I am really not planning to keep this dog. The Tech Staff keeps saying why not? Because all he does is come home and play ball with her for three minutes and see how cute she is, and that's it.
The main reason is that I want a dog that gets along with other dogs. She was returned because she didn't get along with the adopter's other dog. It could have just been a bad match, but even so, it means the next dog I could get would possibly be really restricted. Also, I'm finding that she is also wicked leash reactive. I want a dog who I can walk around a busy neighborhood without her going ballistic at other dogs. Yes, it is possible to train this out of a dog - I've assisted at the classes we offer at the shelter and the effect can be miraculous. But it is a long, slow, tedious process and not a project I am really interested in.
She's also much more energetic and perpetual-puppyish than I want in a dog. What I liked about my pugs were that they were up for an adventure when I offered one, but didn't have a bunch of random extra energy that had to be burned off each and every day. I might like to raise a puppy again, but not because I want a puppy forever. It's because I want an adult dog that has been raised right. This dog is four, so she's not going to mature, you know? The goofy thing she is, is what she is for good.
She has a lot of good qualities. She learns fast and yeah, she would take great photos once I trained her to sit still for half a second. She will make a great dog for someone else.