Available Shelties

Riley, along with Casey, is an OR due to his owner’s illness.  He is 2 years old (DOB 5/5/22), 26 pounds (ideal weight 22-24 pounds), UTD, neutered, HW/fecal negative.

From Riley’s foster dad: Casey and Riley are two very active dogs.  They like to bark back to the dogs in the neighborhood.  They like barking at the neighbor’s cats on one side and a very large dog on the other.  I have since toned that back quite a bit, some barking is okay but not a lot.  I started crating them at night a few days ago and they responded wonderfully: no accidents.  Both boys willingly enter their crates with no problem.  Their new owners must have a crate for each of them.  Casey even naps in his crate when the back door is open.

They do not play fetch; just like to run around the yard chasing and wrestling each other.  My boy also joins in.  Casey is more of a house dog and stays near me more so than Riley.  They are angels in the house.  They need someone who will give them long walks.  They have a bundle of energy that needs to be drained every day, and they respond well to that.

Neither dog gets on the furniture. I have been off all week, and they have been my constant companions running back and forth.    They come to me when called.  They love when people come over and are super friendly.  Their new parents must provide plenty of hooves and rawhide knuckle bones to satisfy their chewing habits.

At this moment the back door is open and both dogs are lying next to me.  They are super great with my chickens and get along well with my resident dog.  They are not for an inexperienced owner; they crave leadership.

Casey and Riley are bonded and need to be adopted together.

Casey, along with Riley, is an OR due to his owner’s illness.  He is 5 years old (DOB 4/20/19), 44 pounds (ideal weight 35 pounds), UTD, neutered, HW/fecal negative.

From Casey’s foster dad: Casey and Riley are two very active dogs.  They like to bark back to the dogs in the neighborhood.  They like barking at the neighbor’s cats on one side and a very large dog on the other.  I have since toned that back quite a bit, some barking is okay but not a lot.  I started crating them at night a few days ago and they responded wonderfully: no accidents.  Both boys willingly enter their crates with no problem.  Their new owners must have a crate for each of them.  Casey even naps in his crate when the back door is open.  

They do not play fetch; just like to run around the yard chasing and wrestling each other.  My boy also joins in.  Casey is more of a house dog and stays near me more so than Riley.  They are angels in the house.  They need someone who will give them long walks.  They have a bundle of energy that needs to be drained every day, and they respond well to that.

Neither dog gets on the furniture. I have been off all week, and they have been my constant companions running back and forth.    They come to me when called.  They love when people come over and are super friendly.  Their new parents must provide plenty of hooves and rawhide knuckle bones to satisfy their chewing habits.

At this moment the back door is open and both dogs are lying next to me.  They are super great with my chickens and get along well with my resident dog.  They are not for an inexperienced owner; they crave leadership.

Casey and Riley are bonded and need to be adopted together.

Daisy is an OR due to family circumstances.  She is 1-1/2 years old (DOB 12/18/22) 14 inches, 20 pounds, UTD, spayed, heartworm/fecal negative.  Daisy had a condition called patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) where a duct to her heart did not close at birth.  HSS had corrective surgery performed at TAMU.  After a month’s recovery time, she is now back to normal activities.

Daisy was previously an only dog but she has settled in with our two.  One of our dogs just ignores her.  Our other one, Buddy, is more than twice the size of Daisy and they play together.  Sometimes the two of them just take over the whole sofa with their playing.  They both love to run outside, running along the fence line and little Daisy keeps up with Buddy and his long legs.

Daisy eats her meals with our dogs and does fine.  Of course, her dish is the first one placed down and she does joyful spins as it’s being placed.  She doesn’t inhale her food but, if she finishes first, she tries to help the others with their food.  Treats are a different story.  She inhales her treat and aggressively tries to go after the treats for the others so we have to be extra careful when treats are involved.

Daisy is very food motivated.  In general Daisy will follow whoever is up and about, but will definitely follow the one carrying food.

Daisy previously used a doggie door.  She’s had to adjust to not being able to go out when she wanted.  There were some issues early on so we ended up crating her for a couple of days and she quickly learned to “potty” outside more consistently.  It helps that we let everyone out often during the day.

