Iris

Boxer | Faribault, MN

Age : 3 Years 7 MonthsFemale

About

Meet Iris

*Update 5/25/23*   Update on Iris – she is not your normally mill momma at all – very social and adjusting very well to the DOG LIFE.   Since “Iris” was just assigned as a name to her when she came in, it isn’t a surprise that she doesn’t know this name, so we’ve been calling her Tammy Lyn (fans of Ted) and for some reason, it suits her.    She is a very sweet and lovable dog – no idea how old she is, but we would guess maybe 3 or 4 – but don’t be fooled - this girl is still very much all puppy.       She came to us pretty unsure of her surroundings, but she has quickly settled in and is revealing herself to be SMART!  She doesn’t have any kind of training or experience with everyday things, but she watches everything that goes on around her, and figures things out quickly. She’s been with us less than a week, and has come a long way in a short time.    The first thing we realized she didn’t know how to do was go up or down stairs, but within a few days, she has already figured it out.  This was our first clue of how smart she is.  She watches and learns very quickly.   She cannot be left unsupervised at all – she’s escaped her crate twice and destroyed a few things before we realized it.  It seems to be her stress response for her to destroy things in this scenario, so being out of her crate will take some practice.   So, right now we are focused on working on crate training with her - she is very comfortable in her crate and tolerates this well.  We have her crate in the living room, so she is content to hang out and watch people coming and going around her.  She does NOT like to be left alone – we are guessing she probably had kennel mates her entire life and gets distressed when left alone – she will cry if she can’t see you unless she is flat out exhausted and then she sleeps great in her kennel.   She is learning how to go outside in our fenced in backyard and explore – she is very curious – but won’t go very far from us and needs to be able to see us when she is in the yard.  She learned from watching our other dog to pick a shady spot under a tree to hang out and observe her surroundings, and I’ve even caught her napping a few times, so she is getting comfortable with being in large open spaces.    She is not housebroken, so she requires supervised outside time.  She doesn’t relieve herself in her kennel, and so we’ve started to work on taking her outside on a schedule.  We’ve introduced a frequent walk schedule for her, with a walk in the morning, at lunch, before dinner, and before bed.  This is an effective method for her for getting the energy out, as well as giving her a chance to relieve herself outdoors.  She comes back from her walks happy to decompress in her kennel without getting squirrely.   Speaking of walks, this also seems to be a new thing for her as well - she is learning how to walk on a leash – we’ve speculated that she probably never has gone on walks before – she is all over the road on her leash and stops to sniff EVERYTHING.  She is skittish of other dogs and cars and anything loud and tries to bolt when startled. But, she loves the walks and always wants to go with and generally behaves well when on them.    She is beginning to settle into what we call “dogging” – she is starting to relax enough to nap outside on the deck (if we are there) and has begun to show interest in playing – she has picked up a dog toy a few times, but doesn’t really know what to do with it.  She doesn’t understand “play” cues with humans.   She gets along fine with our elderly dog, and follows her cues well.  This has been where we see a lot of the puppy demeanor come out – we have seen her try to play with her a few times, and does the “puppy following the elder dog around” thing with her.  She seems fine with being around another dog, but she probably would enjoy having a dog around who is younger and willing to engage with her.   She needs quite a bit of attention, as a puppy would.  She requires constant companionship and will try to climb into your lap and get as close to you as possible. She is very tolerant of being touched, and likes to be petted and embraced.   She does jump and tries to climb onto things, but she (not surprisingly) doesn’t have any obedience training and since she doesn’t understand a single command, we are working on the basics of  “no” as well as “off”.  She is very eager to please, so with a little consistency and time, she will probably pick these up quickly.     For a mill momma, she is quite well socialized.  She isn’t afraid of newcomers, or men, and will look you in the eye and make eye contact when you get her attention.  She is very curious and willing to explore her surroundings.  While she can be a little skittish at times, as time goes on, she is becoming more comfortable with her surroundings and relaxing into doing dog things.   She doesn’t really have any naughty traits, other then being guilty of the kinds of naughtiness that you’d see with a puppy (escape artist, accidents in the house, and destroying stuff around the house when she’s broken out of her crate and gone rogue).  We’ve not heard her bark once, and doesn’t destroy things in her crate.  She eats in the morning and evening, but isn’t really food motivated and doesn’t seem to know what a treat is.    She will make a great additional to a home with an active lifestyle, and humans who are willing to devote their time and energy to some basic training.   I'm Iris! I'm from a puppy mill and the rescue is still learning about me...Check back frequently for updates! 

Adoption Process
Application --> background check --> personal reference and vet checks --> home visit; once approved the applicant can meet available dogs. Adoption agreement, obedience, and spay/neuter (if applicable) plus adoption fee to complete adoption process.

Contact
Minnesota Boxer Rescue
(763) 647-3037
[email protected]
https://minnesotaboxerrescue.com