About Diamond

At the end of June I decided to foster a dog from the East Valley Animal Shelter. I'd seen that LA County needed fosters due to the 4th of July weekend causing overcrowding and so I wanted to do what I could. I was assigned to a sweet German Shepherd mix named Diamond who's roughly ~2 years old. I had her until August 15th, at which point she was adopted by someone who seemed very eager to have her. While everything looked like a good fit, it apparently was not. The new owner surrendered her. The issues raised are things like 'pulling on leash when she sees lizards,' 'being afraid to potty in the rain,' etc. It breaks my heart to learn that someone who I thought would be a good fit doesn't understand that these aren't true behavioral issues, instead annoyances that can easily be altered with training. I've re-fostered her immediately after the surrender. She's good with other dogs and kids. I've not tried her around cats but my guess is she won't be good with them. She loves to play fetch, especially with other dogs. And she's never aggressive if they get to the ball before her. She's just eager to reset and go again. For a Shepherd, her separation anxiety is relatively mild. I've been working on 'place' with her and that's helped. She's never shown destructive behavior when I'm out. She'll hang by the window but then eventually lie down. She won't go outside in the heat without booties but she lies down and lets you put them on her. During walks, she does get excited to see other dogs, especially if they are closer. I've been working on 'heel' and 'ignore' for this. She's scared to get into cars (mainly as I think she doesn't know where she'll end up). But she's fine once in it. She's expressive with letting know her preferences as she prefers some walks by the house versus others. I get the sense though this is based on where she knows the car could be parked and she shies away from going anywhere near it. Overall, if I give a more stern 'let's go' she'll follow without issue. She's used to being able to go on the couch but she doesn't go on the bed with me. She did jump on the previous owner's bed but my guess is it was because of the new environment and she was scared. She's not food aggressive and I don't worry about leaving my meals out. I've been working with a trainer and Diamond is very quick and eager to learn. All she needs is patience, as any dog does. Whatever issues I may be forgetting are because they're so minor and easily worked on. Here's the document with further details I originally made for the person who ended up surrendering her (copy and paste the link to view it): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W25GEdiu5TxGgHGuKG-w4PDij6NkhNkpV4Yk79icJ6Y/edit?usp=sharing The ideal home would be a family with a yard so she can run freely and perhaps other dogs for her to play with. But I also know at the same time, that if someone is willing, they could take care of her solo. I used to have two dogs (90 pound black German Shepherd and a 40 pound Pointer) and they lived with me until they passed away in a 800 square foot apartment as we made it work together. But, that would require the owner to be dedicated. Regardless, I'm sure there'll be an adjustment period for her so having her new owners be willing to acclimate her into their lives is a must. As much as I'd love for her to be my dog, I'm actually in the midst of dealing with a family illness as well as all my other responsibilities. The timing is right at the moment. Even fostering is difficult but I'm making it work because I've grown up with and had many dogs. With all due respect to all my previous ones, she's actually among the most well behaved already. Again, still requires training and adjustments, but she's not destructive, food aggressive, doesn't bite, etc.

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Los Angeles County
Tarzana, California

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