Shira American Eskimo Dog Elmhurst, IL

Shira is a 15 month old, female American Eskimo Dog. She was surrendered by her previous owners. The story is something like this.... we believe she was originally bought from a puppy store.....and we believe she was a Christmas present. NOT recommended! They woke up after the "honeymoon" was over and gave the pup to another family member, who then said she was too much for them and gave her to a friend...and she was then given up to a shelter and then adopted out, to only be returned to that same shelter. Poor Shira had 4 different homes by the time she was 6 months old .....and then was given up to Chicagoland Eskie Rescue in CA. With no training, no set boundaries, the very spirited Shira came to Chicago.

Shira has been with CER for nearly a year now. :-( She doesn't always greet new people well; too many people in her past have given her reason not to trust strangers. She will snap when scared, anxious, overwhelmed, or pushed too far, but we have been working on it and she is getting somewhat better. She does not make new friends nor trust easily. Shira is a bit unpredictable too. Once you get to know her and she trusts you, she is a very loving and affectionate dog. She is also an extremely energetic dog! Non-stop motion! Shira is now fully house trained. She's also like a toddler, and gets into everything, for example, waste baskets, so some rearranging and tough love is sometimes necessary. We cannot take her to adoption events; Shira has nipped at people who come too quickly at her; she gets very overwhelmed in that type of environment. She loves to play with young energetic dogs; she plays hard.....she is about 21 lbs. She loves toys and enjoys destroying them! If Shira gets something that she wants, but but isn't supposed to have and you have to take it away, it takes a very savvy exchange for success or she gets very protective of whatever it is and even aggressive demanding to keep it. For example, Shira loves paper products, she will steal paper towels, napkins, toilet paper, sheets of paper, envelopes, etc, shreds it into pieces. Shira has been in her foster home for several months now, really likes her foster mom and the 17 yr. old daughter too, but still ...growls, snarls, and barks aggressively at the foster dad. This is not a man - woman thing, because Shira loves one of the older brothers when he comes to visit. The trainer has indicated for foster dad to just ignore her, so he is not approaching her, but she will still bark at him, but has never hurt him. Shira loves to take walks, gets very excited over her leash appearing, but you cannot have unknown people walk up to her or try to pet her, she will bark, growl and may snap. At this point, Shira cannot go to a dog park, she's fine with other dogs, but not trusting with the people/owners of other dogs that she does not know. Shira also barks excessively at cats and will chase them given the opportunity.

Shira is UTD on vaccines, she is spayed, microchipped, heartworm negative and on heartworm & flea/tick prevention. Shira will only be adopted to someone who will agree to take her to professional training. NO small children! NO cats! Previous or current Eskie owners only!

If you are interested in adopting Shira, please send an email to:
CERbuddies@live.com