Nova joined HOPE on 20 January 2022.
Adoption notes for Nova: She is super sweet and SMART, but she can be fearful of new people and other dogs, so she will need a patient and understanding adopter. For being a petite girl, she’s got a loud bark and can be very dog selective. To set Nova up for success, we recommend multiple meet and greets with potential adopters and any pets in the home.
09/16/2022 This will be Nova’s last journal entry because she got adopted this week. What a journey it has been with Nova over the past eight months. Nova has learned so much but also became a teacher as well. There’s no such thing as a bad dog, maybe a misunderstood dog, but all it takes is love, trust, respect, and some days, a lot of treats, for the dog to mature and grow into a great dog like Nova. I’m super duper happy to see her go to her forever home, but also sad to see her leave.
09/09/2022 We had back to back rainy days, and on the second day, Nova had had enough of being inside. So, I said, “Okay, Nova, let’s go play in the rain!” She went out in the muddy dog yard, rain pouring down, and gets the roomies. Running all around, jumping in the puddles, and then over them. Then we got her favorite orange ball, and she chased that around for awhile. She was soaking wet and covered in mud, but she had so much fun, and so did I, watching her play!
09/02/2022 Nova had a rough week. So far, she’s not really liking the new dog on the block, Rocco. Nova has super powers because she knows when he is about to walk by the cell or when he comes outside without even seeing him. She’ll perk up and be on full attention even out of a complete sleep. When she does that, I know Rocco is close by!
Otherwise, Nova is doing well with all her commands. I have also been working with redirecting her when she is playing with her orange ball. She is way too intense with it, and I don’t want her to hurt herself. It is a work in progress, but she is doing better!
08/26/2022 Nova and I walked to the front gate along with Russo’s handler to meet Russo on Wednesday when he was returned to the prison. As soon as Nova saw Russo come through the gate, she got so excited! As Russo ran up to his handler and was giving him so many kisses, Nova’s butt and tail wouldn’t stop moving and wagging. She couldn’t wait to get her turn to say hello to her best friend. As we were walking back to the housing unit, Nova stayed right by Russo’s side, as happy as she could be to be with her best friend again!
08/19/2022 Nova must have been watching the news this week because she smooshes every spotted lantern fly she sees with her nose, then nibbles on it until it’s not moving anymore. She will chase them all around the yard. She never eats them, just a nibble or smacks her paw on it to smoosh it. Nova obviously cares about the environment and wants to save some trees. Nova always brings so much fun and laughter when she is out playing in the dog yard!
Nova continues to do great with her commands. She likes playing with Libby and Lacey!
08/12/2022 Say Cheese! This week, Nova had a photo session out in the dog yard and let me tell you, Nova can take some great pictures! She was posing in the pool, playing with her favorite orange ball, and did super duper with our group picture. This girl is very photogenic! There are a few adoption applications pending for Nova, so we are hoping to announce some exciting news very soon! Nova is more than ready for parole!
08/05/2022 Nova might be part alligator. She reminds me of an alligator, mouth wide open, eyes shut, just laying in the hot sun, soaking up the heat. Half of the dog yard is covered in shade, which is where I prefer to be, but not Nova! She loves to go where the sun is. If I call Nova over to the shaded area, she’ll come over to see what I want and then turn right back around to go lay in the sun. I guess she’s working on her sun tan!
Nova has mastered all of her basic commands and a lot of tricks. She is a very smart dog and a quick learner. The only thing left for her is to find a loving, forever home!
07/29/2022 Nova needs a vest that says “emotional support animal.” She has been showing Kane’s former handler so much love this week. She’s really been helping him get through missing Kane. Nova shows tons of excitement and tail wagging when she sees him, and it puts a huge smile on his face. Nova seems to have that effect on a lot of people–putting smiles on their faces!
As always, Nova is nailing all of her commands. She is more than ready to be paroled!
07/22/2022 Nova loves chasing birds! She puts so much energy into it that I know if she catches one, it will not be pretty. This week, a little bird flew into the dog yard and landed on the edge of the doggy pool. Of course, Nova took off toward the bird. Just as Nova reached the pool, the bird fell in. I told Nova to “leave it” and she did. I was able to get the bird out of the pool and set it free. So, Nova does like to chase birds, but she also obeys the “leave it” command not to hurt them.
