Though she can be a little timid at first, she makes friends and bonds to people quickly - just ask anyone who's ever pet her while I'm out walking her. Seriously, if you have hands to pet her, why aren't they petting her? Did you pet her just once? Well, she'll follow you home for more pets, because once is never enough! She quickly warms up to other friendly dogs and absolutely ADORES children, even loud, smelly, obnoxious children. Her favorite pastimes include long (or short) walks to smell ALL the smells and snoozing at my feet.

 

She already walks pretty nicely on a leash, though I'm teaching her to walk "with me" so that the leash is very loose. She rarely pulls hard, but will occasionally do so if she smells something incredible, spots a squirrel, or sees another dog she'd really like to meet. If she does pull, a verbal correction or a quick pop on the leash usually get her back on track. She's already acclimated to a Herm Sprenger prong collar (always worn with a back-up) and responds well to leash communication.

 

While not very food or toy motivated, I've been able to work with her on some basic commands by offering praise and pets as rewards. She WILL WORK FOR CHEESE and this has been integral to crate training. Her original foster showed me how he kind of lifted and loaded her into her crate, which she'll still allow, but she now goes quite willingly for a bit of a mozzarella stick and will wait quietly and patiently until I'm ready to let her out. 

 

Bosca really is a gem of a dog, but that doesn't mean she's flawless (don't tell her that). She has some quirks, for example, she can get very passively possessive of her favorite person. This is easily remedied by enforcing boundaries and not allowing her to cut you off from other dogs in the house. She can also jump a 6 foot fence, and will, because squirrels and smells. Additionally, I am always careful when going in and out of our exterior doors around her. She will try to rush out if I'm not paying close attention, though waits politely when I tell her to. Again, this isn't because she's a bad dog or hates it here, it's because I live near a state park and OHMYGODTHESMELLS (and all those people to say hi to at the playground across the street).

 

I'd say a no with cats/small animals because, squirrels.