Dog Name: Valentina
Breed: Mixed breed
Sex: Female
Age: 5-7yrs
Weight: 52lbs
Medical Needs: Sensitive skin & allergies - she’s been treated with antibiotics for months to get rid of infection and will require maintenance with Apoquel going forward. It will be important to have her checked out right away if any skin irritation recurs.
Housebroken: Yes
Crate trained: Yes, is crated for up to 8 hours during the day a few days per week and sleeps overnight in her crate. She will paw/bite at the crate door at times but is easily verbally corrected and will settle.
Good in the car: She’s ok – a little busy at first but will settle after a while.
Good on a leash: Leash walks are a work in progress and will require continued practice (which we’ll continue doing as long as she’s here!) – she shows an intense interest toward other dogs on leash and will pull toward them when passing.
Energy level: Medium – she’s a playful girl who likes to walk, run & play ball but has a great off switch in the house.
Need a fenced in yard: Tricky question… Not if you’re willing and able to work on her leash manners and will adequately exercise her with walks. That said, if you plan to use a fenced yard for exercise, she is not to be left out unsupervised. Val has been thru the shelter system twice already, both times after being picked up as a stray… statistically speaking, as a black pit bull looking dog, it’s a miracle she even has this chance at a forever home so please understand the importance of keeping her safely confined.
Dog Friendly: Another tricky question… While she can coexist and play nicely with some dogs, she should not live with other dogs. She guards food that is unattended… meaning things on the floor, on a coffee table, etc., which can be difficult to manage with a multi dog home.
Cat Friendly? No, and no small prey animals.
Kid Friendly: Val has had some exposure to kids in a previous foster home but no recent or first hand experiences. She is generally pretty gentle so I think she’d be ok.
If yes, what's the youngest child you'd recommend they be placed with? I’d defer to parents on this one.
Special traits that make your foster special or that we need to know about them? Valentina is like a cat with 9 lives – she’s escaped the shelter system twice now and we honestly can’t figure out why she ended up there in the first place. She’s super sweet, friendly, snuggly, playful and has the most soulful eyes that make you want to melt. She does these cute spazzy play bows when she’s excited about something and is so light on her feet that we joke she’s like a baby gazelle hopping around the house. She’s a little Velcro-like, but not the annoying kind. The kind where she chooses to quietly curl up under the desk as I’m working from home - even though she has free reign of the rest of the house - just to keep me company… or where she promptly hops up to follow if I peel away from our couch snuggle, even if just to grab a quick drink. Val’s ideal home is one willing to give her ample time to settle in… after all, she has been bounced around quite a bit in her life. We’re hoping to find someone(s) looking for true companionship, who will give her the time and attention she deserves. She isn’t a dog that wants to entertain herself, you can tell she genuinely enjoys the human connection. Canine friends can be fun too, but just as friends outside of the home as she does not share well (after the life she’s lived, can you blame her?). She takes direction well, and it’s important that you give that to her to bring out her very best.
*When Val arrived, she was grossly underweight and in overall poor physical condition. She has displayed some guarding behavior in her foster home, and it has escalated to a bite on another dog on one occasion. Val has displayed absolutely no aggression toward humans in any way.
Fosters Location: Elkton, MD
Application can be found here: https://www.grrde.org/adoption-application (if you already have an approved application on file email GrassRootsDE@gmail.com and ask the app team to pull your app
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