Charlotte (I Have a Secret Crush!)

Charlotte is absolutely nailing her first longterm stay in a foster home with two of our loyal PAWS Atlanta volunteers, Lisa and Scott. Despite being the most intelligent dog in the shelter, Charlotte has been waiting for someone to choose her since 2020, which is just heartbreaking to those of us who know how extraordinarily loving and loyal this 7-year-old girl truly is.<br/><br/>Lisa has been sending us breakdowns of how Charlotte's been doing in her home, and we thought we'd let Lisa share some insight into what Charlotte is like in the calmer, day-to-day lull of living in a home, not a loud and stressful shelter. Here's what Lisa wrote:<br/><br/>"If someone is searching for a loving, happy, affectionate dog - Charlotte's your girl. She is<br/>so resilient coming out of the shelter after so long and is so happy in a home. She is so<br/>people-social and loves everyone. Charlotte is a master of using her soft, long nose to<br/>nuzzle and nudge you if you accidentally stopped petting her too soon. <br/><br/>The only thing she likes more than endless belly rubs and being hugged is taking a snuggle nap next to a human. She will try to sit in your lap like a kitty although we are trying to teach her to<br/>snuggle NEXT to us - not on us. When it's movie night or football time, she squeezes right<br/>up to you so that she is touching and then drifts into big snores. If her head can be in your<br/>nap - even better!<br/><br/>Overall, Charlotte is one of the easier dogs we've had at the house. At 7, she<br/>has lovely middle-aged energy in the house and yard. While she definitely loves her once-<br/>a-day zoomies - for the most part she is happy to go sniff in the yard, lope around with joy,<br/>or gather and play with her toys tossing them in the air. She also does love a good game of<br/>chase with a stick or ball if you are up for it - and will sometimes just break to lay on her<br/>back so you can rub her tummy. When she first left the shelter, she<br/>wanted to be with a human every second. But she continues to relax and gain confidence to<br/>go sit in her favorite chair to watch birds, go nap on the couch or her bed, or chew a toy<br/>quietly by herself. Like all the pups, at first, she tried to stay awake all day - but she is now<br/>a good daytime napper.<br/><br/>As one of the dogs on MarLee's (the PAWS' trainer) rotation, Charlotte is very well trained and knows all the basics. That also has made it very easy for her to learn our routine and add additional cues.<br/>For instance, when we're ready for Charlotte to wrap up yard time, we can now tell her, "In<br/>the house, Charlotte," and she reliably turns on a dime and heads right in the back door<br/>where she gets a big 'yes!' and a small treat. Overall, she seems quick to adapt to our<br/>household routine (which includes quietly playing and looking at the window while I have<br/>my coffee.)<br/><br/>We have had several people come by the house to meet Charlotte. She may bark when<br/>someone new first approaches, but we have had each visitor do a little treat toss and then<br/>they are her best friend. Charlotte is very nose-forward, so as soon as she can smell<br/>someone - she's good. For two of the visitors, Charlotte instantly wanted to become their<br/>bestie and was glued to them the whole time. That was great for us to see because we<br/>were concerned that she was too attached to us. But based on what we observed, I think<br/>Charlotte could attach to a new foster or adopter readily - especially if they greet her with<br/>some yummy chicken treats.<br/><br/>Initially, as she was getting used to being away from the shelter, Charlotte had a little<br/>separation anxiety. Using MarLee's instructions, we've worked with her and she's improved considerably. In an ideal situation, Charlotte would do great with someone who works from home or is retired and is not constantly left alone. But we've been working to increase her time alone and she is doing much better. Charlotte has started napping while we are away -<br/>greeting us with happy, sleepy yawns when we return!<br/><br/>We also give her other opportunities to learn how to confidently be alone even when we're<br/>home. In the beginning, for instance, we always walked with her in the yard and actively<br/>played with her. Now, we are stepping back a bit and letting her explore on her own<br/>observing her from the back door. At first, she was hesitant to go off on her own. Now, she<br/>confidently explores the yard having the best time all by herself, finding sticks, and toys<br/>and gathering them in a pile and leading herself on sniffaris in the back of the yard. We<br/>will continue to increase her alone time each day to reliably get her comfortable with at<br/>least 4 hours by herself - or more - to increase her options for a future foster or adopter.<br/><br/>House Training: Outside of the two instances where Charlotte went the bathroom in the<br/>house when initially left alone, she has never had an incident. When on a reliable schedule,<br/>she is fully house trained. <br/><br/>Driving: Charlotte LOVES car rides and is perfect in the car. The picture of her having her<br/>first pup cup while out driving is my favorite. In all things, Charlotte is really expressive<br/>showing happiness and joy and it comes out, I think, in that photo.<br/> <br/>Playing: Charlotte loves toys. She will get a stuffy and toss it around and entertain herself.<br/>She enjoys chew toys, store-bought chews, puzzle toys, and even Benebones with a smear<br/>of peanut butter. She has started enjoying chasing squeaky balls which is super fun! Her<br/>interests expand and grow every day!<br/><br/>Charlotte wants to kiss and sniff your face when she meets you which can lead to some jumping. We have been working on polite greetings and she has improved considerably. While Charlotte has the softest mouth, she can often open her<br/>mouth when crawling in your lap to try to hold your hand or arm or get your attention<br/>when snuggling. We've been trying to use MarLee's techniques to try to prevent this<br/>behavior. For instance, when we cuddle her on the couch, we try to position her to have her<br/>back to us when we rub her tummy or give her stuffies or toys to hold. She now sometimes<br/>gets right into that position which is great. She loves head rubs but will slowly open her<br/>mouth and want to mouth your hands. With that, as well, we try to not let her practice<br/>mouthing but rub her head where she cannot get our hands. Overall, the mouthiness and<br/>jumping seem to be decreasing with each day she's out of the shelter.<br/><br/><br/>During these first few weeks, we wanted Charlotte to just decompress without any stress. Since our neighborhood is loaded with dogs -including some that are occasionally off-leash (grrrr...) - we decided to not practice leash walking with her. At her energy level, she seems very content without it. In the yard, she can see other dogs walk by. No attempts to jump over the<br/>fence. She does not run the fence line but just looks at everything with<br/>interest. For the past two weeks, she has been unleashed in the yard and has done great.<br/>She has occasionally barked at big dogs going by but is less reactive to them than when on<br/>a leash. She can easily break away and come into the house if we call her.<br/><br/>In just 4 weeks, Charlotte has gotten on a great sleeping/napping schedule. We<br/>do not crate her at all and she's done very well both at night and now when left alone to be<br/>in the house without being destructive. We do let her sleep with us which she loves. She is<br/>good to wait until we wake up to come give some morning kisses.<br/><br/>Overall, Charlotte is literally 94.5% perfect and is an easy house guest. Her affectionate<br/>nature is her superpower, and her resilience is extraordinary after 5 years. She continues to<br/>improve and make leaps and bounds in her confidence and happiness every day. What a<br/>joy to be around her!"<br/><br/>NOTE: Charlotte does not enjoy the company of other dogs. So, she would be a great fit for someone looking for just one dog in the home - especially one who is great company and very attentive. This girl is extraordinary. We'd love to introduce you to Charlotte. Please fill out an adoption application, and we'll set up a meet up so you can see if she's the one!

