My name is
Elphie!

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Brief description: Meet Elphaba (AKA Elphie). Elphie came to Mastiffs to Mutts from a shelter in Arkansas in early December. Like her namesake, Elphaba Thropp from “Wicked”, she is a sweet, intelligent and feisty girl who is guaranteed to be the best friend you could ever want to have.

Likes: Elphie LOVES to play and snuggle with humans and with other dogs. She loves toys, especially the interactive kind that can provide her with enrichment and prevent her from getting bored. She also loves nothing more than to snuggle up on a couch or a big, fluffy dog bed.

Dislikes: Elphaba is a pretty easy going girl. Her only real dislikes currently are being by herself, and the basement steps.

Personality: (goofy, laid back, playful, etc) Elphie is a silly, playful girl. She is also an extremely clumsy “bull in a china shop”, and her big giant feet that she doesn’t seem to know exactly what to do with don’t help matters, so you would do best keeping fragile belongings well out of her way. She won’t mean to break them, but stuff happens when you are just an awkward puppy! She’s young and impulsive, so like any typical puppy, when she gets bored, she will get into mischief. She will probably steal, ESPECIALLY if you leave things in the sink. Because stealing things out of the sink is her current favorite naughty thing to do. She is working on her training so she can learn to tone it down though, and she is super smart and eager to please. Her perfect family would be patient with her, and continue her training, and refrain from scolding her by yelling at her. Her feelings get hurt very easily, and she will sulk for days if you yell at her.

Temperament: Elphaba is very relaxed and social with every person she meets. She has not yet gotten the chance to interact with children, but based on her interactions with all the different people she has met thus far, we are expecting to see that she is just as gentle and loving with tiny humans as she is with larger ones. She doesn’t startle easily, and has been very laid back on walks, despite the fact there is ongoing water main construction right now in her foster family’s neighborhood. She has not seemed bothered in the least by all the construction equipment and the noise it makes. She is also unphased by the doorbell and deliveries to her foster home, even though two of her three foster siblings are nowhere near as calm.

Energy level: (likes daily hikes, walks three miles, prefers to be a couch potato, etc) Elphie has an energy level typical of a young dog. She will run around and play like a lunatic, then sleep like she’s dead for hours. She really enjoys running laps around the fenced in backyard in her foster home, alone or with her foster siblings. If she doesn’t have other dogs or toys with her though, she will try to jump up on her human companions to get them to join in play. She is being trained not to jump up, but in the meantime, giving her a toy to chase after and grab is really helpful in avoiding her human friends ending up covered in her muddy paw prints.

Favorite activities: Elphie loves to play play play! She also enjoys walks with her dog friends, and snuggling with her favorite people. Oh, and don’t forget snacks. She LOVES a snack! Good with cats, dogs, and kids (over 6)?: Prior to coming to Mastiffs to Mutts, Elphie was living in a foster home with sixteen other dogs (yes, 16, you read it right!) as well as cats. Her former foster parent did feel she was a bit overly interested in the cats, so the cats were kept separate from her. Elphie has done wonderfully with the other dogs in her MTM foster home, as well as her other doggie friends in the neighborhood, and she will be eventually re-evaluated with cats as it is felt she could probably co-exist well with the right kinds of cats, ones who can put her in her place. She will also be evaluated with children, but her very sweet and loving demeanor with all people makes her foster family feel kids will definitely not be an issue for her. It is important to note, Elphie can be extremely pushy with play with other animals, and this can become overwhelming to other animals. Her foster family is working on teaching her to have better manners and to allow other animals space during play. She does plays very nicely and respectfully with other dogs most of the time, but she also displays poor manners at times, such as going directly face-to-face and over other dog’s shoulders when meeting them, and being relentless in play, and not allowing them space to take a break from playing or to go potty when she is very excited. The good news is, she responds beautifully to appropriate corrections from other dogs, and will respect their boundaries when she is corrected. She has done very well with her grumpy small dog friend across the street, and is also doing well with her cantankerous senior foster sister.

Not good with: N/A so far.

Housetrained: She’s working on it! She does have accidents in her crate at times, usually when she is upset or stressed. When she first came to her current foster home, she had accidents in the crate overnight for the first three nights. However, since she has gotten settled in and in a routine, this has not continued to be a problem. During the day, it’s important to keep her on a schedule. She’s starting to ask to go out, but she gets easily excited and distracted once she gets out there, and she needs time before she is willing to go potty. Her foster family has found that making her wait to interact and play with her foster siblings until after she goes potty is important, otherwise she forgets and will have an accident when she comes inside. She also does not enjoy going outside by herself, and will just stand by the door to come in if she is alone, so she has needed someone to accompany her each time at first as she settles into a routine. Every day she is improving though, so her housebreaking is very much on the right track!

