This beautiful girl is Xena, a 3-year-old, short-haired German Shepherd cross Malinois female looking for a new home with us.
This poor girl has not had the best start in life and has been regularly crated for long periods of time and managed predominantly through the use of a prong and shock collar. As such she is a very stressed young dog in need of some guidance.
She shows some compulsive tail chewing behaviours along with spinning and barking. She is quite sensitive to noise so will need a calm environment where she has fewer triggers that cause her to react.
If she thinks she has put a paw wrong she almost instantly reacts by messing herself, she is obviously expecting the pain from the, now non-existent, shock collar. She will need someone with a lot of time and patience to make her realise she doesn’t need to be afraid of that any more.
She will also need someone who is home a lot initially as she struggles to be left, this will need to be built up gradually to help her learn this is ok. She wants to be with you wherever you are in the house.
Xena ideally needs a dog and cat free, adult only home. She needs an environment where she can be given space and peaceful surroundings so she can start to learn to be a dog again. If you think you can offer this please get in touch, the sooner she is placed the sooner her new life can begin.
From the kennel staff looking after her:
XENA (GSD X MALINOIS)
Xena is coming up 4 years old. Poor Xena hasn't had the best start in life but has come such a long way bless her heart, apart from one thing she can't shake off, and that's spinning and biting her tail which she's done since she arrived here. It really breaks my heart to see a dog so mentally scarred like Xena, especially when she has so much love to give and considering her experience with people did not start great, she still loves people. She almost whines with excitement when someone goes into her kennel to sit with her or when you take her for a walk. She shows her excitement by teething ( which doesn't hurt at all ) but I am trying to get her out of it as some people might not understand that she's not being aggressive she's just trying to show her love.
Xena will only stop spinning when someone is sat with her and she's got human attention and affection, which being a busy kennels, is hard to do as much as I would sit with her all day every day if I could! We have tried everything to distract her from spinning, treats, kongs, food, toys, walks, no matter what she's doing she's doing it whilst spinning. If I was to go and sit in her bed in her kennel she will come and sit on my lap and enjoy belly rubs and that's the only time she will stop spinning. I am more concerned about her doing damage to her ligaments in her back legs as she has days where she is so weak that she struggles- but still doesn't stop her spinning. And if you do try to get involved and stop her snapping at her tail she will snap at you but never bite, she just warns.
Xena is awesome on the lead, we used to walk her on a collar but due to a close accident with her and another dog I walk her on a harness now and it's done a world of good, she doesn't pull, half the time you forget she's on the other end of the lead haha. She is a great dog.
Xena doesn't like other animals at all, she will do anything to chase and get an animal, whether it be a dog/cat/fox or rabbit. So a cat free/dog free home is a must for Xena. I would say her ideal home would be a couple or someone who is home constantly, to sit with her and keep each other company, no other animals or children in the house. She is a very switched on, clever girl and needs someone to put her clever brain to use.
Xena is desperate for a home, she is really not happy in a kennel and I'm worried that her mental state will deteriorate.
| More information |
| Gender: |
|
Female |
| Age: |
3 years |
| Color: |
Black & Tan |
| Coat: |
Short |
| Neutered: |
Yes |
| Good with other dogs: |
No |
| Good with cats: |
No |
| Good with children: |
No |
