ALVA-LUNA: 3 years 9 mos. • Female • 41lbs • Airedale Mix (see DNA) • TART will pay to have spayed • Found as a stray • No bite/aggressive history • Crate Trained Short Periods • Loving/Affectionate • Recently has gone through Heart Worm Treatment, Now on Preventative • Mostly Housebroken
Background: In mid March, Alva-Luna came to TART as a found stray who had been roaming and fending for herself in the Alvarado, Texas area…thus the name Alva. She has been in foster care since. One foster couple called her Luna, and as TART has had multiple Lunas…she became Alva-Luna. In her current foster home, Alva-Luna lives with and gets along with the other dogs in the home.
Medical: Upon coming in to TART, Alva-Luna had a medical wellness visit where she obtained all her essential vaccinations and was found to be heart worm positive. She is finishing up her treatment and will be put on a preventative. She will also need to be spayed now that she is no longer being treated.
DNA: 52% Airedale Terrier 27% Miniature American Shepherd 7% Australian Cattle Dog 6% Australian Shepherd 3% Border Collie (Note: Alva Luna is not hypoallergenic and, like most dogs, needs routine brushing to control shedding.)
Overall Personality:
Alva-Luna is a sweetheart who is happy to follow you around and be your loyal shadow. She will follow you everywhere and happily sit at your feet. She is ALWAYS at the ready to receive love and pets. She wants all the love, all the time. It’s quite endearing when she lays her head between her fosters and the other dogs to pander for more cuddles.
Other Notes About Alva-Luna:
She knows command “kennel”, which means go to crate. She will do this. She is currently feed her in the crate which she accepts readily. She will take treats or toys inside the crate on her own. The crate is left open all the time. When left alone in the crate during the day she is given a long lasting treat like a stuffed Kong. This produces relatively happy departures. The longest that she has been left is 2 hours. Crating for this amount of time with no prior crate experience was a gradual process. In the beginning she would not even quietly endure it for 15 minutes. Now, when she hears her foster family return, she starts barking but when they have snuck up listening for her, they have not heard any distress.
Alva-Luna still has just a bit to go in regards to total house training. Her foster family has a doggie door that she will readily and reliably use. However, if the door is closed, 75% of the time she will come to you and whine and if you don’t jump to it right away, she is inclined to have a pee accident.
Alva-Luna is learning to walk on a leash. Currently, she pulls like a husky if she is only wearing her harness. BUT, she does well with a simple choke collar. She just needs a tug or two to start and from there on she walks by your side with minimal pulling.
Alva-Luna enjoys playing and cuddling with friendly dogs her size. Not surprising for a girl who navigated the streets as a stray, she sometimes growls if one of the other dogs approaches her food. She is not protective of toys, they routinely take toys away from each other.
She tolerates her foster families cats. She will chase and bark at them if the other dogs do, but she is not aggressive.
She hasn’t had much exposure to children but would most likely do well with dog savvy, respectful children school age and up.
She does NOT dig in the yard.
Alva-Luna is a counter-surfer if given the opportunity. Always have a watchful eye and be ready for a verbal correction in the kitchen.
Alva-Luna gets excited to see people and will jump up. Her fosters have been working on “sit” when greeting someone. This is a work in progress. She still puts happy teeth on her fosters upon greeting and sometimes nips when taking a treat…working on this. (In regard to greetings: TART has also seen success by giving a toy (or training your dog to “go get your toy”) upon your arrival and their energy goes in to the toy rather than you. This was a method a trainer used with one of our dogs who tore clothing, etc. upon his owners arrival and it worked like a charm for him and several others.)
Ideal Next Home:
Alva-Luna’s current foster says she is a very sweet dog who needs someone at home with her most of the time. She cannot tolerate crating for extended periods.
Alva-Luna needs someone to continue working with her on basic training skills and walking with less pulling on the leash.
Alva-Luna still has some fine-tuning to be done, but she is smart and eager to please. When you consider how far she has come from a desperate STRAY to a inside princess who has learned and transformed SO MUCH, it is quite astonishing. At 41 lbs. Alva-Luna is a nice, smaller, more manageable size than many Texas purebreds. At almost 4 years old, she is also an ideal age as she leaves her youthful puppy ways behind and settles in to adulthood.
