Soleil

Hi there!

I met Colleen Good through Edmonton Earthcycle, and mentioned that we got our most recent dog through SCARS. She said she was involved with SCARS and mentioned this update email. She suggested emailing you an update on Soleil so I thought it was high time to do so!

Soleil is a wonderful girl whose name is really applicable, since she has truly brightened our lives. We’ve never rescued an adult dog before, so it’s been interesting watching her settle in. Initially she really seemed to suffer from separation anxiety. She cried when we kenneled her and if we tried to leave her in the yard by herself, she was right at the door scratching to come in. She never let us out of her sight. She scarfed down her food like it was her last meal each time she ate, she scrounged in our garbage, she developed a bladder infection and green pussy eye, and her bones poked out too much for our liking.

We got the bladder infection and green pussy eye taken care of right away through the help of Dr. Steve Marsden at the Natural Path Clinic, and it took some months, but she eventually gained a bit of weight, so that she’s still lean, but a little more healthy to pet. J Today I put my face in her food bowl while she was eating, and she continued to eat slowly and methodically. I went into a garden centre one day and didn’t want to leave her in the hot car, so I tied her up in the shade of a tree. I went into the store secretly watching her from a window, and she waited patiently for my return without uttering a peep!

Soleil is a really quick study. We take her for numerous walks and runs, and she’s learned tricks like high five and shake with both paws, down, stay, wait (at the door so we can walk over the threshold first), and leave it. She heels, sits when we stop walking, and she loves ALL people she comes into contact with, adult and child alike. She’s even learning, through the leave it command, to tolerate the vacuum cleaner and weed trimmer. The lawnmower no longer bothers her at all.

We recently started working with a great trainer/behaviourist on things like motorbikes, skateboards, bicycles and scooters, so that I can take her rollerblading and biking for exercise. The border collie in her really wants to run however, I need some help teaching her to be calm when I’m on my blades or bike to keep us both safe.

Soleil’s boundless energy keeps us hopping and her sweet personality melts our hearts. What more could we have asked for!

I’ve attached a few pictures so you can place a furry face to the name!

Have a super day and thanks so much for the work all of you at SCARS do!

Shannon