My name is Petunia!

Petunia is a happy, curious girl. She's ready to find a great home where she'll never have to worry about being abandoned again. She loves attention! A little TLC will go a long way with her!

Her foster says "Petunia is a very loving velcro dog who wants to be close to you, but her love can be enthusiastic. She is housebroken (I take her out regularly and praise her for going potty outside -- she eats up praise like candy; I take her out first thing in the morning even before feeding her) She is also crate-trained, food-motivated, will generally sit on command (her listening improves when you're holding a treat.) Petunia is getting better about not pulling on the leash when walking, but she is very strong. She seems to have abandonment issues and I don't think she'd been in a house before. Normal home sounds (the buzz of the dryer, etc) can frighten her, but she's made great strides. Petunia is nervous but bonds well when she realizes she is loved. She jumps when excited and is therefore probably not a good fit in a home with elderly folks or young kids as she might knock them over (she's not very aware of her size). She loves to cuddle and go for walks and she LOVES car rides. She is very affectionate and wants to be as close to her human as possible. Even if there is a tiny sliver of space, she is very certain she will fit, and if she fits, she sits. We've worked on not licking but her love is enthusiastic. Petunia has not shown any aggression toward me, but she barks at strangers even in the car in a drive-through. Petunia doesn't yet have a sense of who she can trust; her first instinct is fear. I've not seen her with other dogs or any pets. She hates to disappoint and can tell by your voice if you're disappointed or if she's done something wrong. Petunia knows the word NO and will stop what she's doing when she hears your "sad" or "mean" voice (with the exception of jumping and licking.) Petunia has not torn anything up; doesn't chew; doesn't dig; doesn't slobber; doesn't whine, though she prefers to be able to see you at all times."

Volunteers say

"We took Petunia out for a walk today and she was sweet! She did tug on the leash quite a bit, but stopped tugging so hard once she started to get wore out. She enjoyed sniffing all the things and eating treats!"

"Petunia was clearly someone's pet previously. She loved stopping to get pets and would lean in to get to snuggles. She jumped up on the bench to be close to me when we stopped for a quick rest. She knows sit, lay down and get down. She took treats gently as a reward for following all these requests. She will need to work on her leash skills but since she knows all those basic commands already and seems eager to please, I bet she'd progress well with a bit of training."

"Petunia was a very sweet girl and loved attention and praise. She did like to jump but listened very well when we said, "no jumping, or, "down, and was a very happy dog. She did pull hard on the leash and was very strong. She had calmed down and was walking very well beside us but then got scared on the trail of the fire training going on that she could see on the back side of the building by the fire department personnel that you can see from the back part of the trail after it Ys off to the left. We turned around at that point to help her calm down and she did very well again after we got back to the concrete and roadway. She loved a good belly rub also. She is a very good girl."