# Ruby Grace- 2 yo FS GSD in Nebraska needs foster, adoption or rescue ASAP



## carlee05 (Aug 21, 2019)

Ruby Grace originally came into BHS as an owner surrender in March. Her owner unfortunately was diagnosed with brain cancer shortly after getting her. She started undergoing treatments and was being taken care of by this lady's biological father. After about 6 months things started taking a turn for the worse and her biological mother came to spend some time with her at the very end. At that point it was identified that while her father was providing for the nutritional needs of this dog, he was severely neglecting her emotional and physical needs. She was spending 10+ hours in the crate at a time and she was getting yelled at anytime she would bark. She was getting no physical activity and as a young energetic shepherd, this was devastating for her emotional growth. 
While she was here at our shelter, it was very apparent that she was unfamiliar with other dogs but had strong prey drive. We adopted her to a young energetic college age kid who originally wanted to grow into the pet parent she needed. Once he took her home, he unfortunately did the less mature thing and left her crated to hang out with friends instead of exercising her. This resulted in her return after about a month and a half. 
When she returned to our shelter a second time, her lack of familiarity of other dogs had morphed into true leash and dog reactivity. When introduced to a non-reactive dog, she was capable of doing so appropriately albeit it in a rude rush approach. Unfortunately, our shelter is full of other dog reactive dogs and she wasn't given many opportunities to meet the appropriate dogs. She developed fence and kennel fighting behaviors and through a missed kennel latch and ended up in a dog fight with another dog. She charged into his space, but he bit down and latched on to her neck and ear. While trying to get away from the other dog, Ruby grace was air snapping and bit the hand of a staff member trying to separate them. This was not human directed aggression, but still dangerous for us to manage. This fight was about the worst thing that could happen for an undersocialized dog like Ruby Grace and within days we knew that keeping her in our shelter it was only a matter of time before we had another issue as her kennel anxiety and dog reactivity even in or quietest room was too much for her. 

At this point we had an amazing foster step in. She has previously volunteered for a GSD rescue in another state and has GSD's currently. They took Ruby Grace on knowing she had dog reactivity bordering on dog aggression. They have made leaps and bounds of progress, but the dog reactivity is still present and a major challenge to overcome. They feel she would be best suited for a single person or even smaller family with older kids, with no other pets. She enjoys fetch and is a great dog, kennels well despite previous inappropriate use, but pulls hard on leash towards other animals and does have a strong prey drive. 

Any one interested in helping this sweet girl please email cfiddes @ beatricehumanesociety .org


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