Nala

Profile

Mark us down as just flat-out amazed. Nala took the long journey from living on the street in Turkey and settled down in our home in just a few hours. It was like she had been here for days if not weeks. She is quiet and calm. She gets along with our resident puppy-mill dog wonderfully. Nala is 56 pounds but in a smaller, more stocky, stature. She has a very lush, thick coat and the feet of a larger dog. It's a good thing that she didn't grow into those feet. The best estimates are that she is about two years old.

She walks nicely on a leash but we noticed that she had a bit of a limp and she started slowing after about the three quarter mile mark. We had the veterinarian take x-rays and it turns out that she has a spinal compression between the sixth and seventh vertebrae. This means that she will likely never be a hunting dog nor a dog that is a running companion. Nala is perfectly housetrained and is OK with spending time in a crate.

Nala shows little interest in chasing a ball but will do a short scamper around the yard. One afternoon we had Ms. Bunny in the yard and, while chasing a ball didn't seem interesting, there was no doubt that Nala knew that bunnies were for chasing. She also expresses great interest in squirrels. We don't know what her opinion of cats might be.

Nala has gotten along wonderfully with every dog that she has met, from the alpha dog to the retiring type. We have children in the neighborhood and all the kids have loved her and she has loved all of them.

Nala is quite food motivated and we're sure that comes from being born and raised on the street. Interestingly she shows no sign of putting a nose up on a table or of counter-surfing. Rattle the top to the cookie jar, however, and she is johnny-on-the-spot.

Since she has been here less than two weeks, we are still getting to know Nala. We need to explore the issue of the back problems further so she is unavailable for applications at this time. We have found, however, that she is quite the willing assistant in the quilt making process. In the picture below, you can see that she is being actively involved in the selection of colors for the borders of the paper-pieced quilt laid out on the floor.

WELLWISHERS

Happy Spring! From Nicole 13-351