Size
(when grown) Large 61-100 lbs (28-45 kg)
Details
Good with kids,
Good with dogs,
House-trained,
Spayed or Neutered,
Shots are up-to-date,
Story
Stewie is a charming, devoted and affectionate two-year-old boy with folks he knows and trusts. He completed a month-long training through Canine Purpose's Board and Traning program in Loomis and currently attends group classes with his foster families. This handsome boy has the brains and a big heart to match. He can be handful with a cheeky side making significant progress in impulse control while his handlers have learned that he's a boy who needs structure and thrives when his people give him clear direction. Stewie has two foster homes, switching between the households regularly.
Stewie's affectionate nature once he establishes a relationship with you means that you'll always have a best friend nearby, preferably leaning into you or snuggling while you watch TV or read and if allowed in bed with you. In his foster home with doggie mates, he sleeps free starting the night snuggled right in bed next to his humans to move off to a dog bed later in the night. In his foster home where he's a solo dog, he sleeps in his crate easily; knowing each households rules and following them.
Stewie has been working hard in his training sessions, mastering meeting strangers with an easy hi, learning a solid place command, working with multiple handlers on the desired heel position, and maintaining his learned skills in increasingly distracting environments. At the same time, he loves his trainers with his vast capacity for joy and loves to please them. Stewie has a natural shepherd stranger danger focus around strangers requiring an experienced handler whom he trusts at which time he'll cede those decisions to his handler.
With his intelligence, eagerness to please those he loves, and love of treats, it's been lovely to watch Stewie heal from the repair of his fractured leg that required months of crate confinement, followed by rehab, and the vitality of a young shepherd who finally could run and play and join his multiple foster families (he had four during his crate confinement) in long walks, play with the resident shepherds and learn to swim with them, then evolve into a potential candidate for Dock Diving since he loves to leap into the water, dunk his head in completely to fetch his toys out of the water.
Suppose you love training your dog, have excellent handling skills to provide structure and experience with shepherds or similar breeds, and are looking for a shepherd to continue developing your dog's obedience skills. In that case, Stewie is ready to be the devoted companion you have been searching for. In return, he would love a steady supply of balls, toys, especially squeaky ones, and many swim opportunities.
Stewie's entirely crate and potty trained, has earned the right to sleep free, and shows himself trustworthy while his people are away without being crated. As months have progressed, he's even settled in the car, snoozing on the way to destinations for hours long rides. He's generally a quiet boy in the house, leaving it to his mates to bark at preceived critter prowlers in the yard at night and loud noises in the street.
Stewie enjoys many fruits and vegetables, including blueberries, bananas, oranges, apples, nectarines, cucumbers, and carrots. Generally, he's game to try any food you offer, including fan favorites of pumpkin, cottage cheese, and yogurt, to name a few. He had many filled Kongs, Toppls, and other enrichments during his long crate confinement. A slim and trim boy, Stewie loves his kibble and eats his meals with the resident dogs, sitting for his meals before eating from his bowl. Before heading to Canine Purpose for training, Stewie generally could honor sit, down, stay, leave it, come, wait, in bed, hop in, no. Those skills were further refined during his training.
Stewie also started the initial stages of NACSW nosework training for enrichment during his long healing process. He enjoyed finding treats and kibble in boxes and other containers and on natural lawn objects like rocks, tree limbs, and lawn furniture.
We are grateful to UCDVMTH's Fracture Program for Rescues for allowing us the opportunity to repair his leg and to the shelter vet who brought his case to the attention of this program to avoid amputating his leg. Despite the pain of his fractured tibia at the ER and in the shelter, he was such a good-natured boy. Stewie's care meant coordination amongst an extensive team, beginning with the ER staff at the hospital that treated him immediately after being hit by a car, the shelter vet and staff when he was surrendered for lack of funds to repair his leg, UCDVMTH veterinarians, and staff, and our rescue volunteers managing many details regarding transportation, medications, surgery and follow up visits including rehab consult with Integrative Medicine to develop the plan to ease him into full use of his leg. All accomplished, a success story for everyone involved, including his multiple primary and relief foster homes, who have loved and cared for him.
Stewie is an active, energetic, and, at times, handful shepherd, so he'll thrive in a home where he can enjoy regular exercise and play. He'll be a great companion for someone who enjoys outdoor activities like hiking. He's loved hiking in Tahoe and is happy to put in four-plus miles on trails. He lives with multiple resident shepherds, adores the foster puppies who come through his foster home including them in play with his balls and mouthy games that go on forever, and has a couple of BFFs at Canine Purpose who match his play style. Stewie can be pushy/rude in play and if paired with another dog will need a neutral dog as a companion. His current mates are very dog savvy, he respects the older dogs and plays well with the younger ones.
Stewie has been adopted twice by folks who found his looks captivating, fell in love with and yet returned him within weeks before he could settle. They admitted to overlooking his true shepherd personality and guidance from his foster families and trainers. If you're interested in Stewie, please note that his fosters will be very selective after Stewie's two adoption experiences and will want to meet multiple times including with his trainers before commiting to launch Stewie to a forever home. He is very loved and would remain with his foster families permanently except one frequently travels for work and the other is at the permanent dog limit set by their animal control jurisdiction.
Take advantage of this opportunity to see if you are a match for this beautiful shepherd. Please select the adopt button and fill out an application for us to connect about Stewie.
As a foster-based rescue, ShepHeroes is always in need of fosters. An overwhelming number of shepherds in our local shelters need our help for a fresh start. Would you be willing to share your home and part of your summer to help shepherds find new families? You provide the love, and we’ll provide everything else! Saying “yes” today truly saves a life. Complete this https://www.shepheroes.org/foster-form, and we’ll be in touch ASAP! We appreciate your consideration.
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