We welcome Fiona to be part of our family. She's joining Carlos, Mariela, Cecilia and pug brother Wilson. We are amazed at how quickly Fiona has adapted to us. We think that Fiona and Wilson will be a great combination of personalities. Thanks to Hilary and Brian, the foster parents.

Fiona has been given a clean bill of health, except for the knee and hip issues. These don't seem to faze her but may cause mobility problems in the future. Once in awhile her right rear knee will slip out of the joint and she will limp or walk on 3 legs, but it will return by itself and no action is required for now. Most often she runs or scampers everywhere.

We are working on putting a little weight on her. She came into rescue, underweight and uses up a lot of calories by running around the backyard and following her humans around the house. Her enthusiasm for life is infectious.

Fiona is a very affectionate little girl who just wants to be loved and be close to you. She suffers from pretty severe separation anxiety (who can blame her because of her past?), so she may cause noise problems, in an apartment or shared home. She whines and cries, when separated from her people. We haven't been able, to make much progress on this, so far and the adopter may have to continue working on this. Because human contact is so important to her, it is best if she can sleep in the Big Bed with her humans. Don't be surprised if she puts her cheek on yours or kisses your face. She would be happier if she is not crated, other than in the car and if she is not left alone, for long periods of time.

Fiona does not initiate conflict but does not back down, when another dog is aggressive towards her. She would be fine as an only dog or with a non-aggressive dog.

Fiona went for her vet visit yesterday and was a really good girl, other than strenuously protesting the rabies shot. Her urinalysis was perfect with no signs of remaining crystals. The little monkey wouldn't cooperate with providing a fecal sample yesterday despite my following her around the yard, baggie in pocket, from 5:45 a.m. I will need to take a sample in to check that the hookworms are gone. Since intake on May 20th, there have been two instances where her right rear leg has malfunctioned and an x-ray yesterday showed that she has luxating patellas in both knees but significantly worse in the right leg. She also has grade 2 hip dysplasia which requires no action for now. Her previous tartar and dental calculus is gone thanks to chewing beef bones which she adores. Her ears, eyes, nose fold, coat, heart and lungs are excellent and the vet has reduced the estimate of her age to no more than 5 years old. She's raring to go with Tina to the K9 Rescue Me Walkathon at Woofstock on Sunday. Come on down to the Pugalug booth in Berczy Park (corner of Front and Scott St., one block east of Yonge) and meet both the girls.

Fiona has settled in to our routine and no longer reacts to Tina's spinning. They have learned respect for each other's space and can even watch each other eat bones. Fiona waits her turn as her dinner dish is put down and eats like a lady. She is actually a very gentle, loving girl who sticks to me like glue. She still gets anxious when I leave the house or even go upstairs out of eyesight but it is improving as she gains confidence that I will return. She will be going to the vet on Tuesday afternoon to get checked out so she is in shape for the Walkathon.

Meet Miss Fiona, a 15 lb brownish black girl pug turned in to the Kingston Humane Society as a stray. She may have some other breed (Boston terrier?) in her pedigree as she has a lovely little white patch on her chest but she looks all pug and has a wonderfully curly tail. She appears and acts younger than the age of 7 that the shelter pegged her at. She has had at least one litter of puppies and was spayed and microchipped in the shelter. She has had 3 different names in less than 2 months, poor girl, so we are using one of the three. Fiona was adopted out and returned about 10 days later after having growled and snapped at the resident big dogs who were playing boisterously. After returning to the shelter, it was determined that she had a urinary tract infection (perhaps the real reason for the return being inappropriate urinating?) and was put on antibiotics. She was adopted out 3 weeks later and returned again within 24 hours, no reason given. Well, their loss is our gain as Fiona is a delightful little lady who aims to please and loves to be around people. She does suffer from severe separation anxiety, not surprising given her recent history, and needs to be within eyesight and preferably touch of her person. With any movement she is up and at 'em, ready to follow the action. She and Tina have been testing each other's boundaries. Tina has a habit of startling easily, where she will jump up and spin in circles barking. This makes Fiona anxious so she goes after Tina who, of course, fights back. We are working on making them both feel secure with each other's behaviours. Apart from some occasional food guarding issues, they get on fine otherwise. The boys pretty much ignore them. Fiona has been clean in the house and asks out when she needs to potty. She loves to explore the backyard, running from the deck to the far end of the property and back. I'd love if she and Tina chased each other but I'm still waiting for that to happen. Fiona will be going to the vet in a couple of weeks for a urinalysis recheck once the antibiotics have cleared through her body and for a rabies shot. In the meantime, we'll continue to work with her on reactiveness to anxiety.