Raccoon Australian Cattle Dog / Blue Heeler Mix Riverside, RI

Raccoon is a 5 yrs old spayed female Australian Cattle Dogs. She is a blue heeler mix and is UTD on shots as well as microchipped. She was surrendered to the animal shelter with 12 other cattle dogs from a hoarding situation. ACDRA pulled them all in order to free the shelter cages up and keep anyone from being euthanized for space.
Being one of many dogs in a hoarding situation has left Raccoon with a very small view of the world. She needs an owner whom is willing to take things exceptionally slow. So slow that ignoring her and letting her just hang out in plain sight in an ex-pen/or with an open crate is really what this girl needs to build up the courage to show you what a good girl she really is. Raccoon needs to learn all these new things at her own pace. She is super shy and scared. She plays well with other dogs. She is learning to trust people with those yummy high value treats. She needs a schedule and structure and lots of time to build trust. She bonds faster with other dogs and takes her time trusting people. She will do best in a home with a structured setup (fenced yard connected to the door of the home or only leash walking) where she can interact and be exposed to her new owners at a distance. She needs to be with other dogs because she looks to them to decide what people to trust. When she does warm up she does like to kill the toys but she is being challenged with the new Kong stuffed animals from Chewy J. She will chew leashes cause the rope is fun to gnaw on so we have here on a steel tie out that is 30 ft long so she can play with the other dogs and not run away when we come outside to interact with her.
She is currently living with 3 kids who are over 12 yrs old. She also lives with two other male dogs. Raccoon does OK with cats. But a herding dog will always chase whatever runs even scaredee cat herding dogs.
Raccoon would do exceptionally well in a home with other confident dogs that she can bond with. That can be her strength when things get too scary for her to process and her bravery escapes her. She will not do well in a home as the only dog so please don’t apply if that is what you are looking for.

Keep in mind herding breeds were developed to have high intelligence, stamina to run miles a day often in harsh conditions, independence to make decisions on their own when necessary, and the desire to form a working relationship with their people.
Raccoon’s sheltered non-exposure life/background has developed her sort of shadow personality this is a girl whom likes to follow around and just be near but not to close. While walking on a leash in a group dog walk she follows behind me because she is just not confident enough to take the lead. She is always looking to the most confident dog in the room when things are unclear but when they are downright scary (Loud Truck coming to close) she glues herself to other dogs in her pack. I am sure over time and consistency she will blossom into a wonderful companion animal.
Raccoon is being fostered in Riverside, RI

For questions, please contact kctracy1@yahoo.com

Complete an Application:
https://www.acdra.org/adoption-application