Nova has really improved on bonding with all of the other handlers. Of course she is excelling with her basic commands!
07/15/2022 I had a great experience with Nova and Kane this week. They were loose leash walking, side by side, up and down the walkway for about 30 minutes. It might not sound like much, but normally Nova would want to play and jump on Kane, but not that day. She was just so content to walk and patrol the walkways with her buddy, Kane. Nova is doing wonderfully with basic commends–she nails them all!
07/08/2022 Nova and I had a great week! I enjoy her personality so much! I especially love seeing Nova when I get back from work. When she see me, she goes NUTS! Running, spinning around in circles, jumping up, and then her final move is plopping down and rolling over on her back so I can rub her belly.
Nova is SO READY to be adopted! Who would like to add this wonderful girl to their family?
07/01/2022 HOPE got a new handler this week, and Nova LOVES him! I was walking back from work when I saw Nova in the yard with the new dog handler. Nova was doing everything that he asked–EVERYTHING! Sit, down, bow, sit pretty, paw, stay, and come. I never saw Nova from not being on the other end of the leash before, but when I saw this, it made me so proud. Nova is such a great, well-behaved dog! She is PAWSOME! She is more than ready to be paroled!
Gold Stars–Doing great with the new handler. Doing great with all of her commands.
06/24/2022 This week, Nova showed me what a compassionate dog she is. Russo injured his lip on the fence earlier in the week, and had to have stitches. Normally, when Nova sees Russo, she runs up to play with him. But this week, she approached him slowly, and sniffed his lip. It was as if she knew he was injured and was telling him, “It’s okay. I had injuries to my face earlier this year, and it healed nicely. You’re going to be okay.” Nova wanted to make sure that her best friend was okay.
Gold Stars–Nova did all of her commands for one of our new handlers. She is doing much better with Libby and Dozer.
06/17/2022 Nova had a blast with the pool and the indestructible 10” ball! She would push the ball around with her nose, running around the entire yard. Then she would grab and throw it into the pool and dive right in after the ball. She would eventually get the ball out of the pool and start it all over again. Every time we go out to the yard now, she’s like where is the ball, where is the ball!!!
06/10/2022 Nova did great with her basic commands this week. She also had an adventure across the facility to the softball field, along with Pixie. Nova had never been to the field before, and she didn’t know what to do with all the open space. She was running around sniffing all the new smells. She and Pixie had a blast running around together. When we got back to the cell block, Pixie drank what seemed to be a gallon of water, and then she took over my bed and fell asleep, legs in the air. It was so cute.
06/03/2022 Nova found her best friend this week with Kane. Nova and Kane played outside, ran around, tackled each other, and had sooooo much fun! They finally reached a point when they are both so tired that they lay down, tongues hanging out, but still pawing each other. Now only if Nova would do this with Dozer and Courage–instead, she barks at them. I guess she just needs one best friend!
05/27/2022 This week I learned that Nova is a hoarder! I decided to put clean blankets in her crate and when I pulled out the old ones, I found several milk bones hidden in them. I guess she was saving them for a midnight snack! When I gave her the clean blankets, and the milk bone back, she hid the milk bone in the clean blankets!
Nova is doing better at meeting people she doesn’t know, but she can be shy. New people just need to take their time with her.
05/20/2022 Even though Nova likes being outside and rolling in freshly cut grass, let’s just say that she doesn’t like the mower! We had just gone outside as they got done cutting the grass. As I was moving the mower to the other yard, Nova was trying to bite the wheels and circling the mower, play barking and biting. It was so funny!
Nova has done great this week learning new commands, not barking as much when Courage or Bailey walks by, and letting new people interact with her. She continues to snore really loudly!
05/13/2022 Miss Nova found her new favorite toy this week–an old basketball. She ran around, pushing the ball, growling at the ball, barking at the ball, biting at the ball….until pssss! Somehow she put a hole in the basketball and as the air was hissing out of it, she decided that she no longer wanted to play with it! But. . . that didn’t last long because once the air was out of it, she picked up the ball and started to run around shaking it. She did this for over half an hour. Nova is doing super well with her training and is more than ready for her forever home!
