe her is just a little sweetheart. We often think we should have called her little butt shaker because it always is. When we let her out of the crate in the morning that little butt just shakes all over the place. I remember you and your husband thought maybe Wiggles would have been a good name for her. She's somewhat reserved (not shy really) around strangers, and that's good. She loves both of our cats; doesn't terrorize them, just wants to play. The old fat cat thinks Cami's nose was made for swatting, but Cami doesn't seem to care. She and the little kitty are best buds and take turns chasing each other all over the place outside and then stretch out together on the back deck or in the kitchen for a nap. I was hauling leaves a couple of weeks ago with the tractor and trailer and Cami followed me down the lane to the back where we dump leaves and then back up to the yard for the next load...all day long. She sat and watched as I piled on the next trailer load, and then led or followed me down the lane to the back, and then back up to the yard. Pure BC behavior.
Just in the last few weeks she seems to really have adopted us as much as we've adopted her. I can't really put a finger on what makes me say that, except that she has become more outwardly affectionate toward us and seems to have come to the understanding that she's home with her family, and it's not such a bad place. Still somewhat aloof and likes to always lie where she can keep an eye on us, but openly affectionate, too. Her coat has filled in and lengthened a bit, giving her a very unique and striking appearance. A very pretty girl. Everyone she meets loves to touch her and stroke her coat because of it's multiple unique textures. Our two girls are continually spoiling her. When Laura comes home from college Cami thinks she's supposed to curl up on Laura's bed with her, especially in the morning. Anne has Cami curl up under the covers of her bed when she's reading in her room. Mary and I are the holdouts, although I'm pretty sure Cami gets to crawl into bed with Mary when I'm not home.
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