ADOPTED
LOOK OUT WORLD, HERE COMES REILLY!!
Reilly is a 5 month old female German Shepherd puppy. If you are that “Certain Someone” that thinks she may be for you, then you will need to Lace-up those walking shoes to em-‘bark’ on an adventure of a lifetime.
Don’t be fooled by those puppy dog eyes. She is a focused puppy on a mission and ready to work! She loves to explore her world and even more, enjoys exploring that world with her people. She works hard and plays hard. Not a day goes by that her foster family is not amazed by her intelligence and trainability. She is curious and willing to learn. We are looking for a family for her where her person or people are experienced with the German Shepherd breed or similar large working dog breeds. She is not suitable for a first time dog owner. Reilly has strong working traits and will be amazing with an experienced handler but will be challenging for a first timer. She is super smart and driven to work so only those interested in dog sports, advanced obedience, and or herding/scenting work etc should apply. Reilly has shown an extremely keen interest in sniffing/tracking especially.
Along with her 3 siblings, Reilly was rescued from a Puppy. She adjusted well and has been a complete joy since her arrival. She has soft shiny black and tan fur which will gradually be replaced by her adult fur in the next few months. Her face and her body is mostly black while her legs and belly are tan. She has a light shadowing of black fur around the tips of all 4 paws. She will be a shedding dog and likely to have slightly more tan colour as her adult fur comes in.
Reilly is about 45 pounds now. She will be a large dog and likely weigh between 70 and 80 lbs when fully grown. She has no health concerns, but in saying that, Reilly does have a very sensitive stomach, common with Shepherds, and therefore her forever family will need to be committed to a good high quality kibble to ensure that she continues to have good gut health, and will also need to monitor the treats that she is given.
German Shepherds are working dogs and Reilly is no different! She needs to exercise and have new challenges daily. Reilly is looking for an active family who is willing to walk/run her at least twice a day (running as an adult) and take time out for training to keep her happy and healthy. She will not be a dog that will lounge around the house all day. She is a happy puppy who loves to chase, sniff out food treats and roam around the house looking for something to explore. Her curiosity and exploration can get her into trouble at times. She likes to pick up and collect things of interest that smell good or create a reaction from her audience. She will occasionally grab a hand towel or a toilet paper roll so it’s really important that Reilly is watched closely until she has outgrown her puppy antics. She does not guard her resources and is willing to give it up items when she receives a fair trade or she gets a little extra attention from her people.
One of her little quirks involves her water dish. It seems at least once a day we have a “water dish fiasco” where Reilly feels it necessary to play in her
water dish. She scoops her giant puppy paw into the water and digs the water out of the dish, or else just tips it over completely. My guess is that Reilly will be a big lover of the water when we start getting that warmer weather! A kiddie pool in the backyard would likely create endless hours of fun for this water girl! Speaking of the outdoors, Reilly is a BIG outdoors girl, she loves everything to do with being outside so it’s really important that her new people like being outside rain/shine/snow/wind because she doesn’t care. In fact she is an absolute snow dog and loves to chase and dig in the snow, as well as chase the snow the comes off your boots while you’re walking. Throwing snowballs or shoveling snow at her is a huge favourite of hers and she doesn’t grow old of it. She also loves to chase around the leaves that are blowing around the ground, she loves to chew sticks, and she loves to dig! Be prepared to have some holes in your backyard, or better yet build her a dig pit so she can dig to her hearts content!
Reilly can be very affectionate at times and will greet and kiss any new arrivals in the house. She loves to be with her people. She will follow you around the house and stay by your side. Whether it is at your feet while you are doing the dishes, lay beside you during the big game or making a mad dash to the door as she sees you put your coat on. Reilly loves to snuggle up on the couch at the end of the day when her and her people finally get to rest, she really enjoys stretching out and taking up one or two spots. Reilly’s people are everything to her, she is a loyal family dog and she will want to be there for every member of the family! That being said, Reilly is not suited to younger children as she is very high energy and still learning that she needs to keep all paws on the ground when she greets new people, or just when she is excited. Children would need to be 8+ and dog savvy and must understand proper play and interactions with dogs. Although Reilly enjoys sharing her home with other dogs she could be overly dominant at times. She would do well on her own or paired with a well-balanced, medium to large size male dog. She will not be suited well to a home with another female or dominant dog. Reilly currently lives with a cat, however we do not recommend that her forever home have a cat as she very much has a prey drive and it wouldn’t be fair to either Reilly or the cat in the home to live a life like that.