We crate her at night.  She balked in the beginning but now goes into the crate willingly.  At first there were no issues but then she started to growl and fiercely attack the door to the crate when we closed it.  Recently she has started just laying down but not all the time.  She doesn’t like to be crated.  Fortunately, she quiets down and is quiet throughout the night.

Daisy has lots of vocalizations — sings, whines, trills, warbles, a variety of sounds and of course barks.  I say “let’s go out” and I think she hears “let’s bark”!  Barks! and not a little, tiny bark.  She has a bark that sounds like a bigger dog which could be useful to scare people away from your door.  I often picture her in a Flyball relay, barking as she runs to and fro, sometimes it’s almost like that sort of excited barking. I think she would have the speed and agility to do that type of sport, and possibly Agility too.  She is very agile, jumps on the sofa, jumps on my lap, jumps over Buddy when he’s lying down, jumps and turns at the same time!  I think she is part mountain goat.  She jumps onto the back of the sofa, walks across the back of the sofa, ends up balancing herself on the arm of the sofa.  Daisy is small enough to easily go under things like the coffee table, sometimes she just lays under it.  And sometimes she goes under our Buddy if he’s in the way!  Admittedly he is long-legged, but really?!?!

The herding instinct is strong in Daisy.  When we head to the door, she’s nipping at our heels.  This would be a consideration if there are small children since I could see her herding them.

I make it sound like she’s always moving, but she isn’t.  Most of the time she’s just hanging out with our dogs and is often snuggling next to me on the sofa or laying on the floor next to me when I’m working or sitting sweetly on my lap. She usually asks permission before jumping on my lap but sometimes she surprises me and, boom!, there she is sitting on my lap giving me kisses.  One of the cutest things she does is to get on top of the back of the sofa and lay down behind my head with her chin on my shoulder, so sweet!

Daisy plays with toys, will fetch and return.  And will sometimes vigorously shake them.  She drops toys at my feet so I can toss them for her.  I think she’s past the chewing phase since I haven’t yet seen any sign of her gnawing on anything other than toys.

I think she would be like to be back to being an only dog.  But she does enjoy playing with our Buddy and running with the pack so maybe she would like to be with another dog or dogs, if they’ll play with her.  I think she would also be happy having the use of a doggie door again.

Oakley is an OR due to his owner going to a memory care facility.  He is 10 years old, 20 inches tall, UTD, neutered, heartworm/fecal negative and has had a recent dental.

From Oakley’s foster mom:  Oakley is a gentle giant. He came to HSS at a whopping 69 lbs, but should be 40-45 lbs. He is on a weight loss journey and at his last weigh in, he was already down to 42 lbs.

Oakley is a very loving and loyal boy. He was the companion to an older gentleman that developed dementia. This is why Oakley gained so much weight. EVERYTHING that his dad ate, Oakley ate too (including candy, cake and ice cream). That has proven a little difficult as Oakley really wants people food, but we have finally gotten him to eat dog food, alongside his healthy green beans and blueberries. After his owner moved into a memory care facility, he was relinquished to HSS in hopes that someone will love and cherish this senior boy during the latter half of his life.

Oakley has always been an only dog but since coming to HSS has been living in a house full of other Shelties and has had no issues at all. He doesn’t play with them, but isn’t bothered by them either (and that includes a young puppy). His previous owner said he was a shadow and he has proven that to be true in his foster home. He wants to be by his foster mom’s side as often as possible.

Oakley is currently on two long-term medications:  Cytopoint ($43 per month) and Apoquel ($194 per month). Oakley loves his walks and for a 10-year-old, very heavy boy, he gets along great! They are short walks, but as the weight continues to come off, the walks are increasing.

He also likes car rides and does very well. He doesn’t like ramps so getting him into a vehicle can be challenging due to his weight but sometimes he actually jumps into the car. Other times, he is a dead weight.

Overall, Oakley is a super sweet boy, that just wants head scratches and attention. Where you go, he wants to go, and he will be happy. He will be fine in just about any kind of home as he is a very “go with the flow” kind of boy. Do you have room for this gentle giant in your home and heart? He is ready for his 2nd half!