Date Adopted: May 22, 2017

Age at adoption: 1 yr 10months

At only one year old, now, this little girl was in her second home at three months of age; and that home contacted us, looking to surrender her, nine months later.  They were at their wits end, not knowing how to cope with her high, nervous energy and shy, fearful temperament.  When our evaluator met her, he saw a young GSD who needed help.

We had a new foster home available, with an 8-year-old male GSD in residence and a foster Dad with a flexible schedule.  When Candice got there, she started out by hiding in a corner; any quick hand movement or raised voice tone would cause her to retreat to a corner, shake and submissively pee.  She was house-trained and knew to sit on command, but her foster Dad kept things very calm and low-key; his dog, Otis, accepted her right away.  His cat went right up to her, and Candice made friends with her quickly; she also met his chickens and ducks and was more curious about them than anything.

Over the past four months, Candice has come such a long way from those early days, and her true personality has emerged.  She’s still a bit wary of new people; but, given 10 or 15 minutes to observe, with no pressure, she will approach and take treats.  When praised, she demonstrates her nickname of “wiggle butt!”  Her foster Dad says there’s not a mean bone in her body.  She’ll even pick up a few pieces of kibble and put them down for the cat, so she’ll enjoy it, too.

Candice is a high-energy girl and needs structured activity every day.  She and Otis go for a 3-mile walk with her foster Dad every day;  she also enjoys showshoeing, hiking and playing with her Chuck-it ball. If she sees him with his briefcase, she goes into her crate and will wait, calmly, for his return.  After she returned from being spayed, Candice showed separation anxiety and would damage items if left loose in the house.  She accepts the crate for a few hours at a time, though.

Seeing the photos of Candice with her foster brother, Otis, playing in the snow and looking so comfortable and “at home,” we are happy to announce that her foster Dad has applied to adopt her.  Candice is in her forever home, with no more changes to cause her concern.