Energetic Collie Girl Searching for a Forever Heart - Is It You?

Pearl is a purebred Collie that was bred most likely by someone here in Utah.  Her coloring is pretty unusual because her body is almost entirely white. She's a beautiful girl but she needs a family who will see past her striking good looks and be able to take a LOT of time to work with her.

She came into the Carbon County Animal Shelter picked up as a stray.  When she wasn't claimed they contacted Sheltie Rescue to help her.

One of our best foster homes took her in and has been working with her for about two weeks now to become familiar with her personality and what training she's had so that we can place her in the best forever home that will be a successful match for this energetic girl.

We estimate that her age is somewhere around 2 1/2 years old.  She has many puppy characteristics including chewing on inappropriate objects - EXCEPT if you make lots of dog chewies available to her and direct her to them away from inappropriate objects.

She is very playful and puppyish in her play.  She has lovely white teeth which she seems to think need to chew on anything that she lays down next to.  She has pulled the rain gutter downspout off the side of the house and was chewing on it, has chewed an edge off the wood trellis, was going to try out the rocking chair in the living room, took my shoes, etc.  The good thing is that she is very easy to redirect onto something more appropriate for chewing, but the behavior seems very puppyish. This means that she needs a lot of monitoring and would benefit hugely from training classes.

Pearl is every bit as beautiful as her name suggests.  She has a youthful energy and enthusiasm for life that I'm sure will bring her new family endless joy.  She loves to play with other dogs and thinks every person that she meets is already her friend.  She walks nicely on leash.  She will sit and lie down when asked.  She loves to offer her paw to shake hands.  She thinks it's great fun to help you untie your shoes, though I realize some people may not think that's as cute as we did.  She seems to be housetrained, having had no accidents while here.  She readily used a doggie door at a friends house when I took her to visit, so she's either had prior experience with one, or she's a very fast learner.  She likes to go for rides in the car.

Because she is young she has still has some juvenile behaviors, like mouthing things, hauling around shoes, remotes, buckets, or anything else that catches her eye.  She acts as though she's possibly been left alone a lot to entertain herself, and so she does.  She will gladly trade whatever she has in her possession for something more appropriate when asked, and I think with more attention and time this behavior will likely fade quickly. 

She has many wonderful qualities and someone is really going to enjoy her with some diligent training work.  Pearl walks nicely on a leash, knows "sit" and down, and loves to shake hands.  She is people friendly and curious about most everything.  She even likes water.  Waded right into the ditch after our old girl Lucy on a walk the other day.  She hasn't had an accident in the house. She rode nicely in the car. 

Older dogs or any dog who is tired of playing could easily be annoyed by her repeated attempts to play.  She is not a dog that can be left to her own creative ideas when nobody is at home, even for a few hours, until she's a bit older and has settled into a routine in your home. Pearl is a beautiful, spirited Collie girl who will probably do best as the only dog in the household.  Pearl gets along with other dogs.  However she has a tendency to nudge them to play repeatedly until they get annoyed with her.  In addition, Pearl needs to think about making the people in her family part of her pack and be motivated to bond with them.  She is much less likely to do this with a canine buddy available. 

If you're interested in adopting Pearl or would like more information on her please fill out an Application for Adoption at http://SheltieRescueUT.org or call us at 801-942-4762.  The adoption fee for Pearl is $275.00  She will do best as an only dog in the household, at least for the first year, with an adopter that will be committed to working with her and taking her to training classes. A stay-at-home Mom or Dad would also be a plus for this girl who needs lots of supervision as she learns to fit into your household.

 

Good with Dogs, Good with Kids