Apparently Tina and her new Daddy knew right from the start that this would be her furever home. Trying to be a good foster mom, it took me a little longer to concede. Finally, on Fathers Day, Tina presented Bryan with her adoption contract and her brand new shiny dog license tag and said, "I'm yours". And Daddy smiled and hugged her close. To celebrate the occasion, she had her first swim in the pug pool and pug company over for the day. Last week she started agility class with her pug boyfriend Archie and loved it. Things are going very well.

Tina is full of personality. She is friendly, curious, involved and sometimes a little intense. When she gets excited (for instance with sudden movement or "strange" noises such as the vacuum, the oven drawer or a metal tape measure), she will bark and twirl in circles. I call her my little corkscrew. But she calms down quickly. She loves to cuddle but will also go off on her own to chew a bone or simply sleep. As soon as there is any activity, she's up again and raring to go, not wanting to miss anything. She fit into our household of two older pug boys very easily and quickly charmed her foster father who says he's submitting an adoption application (LOL!). But she would be happiest with an energetic fur-sibling, preferably male, with whom she could run and play. She is a very, very fast runner! She needs adequate exercise (a couple of walks a day) and a family who are willing and able to provide her with moderate attention. Tina is excellent on-leash. She is very obedient and will sit for food and treats but will remind you with a quiet whine and sometimes louder singing if you are late getting dinner ready.

Tina's adoptive family needs to be committed to feeding her a raw diet. As long as she eats raw food she is completely healthy and itch-free. The foster mother is very willing to provide ongoing direction on her easy-to-manage diet. A freezer would help the adopter considerably.

Tina is house-broken but will not ask to go out so it is imperative that her family take her out on a regular basis (every 4-5 hours). She is continent if left gated in the kitchen for longer periods, now that she understands that scatter rugs are not for toileting. She was crated as a puppy until trained but has not used a crate since then. We have had no need to crate her in foster care and she ignored the crate with which she came into rescue.

Tina is very smart and learns quickly. While she is used to sleeping in Big Bed with her humans, she can probably adapt easily to sleeping in another room. She did sleep on her dog bed in the kitchen when the pet-sitter stayed for a few days.

Tina is full of life and love and will bring a lot of joy and laughter into the right home.

Tina, Tina, Valentina is an absolute joy. She loves to be loved and gives wonderful cuddles, curving her neck around my neck and lying asleep in my husband's arms as he watches TV. She loves adults, children and other dogs (especially boys) and her tail nearly wags right off when anyone new comes up to her. When she gets excited, she chases her tail and almost screws herself into the ground. But she is also quite content to be quiet and on her own and will wander off to find the comfiest dogbed or a patch of sunlight to snooze in. She's a treat on-leash and loves to smell the aromas of spring on our walks around the block or in the backyard. She's very obedient about doing her business outside and is extremely enthusiastic about her meals. There is nothing about this girl that I don't love. Having said that, it became obvious to me this past weekend that she would thrive even more in the company of a younger dog companion. Her true playfulness came out as she postured with a friend's 2 year old male pug and they chased each other around the yard.

You can see some of the antics here:

And with another friend's retriever here:

She is eating very well and has a wide range of raw and cooked foods she does well on. There is no further need for the cone nor for allergy medications. The next thing I want to do is test her on premade raw food which I will start in a couple of days. Then she will be posted for adoption.

I am EXTREMELY happy to report that Tina has been cone and scratch free since dinner time on March 1!!! The itching is definitely food allergies. She has been on vet-recommended hypo-allergenic kibbles and canned foods for a number of years with no improvement. Since she arrived into rescue on February 20, I have tried a number of home-prepared raw foods and the first week her ear flaps got worse and the scratching continued unabated every time her cone was off. She also vomited a lot of the foods - beef, Breakfast Slop (chicken-based) and venison (from the vet). Then I tried her on raw turkey for a few meals and she eventually stopped scratching. After a couple of days I added Hilary's Blend, a balancing supplement that I got from the vet on Monday. Two days ago I switched her to canned jack mackerel and she's still okay. No scratching (fingers and paws crossed). I put the cone in the cupboard yesterday and scratched (no pun intended) a new one off my shopping list. I know it's early days and she will start scratching again when I introduce a food she is intolerant of, but for now, praise Dawg, she's doing really well. No vomiting and no itchies. Tomorrow we will try raw duck necks.

Tina was excellent at the vet's - she's had LOTS of practice! Her eyes no longer require daily tacrolimus but just OTC drops twice a day (which I give all pugs regardless of eye health). Her bloodwork came back fine and she is heartworm negative. Along with the changed diet, we are putting an antifungal called Imaverol into her right ear to combat the yeast infection. She gets this every morning for 2 weeks.

The pottying has improved dramatically and she goes promptly (well, she tends to circle a lot first) when I take her outside and tell her to "go pee". She is even good in the wet weather and snow. We hadn't had any accidents for a few days but she tends to go on the rugs if I don't take her out when she needs to go. She hasn't learned to ask out yet. So I have her on a schedule of going outside every 3-4 hours and as long as we do that, she is clean indoors.

She is wonderful on-leash and loves her walkies, setting a very challenging pace for Denver who is used to stopping 147 times to sniff and mark. Maybe she'll get some weight off him. Tina loves to play and is learning to enjoy "booberries" - where I put her on her back and blow kissy raspberries on her tummy. We play catch-the-paw, tug-o-war and fetch. She also likes "grab-the-hem-of-the jeans" and "eat-the-toilet-paper" but I discourage these - LOL. Tina is a very smart dog with a young pug attitude. Once we have the food intolerances figured out and reinforce the potty training, she will make a wonderful companion for someone. At this point, I'm thinking she would be best without young children but with another young dog with whom she can play.

Meet Tina (formerly Peanut), a 6 year old spayed female who as her namesake sings, is "simply the best". She came to us from a loving home who have been unsuccessful in eliminating her allergies despite many and protracted efforts. Her ears are so itchy, she scratches them constantly so that she has had to wear this cone for over a year. She has also been jealous of their young daughter and has reverted to pottying in the house on the little girl's belongings. She was an angel on the drive to her foster home and has already explored inside and out and met her foster pug brothers. They are not impressed so far, as she has been sniffing their undercarriages, which is pretty uncomfortable with a cone on her head. Denver does, however, like her toy, which is only fair as she has purloined several of his already. Tina is a very sweet, happy little girl and we are looking forward to getting to know her better and hopefully help her get rid of her cone.