About Nala

Meet Nala, a 4-year old, 45-pound female Australian Cattle dog mix who is looking for a new home. Her brindle coat gains her lots of attention, not to mention her yoda ears! Nala is a wonderful, energetic working breed who enjoys daily walks as well as sniff walks on trails. Her favorite activities include tug of war, playing soccer, and doing hurdles! Nala can jump like no other, and boy does it improve her confidence! She has been through several training sessions, is easy to train, and knows multiple commands and tricks. Nala also does counter conditioning drills. She enjoys mental stimulation with frozen kongs, lick pads, and snuffle mats. Because she is a high energy pup, she thrives on learning new tricks and solving puzzles (especially on rainy days). She loves any kind of brain game! Talk about being smart and busy! But when her people leave, she sleeps the day away. Zzzzzz. Nala is well loved and cared for, however her current living situation is not a fit for her temperament. She loves her people, but is not a fan of a lot of visitors entering the house. The home is very busy with people coming and going and Nala's stress factor is limited for that type of home. This has made Nala become overprotective of her 'mom' and fear-based reactive. Besides strangers, Nala is a bit of a scaredy cat - literally she is scared of cats! Loud noises like trucks and fireworks scare her, too. Changing her environment will be game-changing. The majority of her anxiety is due to environmental stress and not a need for training. Early on, Nala had one incident with biting a visitor. She was caught off guard during some commotion and reacted. The person needed 3 stitches. To prevent this from reoccurring, Nala was given slow introductions with a muzzle, place command, and treats. An even better option is having her go in her crate. She settled down soon after. Even though she doesn't do well with lots of strange people coming and going, that doesn't mean she won't warm up to you or your select friends and family. It only takes her a few visits to show off the best version of herself. That best version includes cuddles on the couch, constant belly rubs, and Nala giving you hugs. Just give her time! Please consider adopting this very sweet dog if you are a strong leader/handler with positive methods, and live in either a rural area or a house with a large fenced in yard, low noise levels, and room to run. Nala would do best with no small children in the home. Nala has had minimal exposure to other dogs and is selective so she would do best as an only pet. Nala is UTD on shots, muzzle-, house- and crate-trained. Please apply to adopt Nala! https://bit.ly/ARK-Application #ARKforNala #JustSaveThem

Essex County
Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930