You can fill out an adoption application online on our official website.

Meet Dicey (aka Sophie!)

This beautiful 2YO shepherd mix came from a reservation in South Dakota, and came into the rescue while pregnant! She had a healthy set of 8 puppies in March 22, and was a great mama to her babies! Now all the puppies have been adopted and found their forever homes, but Dicey is still waiting to find her forever family.

Typical of shepherds, Dicey is very smart, and very treat motivated. She has been learning lots while at her foster home! She is great with basic commands like sit, down, stay, and come (while in the house - she still is working on "come" when outside with distractions). She is also working on leave it, touch, middle, and kennel. She is very happy to go into her kennel, and sometimes even chooses to go in on her own, but were working on doing it on command. Dicey is also working on loose leash walking and doing great! She would benefit from a family that wants to continue to work with her on some more advanced training. We are currently focused on impulse control training, and Dicey is excellent at waiting for her foster parents to let her go through doors, eat her meals, go up/down stairs, and only jumps on furniture when invited up!

Dicey is a medium energy dog - she loves to play fetch and tug, romp around smelling all the good stuff in the backyard, and goes on 2 walks a day. She will frequently play quietly on her own with her stuffed toys, or chewing on a bone or nylabone. She is good at knowing when it is quiet time, and will happily lay down, preferably near her people or in her kennel. Dicey has a little bit of FOMO (fear of missing out). If she is in a separate room or area from her people and can hear them moving around, she may whine and occasionally bark to remind them that shes still waiting to be let out to join in the fun! She does settle down quickly however, and doesnt bark or get upset when left alone in the house.

Inside the house, Dicey is a perfectly behaved lady! She doesnt counter-surf, is fully potty-trained, and isnt destructive of her toys, or any human things. She does like to carry around her peoples shoes, but doesnt chew and is extra gentle with them! She is easily trusted on her own for several hours either in a kennel or loose in the house.

Dicey is an excellent guard dog - she will let us know whenever anyone is passing by the house, or coming up our sidewalk. She has been learning to "leave it" when we say enough. She loves people! Once theyve been invited inside, everyone is her best friend! She even went to a Saints game, and LOVED all the attention that she got. She would be fine around kids, but she can be very energetic when playing so may not be best for small children who may get knocked over. Dicey has a very high prey drive, and will run after squirrels, rabbits, and cats, so should be in a home without a cat. She should also be in a home that has a high fence and not be left alone outside, since she has a high jump, and has leapt over fences and gates to chase.

Dicey is also extremely dog-reactive, so seeing dogs on walks will make her lunge and bark. We are currently working on reducing this reactivity, by giving high-value treats when we see dogs outside, and seeing slow improvements. She would really thrive with someone who would continue to help her work on this with positive reinforcements. She will not be a dog that would be easy to bring to events where there may be other dogs, and should probably be an "only dog" at home. At her foster house, she is friendly with the resident dog, but this took a month of slow introductions, and should only be done by a family who is very confident that they can take the time to slowly introduce and take the time to make sure that the dogs get along. Heres a video of her

Playing
with the resident dog.

Take a look at these videos of Sophie

playing with a toy
or

playing fetch
!

Heres a

cute video

of Sophie nicely taking treats and a

video

of Sophie playing fetch.

Sophie is so good even with

distractions

.

Dicey (Sophie) weighs 45 lbs and is from a reservation in South Dakota. If you are interested in getting to know this animal better, please fill out an

adoption application.

An adoption application is the best way to show your interest in an animal and is not a binding contract.

To learn more about Ruff Starts adoption process and the care our foster animals receive, please visit our

How to Adopt page.

If youd like to donate towards this pets care, you can donate to our

Animal Care Fund.

Our Animal Care Fund supports the medical and veterinary needs for all Ruff Start Rescue animals. Youll be able to enter this pets name on the second page of the donation form.

Click here to watch a video of Dicey.