Leilani

Gorgeous, BIG, cat-friendly girl!

With her stunning good looks and imposing size (all 43.5 kilos of her), Leilani-Elan attracts admirers. This gorgeous young girl is a fun-loving and enjoyable companion, who distinguished herself, and delighted her foster carer from the day she arrived in care, by being absolutely brilliant with the two cats in residence.

Leilani greets new human acquaintances in an appropriate, low-key manner and has never jumped on anyone during her time in care. Although she doesn't push herself on strangers for attention she's very happy if they offer her a neck scratch or a head massage.

During her time in foster care, Lani has been crate trained (she's excellent!), and has learned to sit-stay, down-stay, come when called, walk nicely on leash, wait at doors and gates if asked to, wait to be released to eat the dinner put in front of her, and to wait to be asked to jump out of the open car door (she travels beautifully in the car). She has also learned the rules of playing both Fetch and Tug. An added bonus is that Lani is relaxed about having her nails trimmed - she fell asleep half way through her first trim! Lani has also, from day one, been gentle when taking treats offered from the hand.

Lani is a good watch dog inasmuch as she will alert to a stranger approaching the property, but once you let her know that you've seen them and all is well, she settles down and accepts that there's no further need to bark.

MY IDEAL HOME:
Despite her size, Lani is an easy dog to have inside. She loves finding a cushy spot to lie down and just hang out with you.

As a large, powerful dog she does require an experienced guardian who is both assertive, and affectionate and playful, in the way they guide her through life.

MY ENERGY LEVEL:
Overall, Lani is a moderate energy dog - she plays, runs, fetches and tugs with great enthusiasm but doesn't have go-all-day stamina, so if she gets a couple of periods of activity each day she's then happy to chill out the rest of the time.

MY SUITABILITY TO CHILDREN:
Lani has not lived with children during her time in foster care, but has met both toddlers and primary-school aged children and behaved calmly and appropriately.

She is suited only to live with older children however, because she is not quite careful enough with her considerable size to be freely mingling with little ones - when her strong, happy, wagging tail whacks into you it really stings, and for young children that tail is at face height. It is recommended that any young people Lani lives with be at least high-school aged.

MY SUITABILITY TO CATS AND DOGS:
Leilani has proved herself a friend of cats rather than a foe!

When it comes to dogs, she is best suited to living with medium to large dogs who can match her physicality in play. She doesn't intend harm to little dogs, but one exuberant paw swipe is all it takes to accidentally upset or hurt a small playmate.

Leilani is not 'a dog park dog' for a few reasons - she likes polite, calm greetings from new dogs (once she gets to know them she's happy to romp and play), she's not quite careful enough with little dogs (she accidentally bumps them or treads on them), and she likes to collect toys too much, even when they're not her own.

In foster care Lani has lived with a variety of dogs and other animals and it is important to know that while Lani has learned to be calm and behave appropriately around sheep, cows and horses under supervision, she cannot be left unsupervised with livestock as the temptation to chase them becomes too much for her.

Some videos of this gorgeous girl…

First up, Lani answers a very important question:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDPBUq8gz30
Playing with Skerrick:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfuWB4TOgaQ
And here she is having a dam good time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmffdQtOMwg