My name is Zeva!

November 3, 2012
Zeva made a quick recovery from her spay surgery, and was the easiest patient ever – hardly any licking and quick to get back on her feet. She has really started to come out of her shell and remember she’s a dog. She loves squeaky toys and will even fetch them and bring them back to you a few times – we never thought we’d see her get playful so this was a big deal to see! Initially when her foster brothers played tug or chase, Zeva would circle and bark, recently she’s started joining in the chase – again we are tickled pink to see her have some fun!

One of our best moments yet was this morning, all three dogs were off leash in a local field and Zeva let loose with an all out run across the field – we both laughed out loud seeing her so free – usually when we are in this field she’s right at out heels, never off the path with Duffy and Dodger – so we’re seeing her confidence and independence grow each day!

She continues to be a sweet, quiet girl. In fact we lovingly call her “Princess Pettipaw” because she has such a refined and ladylike way about her – it’s quite charming. She will make a great companion to just the right family, and thrives with attention. We’re working on filling out her coat right now, it’s dry and thin, we hope with a steady diet of good dog food, it will comes around.

October 15, 2012
Zeva’s big day at the vet went well. She’s sleeping off the anesthesia right now, with a the ‘cone of shame’ tucked around her petite little neck – poor little girl!

September 15, 2012
Meet Zeva, a sweet 6-year-old border collie. She’s a little pixie, weighing in at 36.6 lbs. and about the height of a sheltie. She has a lovely curly black and white rough coat and sweet disposition. Her house manners are quite nice, she likes to be near her person and will snuggle up for a nice long petting session, but she’s content being on her own too and kennels nicely.

She came to us not really solid on any commands, but has learned her name, is fairly solid on come and about half the time still wants to flop to the ground for a sit command – we’re confident she’ll get there – she definitely wants to please us.

As time goes by Zeva shows a bit more playful behavior – ‘squeaky toy tug’ is her favorite game so far, and she has had a couple cases of the zoomies with her two foster brothers. Our toy basket is probably about 18 inches tall and she will actually climb into it to find just the right bone at the bottom of the basket—she wouldn’t think to knock over the basket, she’s far too refined for that, she’ll just daintily hop in and rummage around – quite charming to find a curly bundle of black and white trying to manuever around inside – her less-refined foster brothers are puzzled.

She walks nicely on the leash – no pulling, although we’re trying to break her of the habit of crossing our path and she’s slowly catching on. Don’t know how she developed this skill, but she urinates by swinging her hind quarters slightly off the ground, balancing on her front legs. Since we don’t know anything about her life before she was surrendered to the shelter, we’ve decided that she had a very glamorous circus performing career balancing on balls!

It was bath day today, Zeva did great, standing calmly to be scrubbed and rinsed, we saw her visibly relax as the warm water washed over her, closing her eyes and lots of sighs – you could almost hear her say “ooh that feels good,” – she’s enjoying a nice long sunbath to dry off.

Zeva is good with other dogs, meeting them nicely, never putting her snout where it isn’t welcomed. Although she has some prey drive, very interested in squirrels and rabbits, she’s easy to call off. But she definitely does not like cats – every ounce of her little frame goes on alert and she will bolt to the end of the leash, which is very out of character for her low-key personality (maybe she and the circus cats had a long-standing disagreement)!

She prefers a quiet environment, loud traffic makes her nervous, as do loud planes overhead. She’s shown some signs of storm fear, as well, with a bit of pacing, but she found an open closet and hunkered down there until the storm passed – she also came to us at intervals for reassurance – this didn’t seem like a strong fear, and the storm came within her first week with us, so she was in transition still.

She’s scheduled for her spay surgery in early October, and will be available for adoption to the right family after her recovery is complete. She would do fine in a home with other dogs, she likes my kids (ages 10-17), but really does like quiet. She has a companion level of activity, which is not typical for her breed, but she will make a lovable addition to some lucky family.

September 8, 2012
She has a clean bill of health from the vet and she was soooo easy to take to the vet – completely calm and unruffled by being touched, eyes examined, and getting a shot – Good Girl Zeva!!! Weight is down from 39.8 at intake to 36.6 today. Our vet has free-roaming cats and Zeva was riveted by them – each time getting into a Zeva-version of a crouch, but easy to divert all the same. The funniest moment came in the exam room, where she spotted a poster of a cat at her eye level and stalked it all the way until her snout hit the wall – it was very funny to see her in action and made me happy to see her engage so intently.

September 3, 2012
Zeva is settling in just fine. She is the mellowest, quietest dog ever to come here!! Hope she livens up a bit as she gets more comfortable – we’ll keep you posted.
Zeva is being fostered in Wisconsin.