About Penny

Penny is a darling pittie mix who has fallen victim to a major hurdle with marginalized breeds. Her homeless family needed housing but could not find a place that allowed pit bulls. We see this so often - good dogs going to shelters because of unfair housing rules. Penny is a one-year old, 50-plus pound spayed female located in Lawrence, MA. This cute playful 'red-head' has been in a kenneled environment for a few months and so we are really trying to find her a home. She recently performed very well on her behavior assessment which was conducted at a park away from the busy shelter. She was very waggy and friendly, during the evaluation and handling. She also did well on a car ride and visit to the home of an ARK friend. There she was reportedly fine and relaxed with them, but was timid with a male. After a while, she did warm up to him. Penny also met a test dog as part of her assessment and did quite well considering she has little experience with fellow canines. She doesn't know how to play properly. A video shows that Penny was not threatening at all with the test dog, but rather quite interested in meeting him. Penny will need time to get reacquainted with meeting dogs. So her adopter will have to work with her on that. She is not aggressive. She simply has to learn how to meet dogs so they will not be put off. She has to learn to date again:) Penny has shown some resource guarding issues with toys, but mainly with strangers. Research has shown that shelter evaluations involving guarding behaviors are not valid, and not predictive of behavior in the home. Penny was not possessive with her prior family and does not have issues with the animal control officer whom she has known for a while. Also, Penny seems food motivated and will trade up for treats, which means she could learn that, 'People coming near me have good stuff!' This is not a difficult task to work on, and much of it involves building up a trusting relationship with Penny. When Penny was surrendered to the pound, the family reported that she lived with kids of various ages and was great with them. She's super playful, loves squeaky toys, and used to have a teddy bear for a best friend which she carried around. We have confidence that Penny will do well in a home with a loving family (kids 8+) based on her history, her assessment, and her sweet, friendly nature. To fill out an ARK adoption application, copy and paste the following link into your browser: https://tiny.cc/ARK-Application

Essex County
Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930