Pleasant Grove, CA - German Shepherd Dog. Meet Rio a Pet for Adoption

My basic info

Breed

German Shepherd Dog

Color

Black - with Tan, Yellow or Fawn

Age

Adult

Size

Large 61-100 lbs (28-45 kg) (when grown)

Weight

–

Sex

Female

Pet ID

–

My details

Good with kids

Good with dogs

Purebred

Shots current

Spayed / Neutered

Housetrained

My story

Here's what the humans have to say about me:

"Rio" is a beautiful, 80-lb 4-yo spayed female GSD who is playful, energetic, and affectionate. Rio is quite loyal and is very focused on her person. She is friendly with strangers and was great w/ her owner's 8 & 11-yo niece and nephew. We have not observed how Rio is with really young kids, but her sweet temperament suggests she'll be just fine.

Rio is great w/ other dogs, including small dogs. She presently lives w/ two very small dogs (including the one pictured w/ her at left), and is both gentle and playful with them. We don't know how Rio is with cats, but she does chase after and bark at squirrels so I will only consider a home without cats for her.

Rio is housetrained and responds well to basic commands. She is fine on leash as long as she's wearing her "Command Collar" (similar to a prong collar), but does pull without it. She is mostly off-leash on a 5-acre property, so her leash skills will likely improve with more practice.

Rio likes playing with toys and will even play with them on her own. She likes to play tug and will fetch a ball, but them wants to play keep-away rather than release. Rio likes to go for car rides, and though she is rather excitable in the vehicle it's not so bad as to create a safety issue.

Rio's major fault is that she gets extremely worked up when her owner operates a "side-by-side" off-road vehicle--which he uses often on his property. Rio goes beyond just chasing and barking at the vehicle; she bites the tires and gets so worked up that she literally becomes exhausted. When she is inside the house and not confined to where she can't see her owner operate the side-by-side, she also gets worked up and will try to find a way out of the house. When placed in a room where she can't see the vehicle, she is fine.

At GSRSV's rescue ranch, I ran my riding lawn mower to see how Rio would react, and she hardly showed any excitement. When her owner rode the mower, Rio followed him but again did not get worked up at all.

Rio's owner Sean and his wife adopted her from the animal shelter in Carson (SoCal) in July 2015. Though Rio has been a really good dog for the most part, and it's likely that Rio's behavior around the side-by-side is quite correctable, Sean doesn't have the time to work with her and worries about her hurting herself. Therefore, he is seeking a new home for Rio through GSRSV.

GSRSV has evaluated Rio and is placing her as a "Program Dog." This means that GSRSV is placing Rio through its adoption program while her owners continue to care for her. Rio's adoption fee is $250, which includes a microchip.