My name is Shadow D16590!

I am available for adoption under a Foster to Adopt agreement. This means that my adopter would act as my foster for a period of up to 30 days before finalizing the adoption.

Hi! My name is Shadow!

From the Foster: Unique adoption requirements: Shadow is an extreme flight risk and has escaped foster homes twice now and had to be live trapped after 10 days on the run. Due to this, his adopter must have a 6 foot tall secure fence. There also must be another friendly/confident dog in the home to model positive human/dog interactions for him. Additionally, his adopter should be experienced with extremely fearful/shut down dogs.

Meet Shadow, the sweetest boy, who is truly scared of his own shadow. Shadow is going to need a truly special adopter willing to give him the time and space he needs to eventually trust people. Our best guess is that Shadow is likely a labradoodle - he was a breeder release from a puppy mill situation. Shadow is terrified of humans. We believe he was abused and likely never had a single positive interaction with a human prior to being rescued.

Shadow is scared of all people, but especially men, so for the last 3 months since he's been in rescue, his foster mom has been the sole person caring for him so he can slowly start to trust one person at a time. He has learned to trust her a little but he is still extremely nervous even with her.

When taken out on a leash to potty, Shadow is very skittish and constantly darts his vision back and forth between looking ahead and looking at his foster mom to see if she will make sudden movements. He startles at the sound of rustling leaves, loud cars, or even things like coughing or sneezing. The sound of dribbling basketballs from the neighbor kids or a lawn mower is especially frightening for him and he will try to pull to get away from the sound.

Even with having a 6 foot fence, it will be important to leash Shadow when outside as he will not willingly come back inside and is very hard to catch, particularly until he trusts you more. It's important to note that if you have a deck or any small space he can hide under or in outside, Shadow will find it and hide in it and not come out so any space in your backyard that he could hide under or in will need to be blocked off.

Eye contact is scary for Shadow. He prefers that you don't look directly at him when talking to him. It will be important for an adopter to follow Shadow's cues and let him come to you, which so far has only happened a handful of times in 3 months for his foster mom. These instances involved other dogs in the home coming near her where he tried to mimic them. For this reason, it will be a necessity that there is another dog in the home who is friendly and confident as this will help model positive dog/human interaction for Shadow. Shadow does great with other dogs - in fact other dogs are the ONLY thing he isn't scared of. When humans are not around, we have seen him play with other dogs on our cameras and it's so fun to see him relax when we're not around.

Shadow is potty trained, however he will sometimes pee or poop inside when frightened. This has happened from thunderstorms and people startling/scaring him. He will not willingly get in a vehicle and has to be picked up and put in the car. Because of his breed, he will need regular brushing and grooming and due to his anxiety, he would benefit from someone able to do this grooming in his own home.

Shadow's kennel is his safe place and his adopter will need to get a similar safe place set up for him that he has access to go in and out of. Doing so will give him a place to retreat to when scared but will allow him to come out of it when he feels comfortable. Depending on the layout of your home, extra tall baby gates may be a necessity to keep him safe and from escaping out front doors.

Shadow takes anxiety meds twice per day. He will likely need to be on meds for life. Shadow does not eat or drink anything if humans are around. Occasionally he will refuse to eat a meal at all, but will sometimes eat it a few hours later. He eats and drinks in his kennel and waits until people have left the room to do so. He does not eat treats and is not food motivated at all - likely because he's too scared to eat in the presence of people.

Once Shadow is adopted, his world will need to be kept very small for a long time. This would mean not bringing him anywhere except your yard and vet and also not having him meet a lot of people. It's unknown how he would do with kids, but it would be reasonable to have older, considerate children only in the home as small children and their sudden movements will likely scare him too much. Anything loud or sudden is very scary for him.

Shadow is not currently the type of dog who is going to give you affection or any clear sign that he even likes you. In the 3 months he's been in his foster home, he has licked his foster mom's hand one time. This is the only affection he has shown. Our hope is that he eventually will be able to connect with humans, but realistically it will take at least a year and even still it's not a guarantee. His progress has been 1 step forward, 3 steps back. He has had very small breakthroughs but they are incredibly rewarding to see.

It is our hope that this bio of Shadow scares the majority of people off because while he's a cute doodle, it's important to know how absolutely broken Shadow is and how incredibly long his journey to a "normal dog is going to be. It is likely that Shadow will never be a normal dog - he is not a dog that may ever be a companion - he may never seek out affection and he may never be comfortable receiving it. Shadow needs an adopter who is willing to put in very hard work without seeing much reward for a long time, while knowing that they are giving a very scared dog an opportunity to know what real love looks like and that people can be trusted after all.