Crate trained: Yes. She does struggle at times and will howl/wail to let you know how upset she is. But with regular routing and reinforcement, this is a behavior that eventually stops after a few days.

Requires a fenced yard (physical fence and/or invisible fence)?: While Elphie does not require a physical fenced yard, she would love to have one in her future home, just because running laps around the yard and structured playtime with other dogs are favorite pastimes of hers. Invisible fences are not recommended for Elphie. She is the type who would be enticed to leave the yard and take the hit, and then not come back to avoid being shocked again. She also gets very excited by other dogs and people, and being able to see another dog or person and not go to say hello would be extremely frustrating for her, so if she was also being shocked, this could lead to potential behavior issues which are otherwise avoidable.

Walks well on a leash?: She’s learning to walk on a loose leash. She does pull at times currently, but since she is very food motivated, with some regular training in her foster home, it’s expected she should be loose leash walking consistently very soon!

Challenges: Counter surfing is currently one of Elphie’s main challenges. She will take things (food or not) left out on the counter. Her foster family is working on training with her to eliminate this behavior, but it’s something her future family should continue to work with her on from a training perspective, and monitor her closely until the behavior is observed to be fully and consistently eliminated, to ensure her safety. She has no concept of hot surfaces, like stoves, and could hurt herself if the behavior is not eliminated.

Any Medical issues?: Prior to coming to Mastiffs to Mutts, Elphie had corrective surgery to address prolapsed glands in both her eyes (also referred to as “cherry eye”). She does still have considerable obstruction to her vision, but she is still healing from the procedure. If, after her healing period, her condition is not fully resolved, it is possible she may require a second surgery to fully correct the issue. Aside from that, she has no known medical issues at this time.

What would be the best kind of home?: Elphaba’s ideal forever family will be one who is committed to continuing her training and socialization to fully support her needs and establishment of appropriate boundaries as she matures. Elphie’s ideal family would ideally consist of at least one other dog friend who would be willing to play with her, and who can correct her in an appropriate manner when she goes overboard if necessary. However, if this is not possible, she would also probably love the idea of doggie daycare. Her future family should be able to meet her activity and enrichment needs so that she can channel her energy appropriately, especially if her future family would not have other dogs who can help to keep her engaged in play. It would be ideal for her future adopter to have a basic understanding of the body language of other animals as well, so that until Elphie learns to reduce pushy behaviors and give other animals space when necessary, her family can provide necessary levels of supervision and respond to address signs of stress or anxiety in playmates before it would become problematic. This will help Elphie to ensure she continues to have safe and positive experiences socializing with other pets, and that they are also able to enjoy interacting with her.

Application Fees, Adoption Donations and Rescue Policy:

Please know that 100% of our fees and donations pay for the costs of rescuing dogs. These include but are not limited to pull fees from shelters, veterinary examinations, vaccinations, medications and care, microchips, neuter/spay surgeries, heartworm treatments, behavior evaluations, and foster care, as needed.

**Puppy Adoption Policy:

• To ensure proper house training and socialization, puppies will only be adopted to homes where an adult will not be away more than an hour per day, per month of age of the puppy, up to 6 months.
• Adopters will be required to enroll the puppy into training and provide proof to Mastiffs To Mutts Rescue within 6 months of adopting. 
• Certain large-breed dogs should not be sterilized before 12 - 18 months of age.
• If you adopt an intact puppy, you will sign an adoption contract agreeing to have the dog sterilized at your expense at the time your veterinarian recommends.
• Proof of sterilization must be provided to Mastiffs To Mutts Rescue as soon as the procedure is completed.
• If the puppy is not sterilized as required, Mastiffs To Mutts Rescue reserves the right to claim legal ownership of the dog. 

Important notes before applying.

• Adopters must have their primary residence in one of the following states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and parts of North Carolina.
• We will not adopt giant breed dogs to renters.
• Homes with children under 6 years of age will not be approved for adoption.
• Homes with children should have a fenced yard.
• Pets currently in the applicant's home must have a history of appropriate veterinary care.
• Homes with intact dogs will not be approved for adoption.  Proof of any of the following exceptions is required:
  • The intact dog is a working member of a law enforcement, or search and rescue/recovery team.
  • The intact dog is registered under the auspices of the American Kennel Club and is actively being shown.
  • A veterinarian has determined the sterilization procedure would harm the intact dog. 
• We believe in Force Free Training Methods and do not approve of methods or devices using pain or force to control the dog, or to deter undesirable behavior. 
• Homes with highly varnished steps must have carpeting, securely fixed stair treads, or a non-skid surface. **We encourage you to remediate potential safety issues while your application is under review, prior to the home visit.

For additional information please review our FAQs or contact mastiffstomutts@gmail.com

**Mastiffs To Mutts Rescue reserves the right to approve or deny any adoption that occurs through this organization without disclosure.  We reserve the right to make exceptions for special circumstances.

**PA Kennel License: 05845