Stella, the debutante

She's 12 years old, owner was "moving, couldn't keep." That's a story we hear a lot. She was a little shell-shocked at first, wasn't sure what was going on, what was happening to her. Her life was turned upside down without warning and without a clue. It's little wonder that so many dogs, shepherds in particular, freak out in shelters. It's a real wonder that more or most do not.

A shot from the rear, but it
shows a dog with classic
shepherd features.

Stella arrived here Wednesday afternoon. I was busy at work and it was a hot day so most of the dogs were upstairs with me in the office. I put her into one of the downstairs crates to chill for a while as I finished my work. I came down after a couple hours, let her out and began the introductions--Maya, Trooper, Gambit, Gigi, Vince, Charlie. That's a lot of dog to throw at a new girl but she handled it all very well.

She sampled the tall grass.

Stella (left), meeting Gambit.
That's Gigi's back in the foreground.

She is spayed, house-trained, and was fine being crated although I suspect it was new to her. Apparently the former owner used to take her to work with him. What sort of work environment, I don't know, but she's obviously well-socialized. On Thursday she met our housekeeper and greeted her like a long lost friend. I suspect she prefers women but she warmed up to me very quickly and Clay too.

Meeting Trooper. He is always good
with new foster dogs.

Meeting Gigi one-on-one

She has no vaccine history but she is spayed. I'll get her to the vet next week but I'm doing a routine panacure worming just because it's a good idea with a new dog. Her nails are quite long and her coat was in need of a good brushing, but for an old dog she seems to be in really good shape. She has no apparently mobility issues and can do the stairs with ease.

Her name is Stella and she'll be making her debut with VGSR next week. She's a real easy keeper and is said to be cat-friendly. I left her un-crated my office Wednesday night and again when we went to town Thursday evening and she was fine.