Shelby is a 1 year old female. Shelby was in a shelter in Northern
MN.
****
Shelby was adopted out and returned to MWCR
because
her adopters had not been confining Shelby in a
safe environment. She was counter surfing
and getting into mischief while they were away.
Apparently, she has also been barking at the kids
at the bus stop. This is very NORMAL
behavior for any young dog until they are gently
shown their boundaries and are trained to learn
manners. The family was not willing to
help Shelby learn to be a good dog, nor to confine
her and keep her safe - therefore we felt it best
for Shelby to come back to MWCR to find a family
that is willing to work with her puppy-ish antics
****
At the shelter it was first thought it was that
Shelby had hip dysplasia, but an x-ray revealed
"Based on film, hip confirmation appears
good. However, because she is still young and
developing yet, you might want to recheck her hips
in the future as she matures." The vet tech
did say that Shelby has a odd gait when she walks
(that is rather obvious) and that she should not
be let to get overweight. Despite her negative
diagnosis of hip dysplasia, the Dr. says
Shelby's hind quarters aren't quite perfect and a
trim physique will help reduce strain on the
joints."
Shelby's foster mom
says that Shelby is definitely a puppy still, lots
of energy!! She knows her name but that is about
it, very lacking on manners. I get the impression
that her previous owners did not spend much time
with her or work with her at all!! She seems
starved for attention, and wants to please, but
just doesn't know how. She is doing great with
the cats and dogs, especially my male. My girls
are less than impressed with her presence, but
that's to be expected. She jumps up on people,
but seems to be pretty house broken. I think with
the proper training she will be a wonderful dog,
she is very sweet. I feel bad for her, it seems
her previous owner gave her no guidance what so
ever, and you can tell that she is craving it.
October 7 Update
Shelby is doing
absolutely wonderful here! She gets along well
with all of my dogs and cats and has the
sweetest temperament. We just love her! She is
fully house trained and has had no accidents,
and has been left alone in the house and has not
been destructive at all.
We have tried crating her, and I don't think that
she has been crate trained in the past, because she doesn't seem very fond of
it. I don't really see any reason for crating her. She is eating
well, had some soft stools from changing foods, but they are normal now.
We walk 3 miles each night and she isn't too bad
on a leash, still has lots of that puppy energy, but once she is worn out she
does settle down.
The only thing she knows is her name, and she does
come on command, but I haven't found any other commands that she understands.
She is very insistent that she sleeps in bed with
me at night, and none of my other dogs want to sleep with me:( I get
the impression that may have been where she slept with her previous home and
that is what she is used to.
We have a 6 and 4 foot fence in our yard, and she
has not shown any signs that she might even attempt to jump the fence. When
she is in the yard she barks occasionally, but nothing too annoying. She
mainly just copies my dogs and barks at what they bark at.
She is interested in the cats, and will follow
them around, but is never aggressive, and does not chase them. Plus, my cats
are used to be herded through the house, so they are kind of unfazed by her.
She has had no problems with any of our stairs,
and has been fine around loud noises such as the lawn mower.
Overall, I have not noticed any weird quirks or
behavioral issues that should be addressed. She is a sweet, adorable, loving
,pup that just needs someone to love her forever, and bring her to obedience.
Shelby is a bit of a "queen bee puppy" with other dogs and will take away chew
sticks, toys, etc. She is really a cutie who needs a home who will help
her learn some big girl Collie manners.
December 16 update:
Shelby is doing wonderful since she’s
been back with us. She is currently all up-to-date with her vaccinations and
weighed in at 58lbs. She is a sweetie and joy to have around.
She is still learning her basic commands but knows “sit”
and “lay down”. She does ok on a leash and rides beautifully in the car. She
doesn’t mind being brushed, as she loves all the attention.
Shelby at one year is still a puppy and has lots and
lots of energy. She will need a home where she can run and play everyday.
She would be great in agility classes. She loves to play fetch and tug with
her toys and loves to chew on rawhides. Shelby definitely wants to be the
center of your attention, as she will bark at you when you are ignoring her
wants and needs. Shelby is great around kids, but would do best with older
children. She will try to steal toys from small children and will want to
lick them and knock them over. This would probably be too frightening for a
small child. Shelby has also displayed food aggression and toy stealing while
around other dogs, for this reason she might do best as an only dog or
possibly with a submissive male. She doesn’t have a problem with
being confined to a small room but does just fine when left alone to roam the
house for short periods (providing you leave her plenty of toys to play
with). She loves to sit by the window and watch the goings-on outside. She
is such a busy body!
Since Shelby hasn’t had any formal training, it is
strongly recommended that her new family take her to obedience class, so she
can grow up to be a well-mannered collie girl!
Shelby is being fostered in the Twin Cities, MN
