Size
(when grown) Large 61-100 lbs (28-45 kg)
Details
Good with kids,
Good with dogs,
Good with cats,
Spayed or Neutered,
Story
Meet lovely Piper, formerly Dulce. She's that rare shepherd who gets along with resident cats, small to medium dogs, and other shepherds; look no further if you have been hoping to find a cat-workable adult girl who also likes kids.
Piper is returning for a new placement as her adopters, with their hearts breaking, need our help finding Piper, her next family, due to unexpected circumstances.
In addition to living with three cats (a 6-year-old male and female & a 1-year-old male) and two dogs (a 6-year-old 45 lb female and a 1-year-old 10 lb male) easily, Dulce has also been living with a young boy she adores. Named Piper for her shepherd trait to keep her people in sight by following them, Piper has also overcome her original restraint around men, loving fetch games with the family's adult son and other male friends just as she did in her foster home the first time she was with us.
When Piper arrived at the shelter in Spring 2022 with four puppies, she was rail thin with a brittle coat. At the time of her adoption, her figure was returning with a soft, glossy coat, but she still needed a few more pounds on her frame. Fast forward a year plus, and she's in her prime at an appropriate healthy weight, even more beautiful.
Her puppies are thriving; their forever families have children, most have dogs, and there is a cat or two in their lives.
Dulce loves to run with her buddies; she's an athletic, agile three-year-old girl. She fetches balls and soft, cuddly toys, but the Chuck It Paraflight frisbee might still be her favorite.
Piper takes her treats delicately with a soft mouth, happy for snuggles and kisses; she nuzzles and nudges her people for love. She loves to snuggle on the couch or the bed with belly rubs as a bonus if allowed. She's a lovely, super fun, and sweet girl with her people.
While she was with us initially, she lived with five male dogs ranging from 10 years to 7 months. She adored the 7-month-old pup and played happily with the puppy and the 3-year-old shepherd with mutual alternating zoomies, play bows, and mouthy games, wrestling away. She showed remarkable ease in sharing toys, especially with the puppy, who loved to steal her toys and run off with them. Since the older dogs were more into their humans, she lived nicely with them, including the blind shepherd, who sometimes would bump into them.
Dulce loves walks, excited when her leash is in hand, sticking her head for her martingale collar. She loads quickly and rides quietly on car rides, appreciating the air through open windows for her nose to peek out to take in all the smells.
She loves her crate, sleeping in it through the night, and doesn't fuss if crated when her people are away. Thoroughly potty trained, Dulce is trustworthy in the house.
Dulce loves meandering, sniffing walks, and exploring the neighborhood. Heading out on errands to dog-friendly stores, she's comfortable at stores, walking next to shopping carts in motion.
Dulce alerts to strangers at the door or in the yard and has a surprisingly big voice for her body, but most of the time, after her initial bark, she settles down, having done her job. When she first came from the shelter, Dulce was terrified of men, retreating to her crate with those big doe eyes staring at them and then shutting down. Briefly fostered by an experienced shepherd owner, a thoughtful man, to recover from her spay surgery, she would slowly approach him for love and, at any sudden movement, make a beeline for her safe place, the crate. We moved her to a female foster home without dogs, where Dulce finished healing, gained weight, and relaxed for us to learn more about her. To see if resident dogs in a foster home would help her learn to trust men, we moved her to her final foster home, which proved to be the magic with Dulce. By living with dogs who love the men in their household, she learned about safe men and loved her foster dad, who initially encouraged her affection with bits of steak and BBQ meat. She would nuzzle him first thing in the morning and was part of the "dad is home party" at night. She loved playing fetch with him, dropping her toy for him to throw repeatedly.
All her humans adore this sweet girl and want to see her thrive happily in her next home.
Dulce's forever home should have experience with shepherds or other working breed dogs, and lots of love and structure to transition through upcoming change.
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