Basic obedience training along with advanced obedience training is a must with Reilly as it will help her develop a wonderful relationship with her new family, but it will also help her to understand what is expected of her and help set out rules in her new home. Reilly is very intelligent and is going to be a very strong-willed dog, but most importantly she wants to work and she wants to please. She will need consistency and structure in her forever home in order for her to continue to thrive. She will grow to be a strong girl and will not be suitable for first time dog owners. The potential adopters will need to be aware of the time commitment involved in this breed of dog.
Training and tricks seem to come naturally for Reilly. She is extremely food driven and loves to please her people. She knows the commands sit, down, stay, come and look at me. We currently have Reilly in a training class for some extra socialization while she waits for her forever family, and let me tell you she is doing a fantastic job! She is highly intelligent and will not take long to catch on to any task. Reilly’s adopters will need to be firm and consistent as she can be determined and stubborn when there is something she wants.
Puppies can be a lot of work and need constant supervision to keep them safe. Potential adopters will need to be home for most of the day or have the ability to come home as she will not like to be on her own for long periods of time. Early training and perseverance is essential.
Reilly is completely crate trained. While everyone is sleeping she is safely tucked away in her crate. She was very vocal the first few nights but soon accepted her crate as her “bed”. It is very important that she remains crated during the night and any other time that she cannot be properly supervised. This is to keep her safe from things around her that she may try to explore, as well as ensure that she doesn’t develop any unwanted behaviors when you’re not there to correct her. Daytime crating is a little tricky, but necessary, as she will vocalize for some time to express her dislike of being left alone, but she always settles down. A good lick mat or stuffed kong always helps these crating experiences and assists with getting her to calm down right from the beginning. Overall Reilly is excellent in her crate, but in the morning once she hears you starting to stir, she will start to bark and howl to let you know that she would like to come out. The same can be said for when she hears you come home after being at work, she will let you know she hears you and is so excited that you’re home, but she knows she needs to calm down before she can be let out of her crate. Because Reilly is still occasionally vocal in her crate, it’s important that her forever family not have a home that shares walls with other families, as this could cause issues.
Although she is housetrained and goes to the outside door when she needs to relieve herself, any new adopters will need to take her out regularly until she adjusts to her new surroundings. They will need to take her out every hour and take note of the cues when she needs to relieve herself.
Travelling in the car was initially not one of Reilly’s favourite things to do, but she has come a long way and does much better with them now. It’s important that her forever family continue to have small car rides that end in happy outcomes (such as going to a trail, pet store, etc) so that Reilly understands that car rides are a good thing. Reilly will initially whine a bit when she is in the car, but she does settle down quite quickly. She is happy to either curl up in the back seat, or else sit up and watch the world through the windows. Reilly does noticeably better in the car if she has had a good training session or if she has had a good walk beforehand.
Walks are enjoyable for Reilly. The entire walk is an adventure. She will smell and explore as she thoroughly enjoys the entire experience. She is
easily distracted by passing cars and will attempt to run alongside as they pass her by, this is something that we are working on correcting so that she can be calm when cars pass. She is also interested in people, dogs and any wildlife. It’s important that her family be confident handlers to help her gain the confidence she needs to learn to be able to walk by these distractions and maintain control. Putting her in a sit in a controlled position does help greatly when working through these distractions, but be sure to have some good high value treats with you! We do feel that Reilly would do much better in a more rural setting or quiet town or subdivision than she would in a busy city.
This sweet puppy will bring joy to her new family without a doubt. Her gentle nature and love of life will bring many smiles and laughs to the lucky family who adopts her!
If you think that Reilly will fit into your world, please fill out an application. She can’t wait to meet you!!