Kisa Marie

k me home. I was nervous and scared around men, so it took me a day to warm up to my new dad. But he was great and got down on the floor with me and was really nice. I learned that I did not have to gobble up my food because I was always going to have food available and nobody was going to take it away from me. I have a brother, an Indian Ringneck Parrot, that took a bit of time to adjust to. He talks, and I had never heard a bird talk before. He would come outside of his cage, climb down to my level, and say “come here.” I would go over, and my parents would say “leave it.” I was kind of confused, but realized that I should listen to my parents and not my brother. My parents took me to the vet a couple weeks after adopting me, just to make sure everything was okay and to get me established. The vet thought it would be a good idea for me to go to daycare sometimes to help me get socialized. Turns out in order to go to daycare I needed the flu vaccine, so I had to get a shot. It pinched, but wasn’t too bad. I went for my evaluation day at daycare in February and did great. I knew how to alert my parents when I needed to go outside, but didn’t know any other commands or tricks. Mom enrolled me in beginner class at PetSmart, and boy do I really like going to class. I learned to focus (look at mom), sit, stay, get up on a box, and walk past people and other dogs without stopping to interact with them. The class also learned leave it, but my parents had already taught me that because of my brother. I was supposed to learn lay, but no matter how much people tried to teach me I didn’t understand what they wanted me to do. I kept putting my head and front paws down on the floor with my butt in the air, but that wasn’t right. I graduated beginner, intermediate, advanced, and therapy dog classes. I’m now a certified therapy dog and do nursing home visits. In addition to all the fun I have at daycare and class, I have a best friend that lives just a few houses down. I enjoy meeting all dogs I see walking in the neighborhood, but my best friend Gracie and I had an instant connection and were playing together immediately when we crossed paths in January. It was kind of hard to play on the side of the road with both of us on a leash, so Gracie’s mom invited us down for a playdate later that week. At first, we were playing 2-3 times a week. Now, we play pretty much every day! Sometimes we go there and sometimes they come here. Gracie’s parents are so nice to me and call me their step dog. When I hurt by back (nothing too serious), they got me a treat and a teddy bear. For my 2nd birthday, they got me a new collar and one of the big treats I like from the local pet store. Gracie has a brother Max, who is an outdoor cat. I wasn’t sure about him at first, but now we are friends and even play together when Gracie and I are playing in her backyard. I am lucky to have four grandparents: Grandma, Grandpa, Grammy, and Grandad. I go to Grandma’s house the most because Mom has to go stay there every other month or so for some appointments. There is a doggy door and a fenced back yard, so I get to spend a lot of my time outside. Grandpa lives at the coast, and I got to go to the beach for the first time. Grammy and Grandad have three dogs, but two are really old and don’t want to play. One is just a couple years older than me though, so that is nice. My goal is to help people realize that there are awesome dogs like me in shelters all over the world. Please adopt, don’t shop. When you do adopt, please give your new pet time to adjust. Some of us have been through a lot. Remember the rule of 3: it can take us 3 days to decompress, 3 weeks to feel comfortable in our new home with our new family, and 3 months to be fully settled in. There are plenty of resources online about this, so please take a look before you adopt. Some sites have great suggestions on how to help us adjust to our new home. I’m so lucky to have been adopted by my parents. They tell me they love me all the time and that I am a good girl. It is nice to have a good home where I feel safe and loved. Sharing my adventures (and mishaps) with everyone is going to be so much fun. Please follow me on Facebook as Kisa Marie, Instagram as misskisamarie, and on my website www.kisamarie.com.