About Poppy

*ADOPTED*

Poppy is a very special dog: she has two very different personalities! She’s a pleasure to live with in the house. She will be 2 years old at the end of April, and sure, still acts like a puppy at times, but indoors she’s pretty easy-going most of the time. She is a little timid at first, but warms up quite quickly with people. Poppy will sleep quietly under your desk while you’re working and sleeps in a crate without complaint every night.

Poppy

She’s starting to learn to go to a mat, wait at the door, come when called. These are all difficult concepts for a young dog, but she’s a smart cookie and happy to learn in a quiet environment. For fun, she loves a good game of tug, and will bring it right back to you if you let her win! She also will retrieve some items, but would prefer you tugged with them. (She does still need to learn which items are NOT tug-toys and can get a little too intense with items that humans don’t consider toys.)

Poppy

She also loves to disembowel stuffed toys or chew on bones. She can entertain herself for a while, but does prefer to play with her person. As she can become quite frenzied and a little mouthy, she won’t be placed with children. After a good romp she’ll settle down nicely. Poppy is overweight, but regular exercise and sensible feeding is all she needs to take care of that. She’s not a very cuddly dog, but will take pets at her convenience. And when needed, she can be handled easily.

Poppy

After slow and careful introductions, Poppy gets along well with her two foster brothers. She smartly stays away from the older Border Collie, who is easily intimidated and a little volatile. And she’s learned quite quickly to deal with an obnoxious 4-year-old Australian Shepherd “puppy”. They love to play-fight and chase around the yard. Inside they will play bitey-face with abandon. Now that the weather allows them to stay out longer, they will also calmly hang out together when they get too hot (preferably in the mud). Well, at least until one of them gets antsy again! Poppy has also shown some herding moves around the other dogs. We have not been able to try her on sheep, but she may be a natural. When she is the only dog in the yard, Poppy tends to forget the human and start hunting along the fence line.

Poppy

She’s always on a long line in her foster home – better safe than sorry! A solid fence is a requirement for Poppy, as she’d love to go for a chase after some squirrels, rabbits or birds. For this reason her forever home also shouldn’t have any other small furry (or feathered) creatures. Her prey drive seems quite high. Poppy would certainly like to have a dog-sibling, but could do fine as an only dog if the family is willing to spend the time to exercise and entertain her. She is not a “typical” hyperactive BC. After some playing and running, she will settle for several hours.

Poppy

The “other side” of Poppy is a high sensitivity of sounds and anxiety to come with it. Even playing in the safe yard, a sudden noise – a dog barking nearby, a loud truck – will stop her in her tracks. She’s ok in the backyard and will calm down quickly. In the street, however, anything out of the ordinary will put her into a panic. She is constantly on the look-out and anything unexpected: furniture left on the sidewalk, a person coming out of their house or car, a noise, a smell… all are reasons for Poppy to stop, worry, bark and lunge. For this reason, her forever home should definitely be in a quiet neighborhood.

Her foster home has stopped walking her during the day, only going for short trips early morning and before bed. Poppy is not the dog who will go for long walks with you – at least not for a long time to come. Her foster home is introducing the concept of optimism (new things are good!) and the value of the person on the other end of the leash (they will protect me from all things scary) to Poppy. But it will probably take a long time for Poppy to become less anxious about her environment. Her new family must know this and be willing and able to give her plenty of time to settle into a full and happy life in their home. Some experience with anxious and/or “reactive” dogs would be preferable.

If you think you are that family, please contact Poppy’s foster home to discuss her needs in more detail.


Please do not inquire about a particular dog until you have an APPROVED application on file.

  • Female
  • 2 years
  • NO
  • Yes
  • NO
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • REQUIRED
  • Yes
  • NO