About Kira

This animal is available to licensed rescue groups only. Please do not enquire unless with a licensed rescue group. Hello, My name is Nicole Tallman and unfortunately, I am interested in an owner surrender. Unfortunately, my mom suddenly passed away a few weeks ago. She had a mini Australian shepherd named Kira who was her best friend. Since mom's passing my sister Jess and I are left trying to figure out what to do with Kira. Kira's situation is that she was my mom's dog. She loved my mom and was sweet and playful and kind to her. Kira also loves my sister and me and trusts us like she trusted my mom. Unfortunately, she does not trust anyone else and is very nervous and anxious when it comes to meeting and staying with others. She is even very anxious and protective of my sister and me with our dad, which makes it near impossible for us to manage taking care of Kira at home. Since mom's passing, we have made the tough decision to rehome Kira so that she can have the consistency and care that my sister and I just cannot give her at this time of our life. We have attempted to rehome her with two people, both unsuccessful. The first was a family with a mother, father, and daughter along with a dog of similar size to Kira and a cat. Kira initially barked at the family but after a few minutes was playful and took treats from everyone. She mostly ignored the other dog and was playful towards the cat. We hung around for about an hour during the introduction and saw that she was panting and a little nervous visibly but overall she was still on okay terms. We left her and about 3 hours later got a phone call that she had started to get fear aggressive and nipped both the daughter and father when they attempted to leash her for potty time. We picked her up and decided that was not going to work. Next, we found a single young woman who had experience with nervous and aggressive dogs who was fully aware of Kira's anxiety-induced aggression. This time around we told the woman to ignore Kira and only let her make the first move when she was ready. Kira immediately was looking to be pet and took treats and even leaned completely against the girl when we stepped outside to test the waters. The woman was very good at being gentle and calm and ignoring Kira to let her acclimate slowly. It was again only a few hours after we left that we got a phone call from the woman saying Kira out of nowhere went from sniffing her hand to biting it and drawing blood. Of course, we rushed over and picked up Kira and again determined this was not going to work. At this point we are at a loss, we have so much stress in our life right now dealing with the aftermath of losing a parent and cannot dedicate the time to caring for and training Kira into a new home. We were hoping to be able to rehome Kira quickly but this is seeming more and more challenging with each attempt. She definitely needs someone willing to work with her on her anxiety and socialization and someone familiar with the breed. I know deep down that Kira is a good girl and will love a new family. However, her whole world has been thrown for a loop and she is so confused and scared and probably extra anxious right now which does not help when trying to rehome her. In the end, Jess and I just want her to be safe and loved and given time to learn that there are other people out there that are safe and will love her as we do. Notes about Kira: She is a 6-year-old mini Australian shepherd. About 35lbs. She loves cuddling with her person and giving 'high five'. She is healthy and when calling the vet they said she only needs her flu and Bordetella shot. She is very anxious when meeting new people and will need someone experienced with anxious dogs and who is willing to train her. If you can help us in our situation or know someone who can please contact me via email at [email protected] I look forward to hearing from you, Nicole Tallman

Somerset County
Hillsborough, New Jersey