About Olive

Olive and her younger brother Clyde were brought to Harbor Shelter in Los Angeles as strays in late October of 2018. They were micro-chipped and the shelter contacted the owner from their chip. After 7 days with no return call from their owner, they became available for adoption. After a month at Harbor with no interest, they were transferred to East Valley shelter. With visibly swollen cherry eyes, Olive having them in both eyes and Clyde only in one, these gentle giants kept getting overlooked and spent most of their time in the back of their run. Two weeks in at East Valley was when we saw how amazing these two were and pulled them to have their eyes fixed and put some weight on their 30 lb underweight, frail little/big bodies. The following day we scheduled surgery with our incredible friends at Malibu Coast Animal Hospital, only to find out these guys had an upper respiratory infection and kennel cough, needing about ten days to heal. Olive and Clyde were spending most of their time in the back of their runs at the shelter because they were incredibly sick. Olive was showing signs of standard, female mastiff, alpha dog aggression by growling and even going after one of our little terriers when her foster mom was standing next to her and the terrier approached. Olive did get a little scratch on his nose but it was very obvious if she wanted to do more damage to him, she could have. We do believe her aggression was a combination of an improper introduction unfortunately on our end, her natural alpha tendency, and the fact that her eye sight was half-way covered by her glands and her vulnerability was very high. Olive does give light, territorial growls when she is next to her 'person' in their space, if another dog passes by such as the bed or in the car, which is quickly corrected and she responds well to the correction and stops growling. Because of the territorial issues at her initial foster home, Olive was re-located to an Olive-only home where she recovered from kennel cough. Unfortunately after Olive's surgery we had to transfer Olive again to a new foster home because we found out she has a torn ACL that seems to be an old injury and her knee cap continues to pop out of place. Olive's previous foster home had three flights of stairs and it became apparent they were uncomfortable for her to climb. With this, we're asking for homes with little to no stairs only apply for Olive. Olive's doctor is very confident that with consistent joint supplements and regular check ups on her ACL to ensure it's not degrading, it will heal with time and be able to sustain with out surgery. We would like to note surgery down the line on her ACL could be a possibility. Olive also had some broken teeth extracted during her surgery, most likely from a life of chewing on a fence. Olive is a sweet, mild-mannered, loving, gentle and playful girl. She is potty trained and knows to stand by the door when she has to go out; there was 1-2 instances in her previous foster home upon her initial arrival she wasn't able to wait to make it outside, but did great after that. Olive is a gentle and great eater and is non-food aggressive. She loves to cuddle and receive belly rubs and is friendly to every human she meets. Olive is a wonderful walker, does not pull on the leash and walks right at your side. When other dogs bark she is non-reactive. Olive is a fabulous napper and fast learner. We are still working on basic commands but she is catching on quickly. With the proper introduction to larger dogs, Olive could have very successful relationships in the home with them.

Los Angeles County
Los Angeles, California