Little Athena

Breed	Sex	Weight	Age	Color
Retriever	Female	12.25lbs	4 weeks	Blond

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-ESTIMATE WEIGHT FULL GROWN: Since we do not know the breed/size of her parents, it is hard to estimate. Our best guess is that she will be a medium sized dog.

-ESTIMATED AGE: 4 months

-KNOWN WITH DOGS: She’s great with the other 2 dogs in her foster home.

-KNOWN WITH CATS: There is not a cat in her foster home, so we are not sure. She has not been tested with cats.

-KNOWN WITH KIDS: She’s in a foster home with a 10 and 12 yo, and loves them. She has met several kids in the neighborhood and really enjoys the love and attention they give her.

-KNOWN CUES: She’s working on sit and showing us she is a very smart little baby! She’s highly motivated by treats and praise, so she would make a great student in a puppy kindergarten class. Her adopters should plan to take her to a training class to help her learn the basics and have socialization with other puppies. Her attentive personality and eagerness to please will make her a fast learner.

-KNOWN HOUSEBREAKING AND/OR CRATING: She’s making great progress on housebreaking considering her age. She gets so excited after she potties outside to get her treat and pets. With structure and following potty training best practices, she will continue to do just fine on housebreaking. She sleeps in a crate in her foster’s bedroom at night and does great.

-KNOWN LIKES: She adores people and is so happy to get love and attention from anyone who wants to love on her. Belly rubs, being carried around, playing with people, etc. She also likes toys, chewing a teething ring or bully stick, and finding treats in a snuffle mat. She likes playing with her foster brother (1 year old dog) but is more people-focused than dog-focused and would prefer to spend her time with you. When she’s outside, she loves to find a big piece of mulch and play with it like it’s the coolest toy ever. Also a fan of chasing crispy leaves blowing down the sidewalk in the fall breeze.

-KNOWN DISLIKES: She’s not a fan of being left alone, but getting used to time in her puppy pen by herself. This is normal for a puppy her age who has only recently left her littermates.

ABOUT THIS ANIMAL:

Athena is truly a gem, and has such a lovely personality and temperament. She’s funny, sweet, and loving. She’s met kids and adults of different ages, races, and genders and loves everyone.

Athena is a wonderful puppy who loves to play and cuddle. She loves playing tug of war and fetch, and then cuddling up to enjoy a nap. Her favorite place to sleep is in front of a sunny window or door. Athena is food motivated and praise motivated making her an easy puppy to train. She is also doing very well on letting her fosters know when she needs to go outside and thus, her housebreaking is going very well. She's one smart pup.

An interesting thing that makes her unique is that she has a double dew claw on one of her back feet. This is common in some breeds, so maybe a clue to her breed mix, or maybe just something special about her.

Athena and her littemates (Popcorn and Little Wiggles) are pups who came to HT from a rural shelter. They were unwanted puppies that were dumped and picked up as strays. Despite their rough start, they are so loving and sweet. They are thriving and active and will make wonderful family members!

If you are interested in adopting this dog, please fill out our dog adoption questionnaire and e-mail any questions to: sueb@homewardtrails.org

FOSTER NOTES: Athena (we call her Thee-thee ) is a great little puppy with a lovely personality. She lives with a 10 and 12 year old and seems to really enjoy kids. She has met several kids in the neighborhood of different races, ages, and genders and is very sweet with them. She can be just the tiniest bit nervous meeting a new person but then is all love as soon as she hears a kind word. She loves a snuggle or a belly rub; and can be quite energetic and playful. As with any puppy, she might be too rambunctious for the youngest kids since she's still learning about jumping and she is teething.

She is doing quite well with house-breaking. She still isn't physically able to hold her pee very long, so needs frequent breaks, but she definitely gets the idea that she should be going outside in the grass. She does fine overnight in her crate as well. With structure and routine, she rarely has accidents inside.

Because she had parvo and then kennel cough, we have needed to keep her away from other dogs, but she does well with our 2 dogs. She gives our grumpy senior space and plays with our one year old (she likes wrestling, and playing chase games with him). She sometimes barks at dogs she sees when we walk her (she might be copying my grumpy senior). She has not met a cat as far as I know.

A fun fact about her is that she has a double dew claw on one of her back legs, which could be a clue about her breed, or just something that makes her unique.

PLEASE VISIT THIS WEBSITE TO FIND THE ADOPTION QUESTIONNAIRE:

http://www.homewardtrails.org/adopt-a-pet/adoption-forms/

HOW TO MEET THIS ANIMAL: Fill out the application and we will follow up with you! We will connect you to his foster!

LOCATION: An amazing Foster home

ADOPTION COORDINATOR: sueb@homewardtrails.org

ADOPTION FEE: $600 includes spay/neuter

HT Puppy Adoption Fee Structure & Inclusions

$550 adoption fee requires the adopter to secure and pay for spay/neuter on their own. Proof

of s/n must be provided by the adopter by date on contract. This package must be selected by time of

adoption and cannot be amended post-adoption.

Includes:

● First 3 distemper series vaccines

● Three dewormings

● Microchip – lifetime with no registration fees

● Complimentary first exam at any VCA Animal Hospital

● $250 coverage at any VCA Animal Hospital for 10 medical issues (designated on certificate)

● Complimentary first exam at 5 HT partner vets in the DC area

● Free online Fur-Get Me Not New Dog/Pup Workshop for residents of Arlington/Alexandria/Falls

Church/DC

● $15 off your first Chewy order of $49 or more

● Free entry into quarterly Homeward Trails raffle to win $50 Amazon gift card

● A portion of EVERY adoption fee goes to support our spay/neuter efforts in under-resourced

communities through our Trails UP program

$600 adoption fee includes spay/neuter & rabies (at the time of surgery only) completed through Homeward Trails. The spay/neuter procedure must be scheduled through HT. *Rabies may only be included if the animal is spayed/neutered at 4 months of age, not after. This package must be

selected by time of adoption and cannot be amended post-adoption.