05/06/2022 If you love hanging outside enjoying the nice weather, but can’t stand flies and gnats buzzing around, Nova is the perfect dog for you! Nova actually catches flies right in the air! She loves to be outside, play, and chase birds away, but she is also cool to lay by your feet and relax, just occasionally getting up to catch a fly or chase a bird. She is the perfect blend of energy, calm, and chillness. Once you meet Nova in person, you will fall in love with her personality and cuteness! Nova is more than ready for her forever home!
4/29/2022 Nova had a GREAT time this week playing with her new friend, Kane. She follows Kane around and if Kane jumps up on the picnic table, Nova does too. Then they both will stand up on the table looking around at everything. It’s adorable and really PAWSOME!
Nova and her handler were playing tug-o-war with an old basketball and she will start to get vocal while playing, she’s all, “grr grr grr” and when her handler let’s go of the ball, Nova will take off to the other end of the yard and continue to play with the ball by herself. She’ll play bow, growl, swing her head around with this big basketball just squished in her mouth. She is so much fun to play with!
Nova also made one new person friend, but still has some fear with groups of people and unfamiliar people, she has a loud bark which can sound scary, but she’s just afraid and needs time to get to know people. She still has some fear and anxiety towards new dogs, but she’s improving all the time.
4/22/2022 Numerous times this week Nova woke me up at 5:30 am by sitting on the floor at the head of the bed just staring at me! So I told her, “up” to jump into bed and I moved all the way over to give her some room, but she would just sit there looking at me. So then I pulled the blanket back over me and THEN she jumped into bed, pressed all against me as I pulled the covers over her. She LOVES to be completely covered up. I guess Nova just wants a little snuggle session early in the mornings. She is such a great dog, I can’t say it enough! So cute, so smart, and will make someone so very happy!
She’s learning to be tolerant of Pixie, and learning to play better with Kane. She’s even been confident hanging out with groups of people too!
04/15/2022 Nova has a new friend—Kane!!! They haven’t played face to face yet, but they are having a blast running back and forth with the fence between them! Nova is so vocal–she makes the funniest noises as she is playing with Kane through the fence. If Kane runs away, she barks at him to come back. She has Kane wrapped around her paw!
04/08/2022 This week, Nova had a blast playing outside in the rain and mud. For a petite little girl, she sure does love the mud! She did a great job catching the ball in the rain and mud! She had mud in her nose, all over her face, and of course, she wanted to include me in on the fun, so she jumped on me every chance she could. Nova is doing great at resting in her crate for some alone time and accepting other dogs in her space. She has made such great progress since coming to HOPE!
04/01/2022 Nova and I had a great week. We played a lot outside with a tennis ball and frisbee. Nova definitely made a few holes in the yard trying to flip over the frisbee to pick it up. Nova has also started to do this crouching tiger, creep stealth mode when another dog is walking by. I want to tell her–“just because you are low to the ground doesn’t mean people can’t see you!” She is so funny and such a great dog. She is ready for her forever home!
03/25/2022 Nova has found a new thing she likes to do–jump in my lap, sit down, and people watch out the window. I am lucky that she isn’t that heavy! We also got a new dog last week named Pixie. I had really high hopes that she and Nova would be best friends, but . . . Nova decided that there is room for only one female dog on the block, and that’s her! Nova is such a funny dog–she puts a smile on my face every, single day, except when she decides to unmake my bed!!
03/18/2022 Nova had a great week and especially enjoyed playing in the snow on Saturday. We both made snow angels! This week, Nova mastered roll over, stay, and crate. She is a super fun, cute, and smart dog who is ready for a great home!
03/11/2022 Instead of telling you about all the tricks and commands that Nova knows, I want to tell everyone what a brave and lovable girl she is. Nova is less than a year old, and in her short life, she was brutally attacked by two dogs. Her face was ripped apart. She had more than 50 stitches to repair the wounds. After that, Nova was so fearful of everyone and everything, as you can imagine! Well, her wounds have healed and so has her spirit. She is starting to trust people again. She’s curious. She wants to sniff people. Six weeks ago that was not the case. No one could look at her, let alone pet her. I am so proud of how far she has come! Nova is playful, smart, sweet, and super cute. She is ready to find her forever home!
03/04/2022 Nova had a good week. Her personality is really starting to shine! Early in the week, she went for a walk across the prison to attend a meeting/training session that took about an hour. She just laid down and did her favorite thing—people watch!
