Lady Labrador Retriever & Hound Mix Frederick, MD

Sometimes, the world can be a scary place. We don't know what happened to Lady in her past, but whatever it was, it made the outside world a hard place to be. Lady was brought into the shelter as a stray. Soon after we moved her into foster care, we noticed that she was incredibly shut down. The transition was incredibly hard for her.

Her crate is her only safe place. Everywhere else is scary. Indoors is better than outdoors, but if given the chance, she will prefer to stay indoors all day. She is potty trained and will go potty outside, then immediately try to bolt back into the house. Over the last two months, she has made tremendous progress, and now loves to snuggle with her foster and canine foster siblings on the couch.

Lady needs a very gentle and quiet home to thrive. She is looking for a very patient adopter, preferably one who has experience with shy and nervous dogs. She started some anti anxiety medication to help improve her quality of life, and it has proben to be very helpful. While we know she has a long way to go to feel safe and blossom, we know that without a chance out of the shelter, she would have had no chance at all.

It takes a lot of time to gain the trust of a shy and nervous pup. Just because they are scared and shy, does not mean they are not deserving of a loving home. Just because they need time to feel safe, does not mean they are not worthy of the effort. And when they decide to finally let you into their circle of trust... It is the most glorious and beautiful thing.

Lady needs time and patience, A LOT of it... and keeping her world small until they are ready. She will need and also we to give her need agency of choice- choice of meeting someone, choice of spaces she prefers, choice of being able to go back inside when she feels scared. Because ultimately, she needs to feel safe.

Lady is about 3-4 years old, 37lb. She is good with other dogs and will require a home with another resident dog (or dogs) to help mentor her. She needs a quiet home without a lot of comings and goings, and a home that is set in a quiet neighborhood. City dwelling is not in the books for sweet Lady here unfortunately. She will also need a fenced in backyard so she has the choice to go potty in the yard easily without having to venture out to the scary world when she's not ready.

And if you live in the DC/MD/NoVa area and would like to give a shy pup a loving home to call their own, apply for Lady on our website at www.foreverchangedar.org/adopt-a-pet today!

Lady is currently being fostered in Baltimore MD