Welcome to the October 2024 edition of ZENFULdog of the Month featuring Elly May!
Elly May was adopted as a puppy by her pet-parents, Wendy and Steve! She was the only girl in a litter of five pups from Iqaluit. Her birth mum is a German Shepherd and her birth dad is a Northern Husky.
Elly shares many features of a Shepherd with the tail of a husky and she had really big ears as a puppy. Elly May and her pet-parents are beloved members of the ZENFULdog Training community.
Elly May
Age: 2 years (born in June 2022)
Meet Elly May’s Family
Wendy (Elly May’s pet-mum): Elly is Wendy’s constant companion. The two are inseparable and Elly is always at her mum’s side. Elly keeps her mum active and on her toes! It was love at first sight when Wendy saw a picture of Elly for the first time.
Steve (Elly May’s pet-dad): To Steve, Elly is this crazy dog who loves to cuddle and give wet kisses. He loves hearing about Elly’s adventures.
Dart & Chance (Elly May’s feline brothers): Dart and Chance both ‘put up’ with Elly and would be happy if she would just stay out of their food bowls. Elly and Chance will share an occasional affectionate moment.
Leila & Abby (Elly May’s donkey sisters): Elly also lives with two miniature donkeys and enjoys visiting them often.
Elly May's Personality According to Wendy: Elly May is a sweet girl who loves all people and dogs but can be a little shy upon first meeting. You can tell Elly likes another dog or person when she greets them butt-end first. She is very high-energy and needs lots of exercise and stimulation.
Wendy Shares The Most Unique Thing about Elly May: Unique to her appearance is a streak on her tail, just like a skunk, and she has the most angelic eyes. She is also super smart: “I can speak plain language to her and I swear she understands me. She learns quickly, but does have a stubborn side.”
Elly May's favourite Treats/Foods according to Wendy: Elly loves her frozen stuffed kong filled with kibble and soft dog food. She indulges in her kong as a treat every evening.
Her other favourite treats are:
fish skin sticks
sweet potatoes
hot dogs
Elly May’s Favourite Activities: Of course, Elly’s ultimate favourite activities are the Caniwalks and Canihikes her and her pet-mum go on with ZENFULdog Canisport and Trail Club. Elly loves pretty much anything ‘ZENFUL.’
Elly May also loves going on walks or hikes with her fur-buddies whom she met at ZENFULdog Training—Molly, Georgia and Tilly:
Molly: Molly lives in the neighbourhood so Elly gets a few walks with her every week.
Georgia: Elly loves her weekly play dates with Georgia as well. The two of them met as puppies at Disc Dog and were immediately fond of each other.
Tilly: Tilly and Elly have recently started weekly morning walks at local trails.
Wendy Explains how Elly May Unwinds After a Full Day of Activity: “Elly will curl up on the couch, or her favourite chair, and watch a movie with her pet-mum and pet-dad. Her favourite series is Yellowstone, especially the scenes with the cows and horses. She thinks they are real life and will run up to the TV and bark at them.”
If Elly May had a human voice: Wendy thinks Elly May’s human voice would have to be Donna Douglas’ as the character of Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies.
Elly May’s Training
Elly May has been training with ZENFULdog Training for about two years starting with Puppy Training classes in the fall of 2022. Elly has participated in Level 1 Skills and Socialization—Puppy, Level 2 Skills and Socialization (twice) and six classes of Parkour.
Elly has also recently started training in the Canicross Program with ZENFULdog. Wendy and Elly May are excited and anxious to try Kick-sledding this winter.
Wendy Tells Us How Training Has Shaped Elly May: ZENFULdog Training has built up Elly’s confidence and social skills and has helped her develop into a great dog.
Wendy Describes Elly May’s Biggest Training Challenges/Successes: Wendy’s and Elly’s biggest challenges were managing Elly’s high energy and getting her to settle in class while awaiting her turn: “I think I was more exhausted leaving classes than she was.”
Training with ZENFULdog helped build Elly May’s confidence and socialization skills: “When Elly was in Puppy Training, the puppies would get some playtime. Elly didn’t want to participate at all and just watched. So Kendra paired her with a little dog, named Cosmo, and Cosmo brought the play out of Elly. Now she just LOVES every opportunity for playtime with her classmates.”
Wendy recalls Elly May’s Most Rewarding moments of Training in Action: It is so amazing for Wendy to see Elly learning new things and to see her so happy in the training environment and being with other dogs and people: “I look back at her first Parkour class and where her skills are now, and she makes me really proud. It is also fun to take these parkour skills and just apply them in our everyday activities.”
Wendy adds: “I found ZENFULdog Training completely by accident when I saw a sign while visiting a friend who lives in the area. I did not have Elly at the time, but ZENFULdog caught my attention and I knew someday I would be there. So happy to have found ZENFULdog, it has been such a positive experience in raising Elly May.”
Kendra adds: “I love Elly May and Wendy! I can't help but call out to her: “EllyEllyWelly” so I can see her swing her butt out so she can connect with me! She figured out some time ago that she can get extra distance if she uses her flexible rear to touch those she loves.
Elly is such an energetic, sweet, smart and athletic pup. She loves parkour, playdates with her galpal Georgia at our sniff spot and canicross. We can't wait to get her hooked on kick-sledding this winter seeing as she took to canicross so easily and with such gusto.
It has been amazing to see her journey building confidence with the love, management and skills of her best pet-mom—Wendy. It's hard to believe seeing her today with so many friends that she was the wallflower of her puppy class. Elly was always friendly to both people and dogs alike but once off-leash, she wasn’t too sure about the rambunctious play of the other pups. Thanks to Wendy's diligence in properly socializing, she has grown into a confident and thoughtful dog. She is still working on the thoughtful part but it's only because she finds joy in everything she does. We do not want to extinguish that drive but rather teach her to channel it. We see her improve all the time in her focus and stillness practicing ‘settles’ while waiting in her parkour programs.
This duo is a true partnership and a real joy for us all to have at ZENFULdog!”
A very special “Thank You!” to Wendy for providing fantastic content for this feature. Remember to follow ZENFULdog Training on Facebook to stay connected to your like-minded dog-loving community every day!
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