Lily

Lily's owners contacted VGSR about re-homing her.  They moved to a small place, two small kids, long working hours, no time, etc.  The reasons are familiar and they don't really matters.  What does matter is what the dog is like so I went into Charlottesville today to meet her. 


I was pleasantly surprised to find a well-trained and well-socialized, 1.5 year old female shepherd.  She loves to play fetch and she actually returns the Frisbee to you.  She's been raised around two young children, is house-trained and crate-trained.  She lives in a small backyard with a low fence that she doesn't jump.  She goes to the park and socializes with other people's children and other people's dogs.  In short, she seems to have a good solid temperament, not hyper, not overly developed protective instincts. 


The not so good news is that she's apparently highly allergic, her skin is pink, she's itchy, she's missing some hair, although reportedly she's much better now than she has been at times in the past.  The owner cooks hamburger and rice for her to eat.  She's not spayed and it's not clear if she's ever had the allergic condition addressed by a vet.  That's not at all uncommon for a shepherd, of course.   She actually looked to me like she could have a demodex (non-contagious mange) infection going on.  Her skin reminded me of that dog Bastian that I took in a while back, although she's not nearly as severe as he was.  I may contact his adopters and see what they did for him because I know they got him into great condition. 

She needs a foster, or an adopter.  I can't take her now or anytime real soon.  Fortunately, she's not urgent, but I would like to get her spayed and get that allergy more under control.