It's been two months now since Nina got adopted and she is doing great. She is totally settled into her new home, has a pet-sitter who adores her and Nina has charmed her way into her extended family's lives. I was invited to sit in on a recent follow up training session Nina had with Terry from Animal Sense. This was the first time I had seen Nina since her adoption. She looked great and was full of pep. And I was happy to see her new owner continuing on with her training. Nina also continues to stop in at Soggy Paws for an occasional bath, food or any other canine need she has. Since it’s obvious she has a forever home, I am now turning her blog over to her new owner, Julie who will continue to keep you updated on Nina.

Nina's New Home

Nina has been in her new home for just over three weeks now. Her new owner adores her and the two of them have been having a good time together. They have had a follow-up training session with one of the trainers from Animal Sense, and they are close enough to Soggy Paws that they have been shopping there for anything Nina needs. I think Nina is very happy in her new home, and I know Julie is thrilled with her new companion. I look forward to them joining us on our eskie walks.

Nina has a new home!!

After almost a year of waiting, it has finally happened. Nina has been adopted. All I can say is someone has been watching over her, waiting for just the right person to come along. Nina has been in her new home for a few days now. Her new owner is thrilled to have her, and I’m sure Nina is thrilled to be out of her foster home. In her new home, Nina is the only pet, has the run of the condo, and gets to go on multiple walks every day. It's a dream come true for her. As Nina continues to settle in, I’ll keep you updated.

Nina's Visit to Integrative Pet Care

What a wonderful visit we had at Integrative Pet Care! All the staff was wonderful and fussed over Nina. She was definitely in the spotlight. Nina enjoyed getting checked over which involved a lot of massaging to determine what kind of shape she was in. We were given some exercises to work on that will help build up her muscles. One of the exercises is for Nina to crawl along the floor. I had some treats with me, so this was an easy one for us to practice while at the office. We also bought a supplement that might help her hair grow back faster. Hopefully Nina will be looking like a real American Eskimo Dog soon.

Nina's Training Session

Yesterday we had a delightful visit with Jamie from Animal Sense. This no-charge, in home session was one of the prizes Nina won in the Extreme Makeover contest. We all learned a lot. Jamie was impressed with how intelligent Nina was. She felt Nina could definitely overcome some of her anxiety and she put together a training program for us. I learned about clicker training which Nina picked up quickly. And Nina started to learn about targeting. Nina and I will be working on these new skills and will be signing up for a group class thru Animal Sense as a follow-up. Jamie is also going to feature Nina in her newsletter as the "Pet of the Month" up for adoption. I'm getting more hopeful that Nina will soon have a home of her own.

My Beauty Transformation!

Photos of Nina's Day of Beauty are up for everyone to enjoy at the Soggy Paws web site. Thanks again to them and to Colleen Duncan Photography!!!

Life After the Makeover

Well, the party's over as they say, and Nina is back to her normal life. But thanks to being the winner of the Extreme Makeover, it's a better life than ever before. Probably the best prize Nina won was the Evanger's dog food. The same as with us, proper nutrition goes a long way in keeping a dog's body functioning well. Now that she is eating a premium dog food, I'm hoping her hair will start growing back.

Another gift Nina really needed was a coat. Because of her lack of hair, it's too cold for Nina to be outside. Thanks to the nice fleece coat that was donated by Soggy Paws, she is able to spend a little more time outside in the yard.

Soon we will be meeting with Jamie, the trainer from Animal Sense. An evaluation from her will help me to know what the best home will be for Nina and I'll be able to share the information Jamie gives me with the potential owner, so they, too, will have a better understanding of her personality. And once we get in to see the vet at Integrative Pet Care, I'm hoping they will have some additional thoughts on how to get Nina's hair to come back and prevent any more warts from showing up. In the meantime, it's back to eating and sleeping for Nina - her two most favorite pasttimes.

Nina Wins!!!

How thrilled we were when we found out Nina won the Extreme Makeover contest! The announcement event was on Jan 12th. One of the prizes Nina was awarded was a bath and blow dry at Soggy Paws, so we arrived an hour early to get Nina looking her best. First she had a luxurious oatmeal bath with some special ingredients added to help her skin and hair. Next was a rub down with dry towels which she thought was great, and then we turned the blower on her to get her all fluffed up. After her grooming session, it was on to the party to get her picture taken and claim the rest of her prizes.

Nina got a great new toy from Chelsy's Toys, grooming products from Soggy Paws, and Evanger's dog food that should give her system the boost that it needs. Her appointment with Animal Sense for a training session is on Feb 9th. And we will be making our appointment with Integrative Pet Care, the holistic vet, very soon. Once Nina's hair starts coming in, we will be taking advantage of the photo session with Colleen Duncan. As Nina continues to collect the rest of her prizes, I'll keep the blog updated.

Nina's Story

At 8 yrs old, Nina was turned into Anti-Cruelty on LaSalle because her owner became too ill to care for her and no family or friends wanted her. When I saw Nina there it was obvious that she was in bad shape. She had lost most of her hair and she had multiple warts from her head to her tail. When Dotty brought her out of her kennel I could see that her backend was smeared with diarrhea. A closer look revealed some of the warts were oozing and bleeding. Obviously this was not a dog that would be put up for adoption. Knowing her fate and looking into those pleading eyes was more than I could take, so I brought Nina home. I let her settle in for a few days, got the diarrhea under control, and then got her in to the vet for an exam. A blood test revealed an underactive thyroid which explained the hairloss. Her warts were examined, and I was told they could be removed if they bothered her. That was in May of last year. Since then she has been on thyroid medication, but her hair is still very sparse. She had 12 warts removed which left more little hairless patches where they were. I’ve had her on Petfinder the whole time, but no one has yet inquired about adopting her.

When I heard about the Extreme Makeover contest, I was excited about getting Nina entered. This was her chance to get what she's been missing in life: grooming, quality dog food, holistic vet check, new toys, etc. And, if she won, maybe all the extra exposure would help in finding her a home of her own.