Coraline

My story

For Adoption: Coraline! Please read our dog bios carefully to be sure that the dog you are applying for suits your family and lifestyle. We at PDR believe in the benefits of post-adoption training for our dogs and their families. This allows for continued socialization, learning and helps to create a well-mannered and balanced dog. Post-adoption training is a requirement in our adoption process. To apply for adoption and for more information on our process and requirements, visit our website at https://pounddog.ca/adoption-info/. This gorgeous girl is Coraline! Coraline is a 9-year-old Pomeranian weighing just under 10lbs. She has a soft blond coat with sable markings and a fluffy tail. She has beautiful, expressive eyes and a very sweet and quiet nature and we are on the hunt for her perfect family! Now I know some of you are already filling out your application for Coraline but please read this bio first as we are looking for a very special family for her. Our sweet girl was discarded from a large-scale breeding organization after 9 years and she has been slow to adapt to the world outside that facility. 9 years without love or socialization have put some hurdles up for Coraline but good luck found Coraline when Pound Dog Rescue decided to pull her into their care and give her a chance. Now she needs one more dose of good luck to help her find a family who can support her through the rest of her life. If you cannot handle a dog that is afraid of you to start and does not want to be touched, then Coraline will not be a good match for you. I know when we find her family that they will get to see her transform over the next few years but please be honest about what you can handle and what you are looking for. Coraline is safe and dearly loved in her foster home and we will take as long as we need to find the right forever home for her. Coraline has taken some big steps in her time in foster care, but she still has a journey ahead of her. She is looking for a family with experience dealing with timid dogs, shut down dogs and/or dogs retired from large scale breeding operations. She needs a home that is quiet and patient where she can be given the time and space she needs to get comfortable. Coraline’s family needs to have experience balancing this space with encouragement forward. We don’t want her to become stagnant, so she needs to be shown the way forward on a daily basis. It is easy to want to coddle and protect her, but this will not help her adapt or evolve. Outside of these needs, Coraline is a sweet and easy dog to have around. In the home she is crate trained and her crate is where she feels safest and where she retreats if she feels frightened. Recently she has been making the decision to rest outside or her crate on the floor near the couch, which means she is close to me and the rest of the dogs in the house. She is content to spend the evening there and will now head back to her crate with some gentle encouragement from me. This may sound like a small step, but it has taken her a long time to get this comfortable and I am impressed by her desire to be with us. She needs time, patience and consistency to allow her to continue to build her confidence and trust in people. During the day when I am at work or if I am home but unable to pay proper attention to her, she rests calmly in her crate. On days that I work in the office this means that she is crated in the morning and again in the afternoon with a bathroom break at noon. She would be fine continuing this routine, but she could also benefit from more company throughout the day. She lives with several other dogs right now and gets along with everyone although there is not much interaction. She would be fine with another similar sized dog in the home as long as they were calm and quiet and did not pester her to socialize or play. I think she finds some comfort in the presence of the other dogs so another appropriate dog in the home could be helpful but is not mandatory. I also think she would be fine with cats as she has shown no prey drive. Coraline has learned the routine of our home, and she seems to find comfort in the schedule. She follows me around a bit, especially when we get back from a walk or if I get up to take the dogs outside. All of this is relatively new behaviour, but it shows me that she is starting to trust me a bit. I would expect some regression in a new home but with calm handling and consistency she will continue to build her confidence. She tries so hard to be brave. Cora walks well on her leash, staying close to her handler and checking in for reassurance as she is still quite frightened on our walks. As she is a flight risk, she is walked using a martingale collar and great attention paid to a firm grip on her leash. She is not bothered by other dogs passing but loud noises on the street can be alarming and she is very cautious of people getting too close or passing her. These are areas where she has shown improvement, but she needs continued training and exposure to continue to grow. Coraline will need a quiet home neighbourhood environment without a lot of pedestrian traffic, busy streets with cars and noise, or bikes/skateboards whizzing by, or where young children will run up to her a lot. A rural area, small town, or quiet subdivision will be well suited for her. She is not suited for downtown city living. When we get home, she can climb back up the steps and into the house where this task used to take up to 5 minutes. Coraline is not able to do the full flight of stairs in the house yet but this is a confidence issue, not mobility related. I expect with continued growth that she will be able to conquer this fear. She is a very quiet dog and the only noise I have heard her make is her panting when she is nervous. She would be fine in a home with or without as yard as long as there was a safe place nearby for her to do her business. A busy apartment building requiring use of the elevator would be too much for this sensitive girl at this stage. She would do well though in a small building where she can be carried up any small flights of stairs, or in a quiet townhouse complex, or in a detached home. Cora is completely house trained at this point although she does not know signal she has to go out. Coraline will still not take a treat from me or even eat her food if I am in the room. Again, she used to wait for me to leave the house before digging in but now I just have to leave the room for her to be comfortable enough to eat. Baby steps! I can gently stroke her a bit when we are relaxing together but this is done sparingly and with great attention paid to her body language. She is not a dog who seeks out affection yet and if I touch her without warning, she will flinch or even run. When it comes to other things in life, Coraline handles them as we would expect from a terrified dog. She is cooperative at the vet and the groomer because she is scared and shuts down so she needs a family who will understand this and advocate for her in these areas. She has a coat that requires regular grooming so her new family must be ready to commit to an appropriate grooming schedule, as well as brushing her in the home. She is starting to get used to the car but still finds it scary so she needs to be secured in a crate for everyone’s safety. Coraline has a healthy dose of ‘stranger danger’ so care must be taken when unknown people are around to give her a chance to adapt. Again, we don’t want to keep her away from everything new, but we do want to be respectful of her fear so she can learn to handle new experiences with confidence. And that’s really what it comes down to – confidence. Coraline needs a family committed to helping her find hers. Coraline will do best in a quiet adult only home as the action and noise of children will be too much for this sensitive girl. A home with older teenage children would be considered as long as there aren’t a lot of visiting friends coming and going. She is needing a quiet, calm home to continue to gain confidence. Coraline was spayed when she came into foster care and is up to date on her vaccines. She was microchipped and has recently had a dental cleaning. The growth I have seen in Coraline in the time she has been with me makes me incredibly proud and I can’t wait to see how far she goes. The right family for Coraline has experience dealing with frightened dogs and understands the need to support her while encouraging her through the scary things. They have a quiet, adult only home that is full of love and patience for this sweet girl. Her family needs to be committed to investing in her future even if it takes time to see the results. At the same time her new family needs to love and accept her for the dog that she is today. She is a sweet, sensitive girl who deserves this next chapter of her life to be full of patience, love and support. If you think you could give our beautiful girl what she needs to be successful and confident then please fill out an application and I’d love to talk to you about her. #rescuedismyfavoritebreed #rescuedog #adoptdontshop #pounddogs #pdr13years #pounddogrescue13yearsstrong Name: Coraline ID # PDR1407 Age: 9yrs Gender: female Spayed: yes UTD vaccines: yes Breed: Pomeranian Colours: cream Coat length: med House trained: yes Special needs: no OK with kids: no OK with cats: yes Ok with dogs: yes Status: adoptable Microchip: yes Size: small Location: Kitchener Adoption fee: $700

If you have any questions or would like to adopt Coraline, please reach out to the adoption group directly. PetSmart Charities does not facilitate the adoption process. Thank you.