This week, Nova became a blanket thief. After she was done making her nest of blankets in my bed one night, she grabbed one of the blankets and pulled it off the bed and into her crate! I guess she didn’t want to sleep with me that night–I must have been cramping her space!
Nova has also learned to alert me when she wants to eat. I was a little late preparing her dinner one night, so she grabbed her bowl and dropped it in the middle of the floor as if to say: HEY HEY, where’s my dinner?!
Nova also did great this week meeting new people and being more confident. She really is coming out of her shell!
02/25/2022 Nova is so cool, fun, and did I mention cute? She learned a new trick this week that sent her cuteness through the roof. If you point to your open hand and say “chin,” she will lay her chin on your hand. It’s so cool! Also, this week she found her voice. It’s not really a bark, but more like a whimpering tone/talk voice. Like “come on and play with me.” Nova has a new nickname–“Twinkie.” The guys gave her that name because she is smaller in size and brown and has a splash of white on her face and down her belly. Last week, she took off in the yard to chase a bird–I don’t think she’s ever seen a bird before! Nova never fails me–she brings a smile to my face numerous times each day. SHE’S A GREAT DOG!
02/18/2022 Nova literally took some big steps this week–she finally found the courage to walk up and down the stairs! So now we make at least 10 trips a day upstairs to the counselor’s office! Nova is also a people watcher! Every night during dayroom when there are about 80 to 90 people out, she will lay on her mat, legs spread, ears moving, watching and listening to everything that is going on. She is just so content to be out there with us. We spent a lot of time this week working on loose leash training. She is becoming much better at it. I swear she might have ADHD because her attention will sometimes go everywhere except for me, but with the right treat and the command “with me” she comes right back around. Nova is super curious and wants to know what everyone is doing. She is such a cool dog. Once she likes you, she loves you, and you are in her circle of friends for life!
02/11/2022 Nova has come a long way in just a week! She has learned to “shake” and “bow.” We are working on loose leash walking. She is also being calmer around new people and not as scared and nervous. She even made some new friends this week, letting them pet her and shake her paw. Nova even let a few people give her a belly rub–that is huge! If you have some cookie, crunchy dog treats, you can easily win her over! We were laying down the other day trying to take a nap. There were some noises outside the cell, and Nova gave this little “GRRRR” sound. So I started doing it back to her. As soon as I did it she would stop and close her eyes. As soon as I stopped making the sound she would start to do it again, eyes still closed. We did this back and forth a few times and then got back to our nap.
02/04/2022 Nova had a great second week! She has mastered sit and stay, for a short period of time. Her best friend is Russo. Nova can be picky with other dogs, but she LOVES Russo! It would be great if they were adopted together–just sayin’! She is fearful of strangers, so we are working on that, as well as barking when she in is her crate. Nova loves playing with fluffy, stuffed toys and running around jumping in circles, but she doesn’t love going up the stairs yet. Her newest thing is getting on my freshly made bed and pawing the blankets all over the place to make a little nest she can lay in. In the middle of the night, I found a treat that she had stashed away in the bed! Nova also has this cute little snort sound that she makes when she is happy. She is just so adorable!
01/28/2022 Nova has done well her first week in the prison! As to be expected, she was a little scared of all the noises and barked at everyone who walked by my cell. But for the last couple of days, she has really calmed down and adjusted to her new surroundings. She has met a lot of new people, and her old friend from Lucky Dog Rehab, Russo, is here also. They were glad to see each other! Nova has come a long way in just one week. She already knows how to sit. We are working on loose leash walking and her fear of new people. Nova is such a love bug once she lets you in as a friend!
01/18/2022 NEW UPDATE!!! Nova will be OFFICIALLY joining HOPE on Thursday, 20 January 2022!!! ❤️❤️❤️
12/22/2021 Hey peeps. Today I met another new friend. It took a few growls and some snarls but, in a few mins he was my super awesome friend. Shhh he gave me lots of treats.. 🤪🤷🏽♀️ Also my belly is doing better but I’m still sore.. I really wanna run, jump and play but I’m still not allowed.. 😷🙏🏽 God news is I’m off all the horrible medicine now and feel like me again.
12/14/2021 Nova was spayed today and had some stitches and staples removed. She’s one step closer to being ready to join HOPE at SCI Camp Hill. Perhaps we’ll start the New Year with a BEAUTIFUL Super Nova!
