Meet Gina...

Those of you, who read my Blog regularly, know that I adopted Gina on December 26th. But I never really got around to introducing Gina to you guys properly. So here it goes:

Gina is a Aussie Shepard Mix. And she's 3 1/2 years old. That means she is barely out of being a doggie Teenager. She is still very playful, has considerable endurance and at times she tends to play too rough for her own good. But that's something that doesn't bother me. I know how to get her down from that. This dog is highly intelligent and really looking to build a relationship and is seeking lots of physical contact. Training with her is fairly easy since you can use her playful side and she loves to work for food.
But of course this dog has quite a number of quirks. She doesn't exactly take goodies gently and she does guard food. She has made quite some negative experiences with other dogs. She doesn't care too much for smaller dogs and they usually aren't a problem. But she is afraid of bigger dogs and has figured out that attacking first won't get yourself hurt. That's something I'm currently working on. She has no problem riding in public transportation. But she really dislikes the muzzle. But with the the muzzle issue I've made quite some progress with her so far. And she definitely isn't a dog for a first time dog owner. This Aussie Shepard requires an experienced dog owner and someone who stays calm even if she misbehaves.
Here are a couple of pieces of info about Gina's past. She has been adopted out 3 times so far. Every time to an allegedly dog experienced owner. But did get returned quite quickly to the shelter again.
With owner number one she really tried to build up an relationship, but wasn't allowed to sleep in the same room. So she was whining and that was reason enough to return her to the shelter.

Owner number two had nothing better to do than use the muzzle as a punishment device. Every single time she misbehaved she got the muzzle put on her. Didn't take long of course that she tried to avoid getting that thing put on her. With the end result that she is showing the teeth every time you try to put the muzzle on her. And she isn't particularly fond of having anything put around her neck. And if someone where to overdue it she is going to snap at you. But still showing an incredible amount of restraint. No blood, no indents in the skin. Just to let you know that's too much for her to handle at the moment. After the issue with the muzzle she got turned into the shelter again.
With owner number three it might have worked out. But this family had smaller kids and they were used to chase their previous dog and hug the previous dog at the neck. And Gina isn't really fond of that. To let someone hug her around the neck the necessary trust has to be built up. The kids didn't understand doggie language and the parents didn't pay attention either. So Gina tried to keep the kids at bay. Showing the teeth didn't work and so she snapped at them. Nothing happened. No indents in the skin...nothing. But the poor girl had once again to go back to the shelter.

This time she got put into Wiener Tierschutzhaus, where she had been about 1 month when I came into her life. I became her sponsor/guardian and worked with her. We built up in a very short time a relationship based on trust. I worked with her on the muzzle issue. That something that works good one day and not so good the next day. But I'm not giving up on her. That will take quite some time. We grew together very quickly and after the sleepover that went perfectly, the shelter staff said that she should go home with me. She spends a lot of time with me an loves to sleep on the couch right next to me. And yes she enjoys sleeping with me in bed as well. Apparently it makes her feel secure. What I've learned about her so far, is that this dog is slightly snoring...but it just sounds cute. And she is having quite some wild dreams when asleep.
I will keep you guys posted on the progress.