Charlotte is absolutely nailing her first longterm stay in a foster home with two of our loyal PAWS Atlanta volunteers, Lisa and Scott. Despite being the most intelligent dog in the shelter, Charlotte has been waiting for someone to choose her since 2020, which is just heartbreaking to those of us who know how extraordinarily loving and loyal this 7-year-old girl truly is.

Lisa has been sending us breakdowns of how Charlotte's been doing in her home, and we thought we'd let Lisa share some insight into what Charlotte is like in the calmer, day-to-day lull of living in a home, not a loud and stressful shelter. Here's what Lisa wrote:

"If someone is searching for a loving, happy, affectionate dog - Charlotte's your girl. She is
so resilient coming out of the shelter after so long and is so happy in a home. She is so
people-social and loves everyone. Charlotte is a master of using her soft, long nose to
nuzzle and nudge you if you accidentally stopped petting her too soon.

The only thing

Charlotte is absolutely nailing her first longterm stay in a foster home with two of our loyal PAWS Atlanta volunteers, Lisa and Scott. Despite being the most intelligent dog in the shelter, Charlotte has been waiting for someone to choose her since 2020, which is just heartbreaking to those of us who know how extraordinarily loving and loyal this 7-year-old girl truly is.

Lisa has been sending us breakdowns of how Charlotte's been doing in her home, and we thought we'd let Lisa share some insight into what Charlotte is like in the calmer, day-to-day lull of living in a home, not a loud and stressful shelter. Here's what Lisa wrote:

"If someone is searching for a loving, happy, affectionate dog - Charlotte's your girl. She is
so resilient coming out of the shelter after so long and is so happy in a home. She is so
people-social and loves everyone. Charlotte is a master of using her soft, long nose to
nuzzle and nudge you if you accidentally stopped petting her too soon.

The only thing she likes more than endless belly rubs and being hugged is taking a snuggle nap next to a human. She will try to sit in your lap like a kitty although we are trying to teach her to
snuggle NEXT to us - not on us. When it's movie night or football time, she squeezes right
up to you so that she is touching and then drifts into big snores. If her head can be in your
nap - even better!
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