💥Rochy 💢

Introducing the super cute kelpie pup Rochy who is now on the hunt for her new forever home. She is currently around 14 weeks old, weighs 8kg and will grow to be typical Kelpie med size

LINK TO APPLICATION FORM
https://forms.gle/4xMyjsPosAggKu8D7

FAVOURITE THINGS:
This little cuddle pie is just like your typical puppy. She loves playing with toys, running around the backyard with the other dogs, chews on almost anything, loves her food and treats and above all loves cuddles, whether that’s from her humans or fellow household pets.

HUMAN INTERACTION:
When Rochy first came into the rescue, she was very timid of humans. She was fearful of coming near us even if we were sitting on the ground. She would only come to us if the resident dog came to us first. Almost like she had to be shown it was safe. When she did start coming to us, she would wee uncontrollably from fear and uncertainty. We have worked with her closely to help her gain trust and security in humans and she has come along in leaps and bounds. She will now happily approach anyone who calls to her and her nervous weeing has reduced significantly. She does still wee from time to time, mostly from excitement now rather than fear but seeing how far she has come in such a short time, we have no doubt she will grow out of this habit.
Rochy has been introduced to young children and greets them happily but being a puppy may jump on them out of excitement and may be a bit nippy.

OBEDIENCE / TRAINING:
Rochy is a kelpie and kelpies are known to be very intelligent. She is definitely smart and eager to learn especially if you have food to reward her with. She has learnt sit and we are currently working on staying. She also understands some discipline words such as AH! and No. We haven’t been using her name so feel free to choose any name you like for this gorgeous girl. She will come to you with an array of greetings. (eg: a whistle, a kiss, hand gestures, the words “come here” etc)
She is comfortable wearing a collar at all times and we are working on getting her used to walking on a lead.
Rochy should definitely be taken to puppy school as this will help with her socialisation and training.
When travelling in the car she has only travelled in a crate so far. She may cry briefly for a minute or so but after some reassurance is happy to just lay there and sleep without making a sound. She has been car-sick a couple of times on longer drives, so we make sure she has a towel or blanket to lay on for easy clean up.

ANIMAL SOCIAL SKILLS:
Rochy is currently in foster care with a medium sized resident dog. She is very social and willing to play but can play rough. Being a puppy she tends to nip the other dogs and wrestle them. She can also be seen doing zoomies around the backyard and encouraging the other dog to play tug-of-war with her.
She hasn’t met any cats while in foster care but we could predict that she would bark at them out of curiosity. With proper training and initial supervision we don’t see why they both couldn’t live harmoniously.
Rochy enjoys watching the neighbourhood birds sit on the fence and watches them with curiosity.

FOOD:
Rochy LOVES her food! She is currently being fed Savour Life puppy dry food (small breed) and gets fed twice a day. When she first arrived into foster care she preferred to eat out of the same bowl as the other dog. She is still learning that she gets her own bowl and to not play musical bowls during feed time. She has not shown any signs of food aggression with humans or other dogs.

INDEPENDENCE:
Rochy is not afraid to adventure on her own and can be miss independent if she chooses. She explores the backyard at her leisure until she has had enough. She can self-entertain by chewing on toys but enjoys sharing her toys with others more. Being a puppy she absolutely loves to chew. Lots and lots of toys are recommended and keeping your shoes and other favourable items out of reach would be wise. Rochy enjoys a pleasant nap in the sun on her own but loves to cuddle up to someone for long sleeps. Especially at night. Rochy sometimes barks at things when unsure what they are.

HYGIENE:
Rochy has had a bath while in foster care and didn’t mind too much. She celebrated after it was over by doing zoomies.

SLEEPING:
Overnight Rochy sleeps outside under cover with the other resident dog. She enjoys to snuggle into the other dog. She will usually go to bed around 9 – 10pm and is up when it’s daylight.

EXERCISE:
Rochy will require a lot of exercise when she’s older. Kelpie’s are a working breed and require lots of physical and mental stimulation. She currently burns around the backyard at a million miles an hour for a couple of hours until she needs a nap. So she will absolutely need long walks or even runs every day. She will also need lots of mental stimulation or else she could become destructive or develop a barking habit from boredom.

INSIDE TIME:
Rochy hasn’t spent a great deal of time inside the house as yet due to the nervous uncontrollable weeing. She used to go to the toilet everywhere outside including on the outdoor furniture and the concrete. So we have been toilet training her to go on the grass. It took some time for her to understand what we were asking of her, but with a little help from the resident dog and repetitive motions on our part she now does all her business on the grass. She is not currently toilet trained for inside the house so this will need some more work.

MEDICAL:
Rochy has a small hole in her heart which we have seen a cardiologist and she has had a cardiac echogram done f

The specialist confirms she does not need any further review of this for another 16-18 months and no medication is required as it is most likely to grow over. Being a young puppy this is probable but it will depend on if the hole grows and this would then require her to have medication in her older age

This condition is causing her no health concerns whatsoever she is a normal full of energy puppy

IDEAL HOME:
An ideal home for Rochy should be a family who is willing and able to show her unconditional love and keep working on building her confidence with humans. A family that will play with her and include her and not just put her in the backyard and leave her there. A good sized backyard (acerage would be magical) with high fences is a must for her to run around in. Another dog is preferable but not mandatory, to play and cuddle with a male who is able to tolerate a rough playing puppy. A family who is committed to take her on long walks/runs and keep her stimulated in all aspects of life. Someone who will commit to continue training her and socialise her so she doesn’t become destructive.

Rochy is still a young pup so you have to expect and be prepared for all the puppy behaviours. There will be chewing, barking, crying, toilet accidents etc, but with patience, training and lots of love, we have no doubt Rochy will make an awesome all-round member of the family.

She is not suitable for units or apartment living