Darlin

SPECIAL NEEDS

Darlin is a sweet, black & red long-haired female shepherd. She is a lovely companion and aims to be with her people and checks in on all the members of her foster family. She enjoys car rides, road trips, and short walks. Darlin needs a home that enjoys her company and affection and that reliably give her daily medication.

This lovely girl enjoys being inside and is well suited to the work-at-home lifestyle. She uses dog doors to enter the house from the yard, and is learning to use them to go outside. Because she doesn't want to miss out on anything going on indoors, she needs her person to periodically take her out to relieve. She is overall house clean and well-mannered indoors, and her foster family is able to leave her with access to the house unsupervised. If she does need to go out, she walks in circles to signal.

Originally a stray, her estimated age was 6 years, although she is now feeling better and acting younger. Darlin is well-managed on medication for her thyroid and arthritis and had images taken at the vet that showed moderate hip dysplasia, arthritis, and spondylosis. She wags her tail when she greets people, even though a closer look shows that it is broken. She may do better in a household without many stairs required for daily use. She can climb two steps in her foster home and a flight on a road trip, and would do well with an environment that is easy to navigate. She can independently climb into a small car and climb up to sit in the back seat, and cooperates and helps when being loaded into a larger vehicle.

To help clear skin issues, for now she is on medication, a prescription diet, and was recently professionally groomed and had her coat trimmed to its current short length. Note the attached photos show how she appears before and after grooming. She is becoming more active and fit, and although she weighs in at 93 lbs., her weight loss journey may show that she is closer to a 75-80 lbs. dog.

She gets along with a well-behaved older male shepherd in her foster home and at another volunteer's home. She can manage to walk well in a group of shepherds, and can also be grumbly around puppies and animated, unpredictable dogs. A small verbal correction or slight tug on the leash helps her settle if she alert barks when meeting new people, new animals, and unusual things in her environment. (She has had limited experience with cats and children in her initial foster home, and lived with caged birds and goats at one time.)

Unlike some shepherds, she is a fairly low activity dog that only needs short daily walks and that can be managed with a pleasant voice and flat collar. If you are looking for a sweet companion, Darlin could be your girl.

This is a Level 2 Dog.

Added April 2021