05/16/2003-

I am writing you with an update on Ava (formerly Ren). I sent you a copy of a spay certificate a few weeks ago so please let me know if you haven't received it. To answer your questions, yes, she was spayed on April 7th at Angell Memorial Hospital. Ava is not licensed. She is up to date on all of her vaccinations and is regularly being treated with heartworm preventative as well as fleas and ticks with frontline. She has not formally gone through obedience classes because one of the officers on campus is a trainer and he has assisted me with obedience training. As a result she walks well on a leash, and knows all of the basic commands, plus a few extra like shake and roll over. We take her to the park daily and she often has puppy playdates so she has been socialized with many other dogs. Living on a college campus, she meets many people on a daily basis and we regularly try to introduce her to children because she has proven to be somewhat timid around them. I had the opportunity to take her home with me to NY for the holidays last month and my family adores her. She loves my parents' dog Rex despite the fact that he is a working dog and doesn't play with her. We were somewhat relieved that he did not try to herd her. She especially liked tormenting one of the cats so she needs work on feline socialization. Attached, please find a photo of her taken last week with my co-workers dog Cassius. Let me know if you need anything else.

Sincerely,
Jessica Greher