Lila - Mutt Female Dog For Adoption in Estherville, Iowa, USA

Dog Breed: Australian Cattle Dog/Blue Heeler / Mixed (short coat).

***The first step in the adoption process is to complete the adoption application at .emmetcountyanimalshelter*** This speckled girl is Lila but the humans call her Bird or Puppy more often than Lila. Our best guess is that she was a late 2023/ early 2024 puppy. Lila is an adorable sweet girl once she knows and trusts you. She is a terrified shut down pup for new people though. When she arrived at her foster home she spent a few days quarantining before she met the other dogs. During that time she was not interested in humans. Once she was let in with the other dogs she started to open up. It took 1-2ish weeks before she decided the humans weren’t a threat. Slowly after that she started asking for pets and eventually decided she likes to sit with the humans and take naps. She did a lot of nervous peeing when she got here but nearly none these days. She still prefers dogs over humans. She loves to romp and wrestle. Her and another foster get to being so chaotic it probably sounds like a dog fight to outsiders but they just love to play. She is kennel trained but does exhibit some separation anxiety so she needs a solid kennel. She likes to sleep out with the humans and will squeal a time or two in the night if she is asked to sleep in the kennel. She is a thief so socks, snacks, anything that she shouldn’t have should be kept up when she’s not being supervised. She is house trained with a dog door. She will not communicate she needs to go out but she will take herself out every time with a dog door. A secure fenced in yard and dog door are a must for this pup. A dog friend would really be ideal as well. She is interested in our cats and will chase them if they run but shows no intention of hurting them. She’s learning to walk on leash and will comply unless something spooks her (cars, people, strange noises, ect). She may not ever be an adventurous dog but she’s shown potential to improve. We have started her on medication to hopefully help her continue to work through some of her troubles. Unfortunately, she was a dumped dog so it’s hard to know her past to know how to undo whenever trauma she may have endured. We can’t tell you that making a choice to adopt Lila will be an easy path but any dog person who has loved a shut down dog can tell you it’s one of the more rewarding bonds to build. If you are interested in Lila please make sure you’re ready to give her time and tools to help her adjust. Being returned would be very difficult for her. If you are semi local to Estherville her fosters would love to do a few meet and greets and would even be happy to drive her to your home and help get her inside/settled in a little. A little more background from her original rescue...Roscoe and his sister Lila were found abandoned in the countryside. A kind person took them in so that we could find them each a home to call their own. Her dogs helped teach the pups the ropes of being good dogs and they are learning more everyday. Roscoe is outgoing, rambunctious, brave and affectionate. Lila is sweet, mild, timid and affectionate. Both pups love other dogs. They do tend to have a strong prey drive and while there are no cats on the property they do chase other small creatures. They will need a fair amount of exercise and mental stimulation because they appear to be of the herding group. The pups were likely born early summer 2024 and are altered, up to date on vaccinations and microchipped. Their adoption fee is $300.00 Lila is the type of dog you go into a new relationship knowing it will take time, patience, understanding, lots of treats to reward good behaviors and create a positive connection and the willingness to accept setbacks. She is not aggressive at all in her timid nature but putting her in a position of fight or flight would not be fair and the last time she got away from someone we spent a good deal of time trap training her and eventually catching her. She would need to always be secure and made to feel safe so only gentle and kind humans need apply!