Time for a long-overdue update on Shelly! We have nothing but good news to report as we’ve gotten to know this girl better.

We have had some concerns, because Shelly just plain doesn’t like our resident Golden Jaden, and they have gotten into some fights that are too fierce for our liking. We worried that Shelly’s aggressiveness in response to Jaden might affect meeting other dogs as well, and RAGOM arranged for an evaluation by a professional dog trainer. Today, under the supervision of the professional, Shelly met quite a few new dogs and behaved perfectly appropriately to them all. In fact, she got a good solid “A” on her outing!

However, it is clear that Shelly prefers people to dogs! While she would go on alert and sniff out another dog, every friendly-looking person who approached her today got a good ol’ tail-wagging welcome from Shelly, who was always happy to lean in close for an ear rub and some petting! What a difference from the reserved dog who didn’t want us to touch her ears or feet or tail just three weeks ago.

Shelly has gotten a lot more relaxed in our home this past week, since we decided we had to separate the two battlers. Right now Shelly lives on one level of our house (with plenty of people contact) and Jaden lives on another level. Being an “only dog” most of the time has proved to be so much better for Shelly. I’m starting to see a side of Jaden I never knew before—do you know the cartoon dog Odie, from Garfield? Imagine his slobbering, tongue hanging out, fervor and you’ve got a picture of Jaden, who’s never known a cross word in her life and thinks every dog that crosses our threshold came exclusively to play with her. “Ya wanna play, yeah, play, like right now, huh, play?” Meanwhile, her whole body wags, not just her tail. Yes, I think I can see how Shelly would find her overpowering and intolerable and seriously needing to be put in her place! With the aggravating Jaden out of her face, Shelly has relaxed and settled in. In fact, she’s sleeping at my feet right now totally comfortable.

Shelly also guards resources like food bowls and toys. In a home where she is the only dog, this simply won’t be an issue as she doesn’t manifest this behavior with humans. She is totally willing to let me take even a treasured treat like a bone from her mouth. But if Jaden looks at Shelly’s food bowl from across the room, Shelly views it as a threat.

So obviously, Shelly needs to be an only dog. But she is going to make the right family a super pet! Let’s review what Shelly needs:

* A loving family with older children or adults. (We haven’t had any bad experiences with younger children with Shelly--we just haven’t had any experiences whatsoever! When she’s met children in public places, she really doesn’t act particularly interested in them).

* A household where she will be the only dog.

* Probably a physical fence. Shelly got away from us today and ran like the wind. She thought it was a hilarious game, and I’m sure the neighbors felt the same way as we four (two teens, two adults) raced down the road after her. Fortunately she made a strategic mistake and headed down the road leading to a peninsula, which left her surrounded on three sides with water she wasn’t’ willing to enter, so while I used the car to block the narrow entry to the peninsula, my three more-fit family members hunted her down! It ended well, but was not an experience I’d want to have without the young and fleet-of-foot from my family present!

Things are even looking up for Shelly on the hairdo front. Her coat is growing longer and thicker, and she’s going to be a beautiful blonde bombshell before long. Wouldn’t you like to meet this sweetheart? Contact placementragom [dot] org.