Mylee

Mylee, an 8 year old German Shepherd girl, has been at the shelter for 3 months (as of July), and will be the first to tell you that is a LONG time for a German Shepherd to be living in a kennel. We are “rebooting” Mylee’s listing, hoping this will be the month that she finally finds her forever home.

Mylee is a loving and devoted companion; on nice summer nights, we can put the other dogs outside to play with each other, and then Mylee hangs out inside, following us around as we clean kennels, and rolling or dropping a ball at our feet now and then so we can kick or toss it for her. All it really takes to keep Mylee happy is a home with regular meals (she is not a picky eater at all), an endless supply of wonderfully chewy, squeaky, bouncy balls, and a few stuffed animals for her to carry around and occasionally unstuff for you.

She has a high and focused prey drive, which means if you have issues with invading rodents, chipmunks, squirrels, probably even raccoons… Mylee will be happy to solve your problem for you. Of course, that also means that Mylee is not good with cats or small furries, and we find that she prefers to be the only dog, too, so she doesn’t have to share her squeaky balls or her squirrels or her person (she has a bit of resource guarding with her toys in particular). We don’t recommend that she spend time with poultry or livestock either – she is actually a great dog for a small home, no need for a ton of land or a farm lifestyle for this girl! A fenced yard would be lovely, so she can safely spend time outside with you playing fetch, without being distracted by having to race off and chase any small furries outside the fence. She walks quite nicely on leash when wearing a chest-clip harness.

Mylee is a very beautiful dog, but as is all too common with German Shepherds, has some hip issues. In Mylee’s case, she has evidence of major hip dysplasia in only her left hip (x-Ray will be provided to serious applicants/adopter) – her right hip looks just fine. Our vet suspects the left hip issue may be the result of an old injury, rather than any sort of genetic defect. Mylee will need supplements like Cosequin and most likely anti-inflammatory and/or pain medications throughout her life, and we’d recommend no stairs for Mylee. While she currently gets in and out of her shelter kennel just fine (one big step up) and also steps up and down the one step to the dog yard fine, it is likely that her hip will grow more painful as she continues to age, and will limit her mobility further with time. Right now, she has an odd gait, but it doesn’t slow down her daily fetch game at all!

The good news is, Mylee’s senior blood panel looks great! This means her liver is healthy, so she is able to take Metacam (meloxydil) as needed. Right now for supplements and medications, she is getting Cosequin, fish oil, brewer’s yeast, and meloxydil every day. She can also take tramadol for pain, but has not shown evidence of needing it thus far.
Mylee is housetrained and loves to be inside with her person. She can sit next to us in the office for hours, happily munching on her favorite squeaky (or non-squeaky, when we are on the phone) ball, occasionally bringing it to us to throw for her. She doesn’t like to give up her ball when playing fetch, but has learned to TRADE balls, so if you start with two, you can keep the game going until she is blissfully tired. She is polite with people, doesn’t jump up or knock into us, and we are able to hand-feed her and take her food away as needed. Her teeth are worn down to dull stumps, but she still enthusiastically eats her kibble/canned food mixture each meal; the vet says there is no need to remove any teeth at this time, as they are not painful for her, just worn.

We think Mylee’s ideal home will be as a companion to a calm, confident dog lover who will be with her most of the time and can take her on gentle walks, and possibly some swim therapy if available!

She is an insecure, but sweet, dog who will grow in confidence as she develops that one-on-one bond with her primary caregiver. Let’s set Mylee up to succeed, with a person who will commit to helping her feel more secure by letting her know her toys are safe, and so is she! She will not be a super easy dog, like some of our seniors – but for the right person she will be an extraordinarily rewarding dog, one that truly needs rescue to become a calm and happy girl for her remaining years.

Mylee comes with a 30-day money-back trial adoption period and is posted for the Forget-Me-Not shelter in Republic, WA.

ODH has not met this dog; we urge prospective adopters to do their own evaluation./