Some of you may have met Poppy at the farm, but many of you know her through this blog. Poppy has come a very long way in the 6 weeks that she has been here. I really didn’t see it until last weekend, when McMuffin‘s foster parents saw her at the Pittie Trails hike waiting patiently for the walk to begin. They told me how different she is than when they met her for the first time. That is when I began to notice too.
I first met Poppy at training on Sunday mornings at the farm (that is where McMuffin’s foster parents saw her too) and she was poppin’. She had the attention span of a gnat! She would catch on to the new command quickly, but start jumping up on the trainer, doing zoomies, and playing tug with her leash. Phil and I wanted to help her after Ozzie got adopted, because we saw her potential. We were not wrong.
Fast forward to now…On Saturday, she sat and waited patiently for the hike to start with 11 dogs and several people walking around. We can get through a training session with her, and last night we took her to the car dealership as I dropped off the car and I had her sit while we waited and she did a beautiful job!
The first night Poppy came to our house she did not stop running, playing, doing zoomies, bouncing, leaping, or jumping for 3 hours straight. This dog is suppose to be 5 years old, but has the energy level (and manners) of a 6 month old puppy!
Fast forward to now, Poppy is learning to lay next to us calmly and sleep, she can now quietly be petted, and a really a good 20 minute romp around the yard or a nice 40 minute walk, and some mental exercise (training) she is calm and relaxed the rest of the day. She no longer jumps to get what is in our hands but sits, she does dinner downs while we are eating instead of leaping into our laps, and when we are working at our lap tops she goes and grabs a bone and hangs out at our feet until we are done.
Poppy has a long way to go, but she is half way there. Next Wednesday, she begins her CGC certification training, and we will take her obedience to the next level. Poppy is going to make her future family very proud, she has made us proud.
There are many dogs like Poppy out there: high energy and “over the top”. When you channel their energy, give them boundaries, and let them be themselves, they shine. Poppy will never be a therapy dog, but she would be an all star agility champ. She wouldn’t excel in a home that has cats and other dogs and young kids running around, but she will excel with the right person or couple wanting a single dog to devote their lives to. Poppy would make you the center of her universe, and that is true pit bull love.
