Additional Details

HOW TO ADOPT: This dog is available for adoption by appointment. To schedule a time to meet this dog, please email meetme@arl-iowa.org.

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– Came from a situation where she did not get the socialization and exposure to the world that dogs typically get from a young age. Because of this, she may struggle with new situations, may show uncertainty with novel everyday objects, may need help understanding leashes, and will need patience and structure with housetraining

– Curious and interested in people, but is still getting used to the idea of being touched and tends to be pretty shy about that; her foster family said she will approach and sniff both them and visitors and will sometimes eat out of their hands

– Does want to be with her foster family and will follow them around

– Has gotten much more comfortable with being picked up, but will still need some patient work with that

– Comfortable walking on softer surfaces, like carpet and blankets, but she’s unsure of the hardwood floors in her foster home right now

– Has done best with a helper dog when it comes to confidence-building and learning how to be a dog, so we highly recommend she be adopted into a home with another dog; another small dog has been her “helper dog” in her foster home, and she draws confidence from that dog every day

– Has been more comfortable around small dogs vs. large ones so far, but has been able to coexist with the larger dog in her foster home

– Still fearful of being outdoors, but she has gradually started following her helper dog out; has not pottied outdoors yet

– Does not understand the concept of play yet, although she does watch her helper dog playing with toys

– Will likely do best in a calm, predictable home, and may not do well in a busy home with young children.

– We don’t know her history with cats

– Looking for a quiet, patient family – ideally with another dog – who will give her the time and space she needs to grow; it will be very rewarding to watch her continue to gain confidence and experience the good things in life!

All adoptable dogs and puppies are spayed/neutered, microchipped and up to date on vaccinations (rabies and DA2PPV as appropriate for their age)

The ARL’s shelter software requires that we choose a primary breed for our dogs. Visual breed identification in dogs is unreliable, so for most dogs we are only guessing at primary breed. We get to know each dog as an individual and do our best to describe each of our dogs based on personality, not breed label.