Description
Indie is a KC registered female sable German Shepherd, born June 2024, and has been part of our family since leaving her mum at 12 weeks old. This is an incredibly difficult post to write and absolutely not a decision we have made lightly, but our circumstances mean we are no longer able to give Indie the life she needs and deserves.
Indie grew up alongside our older female German Shepherd, who was eight years older and sadly crossed the rainbow bridge at the beginning of this year. Losing her had a noticeable impact on Indie, initially causing low mood, some boundary pushing and increased anxiety.
Indie is a loving, high-energy and incredibly ditsy girl. She doesn’t really present as your stereotypical German Shepherd. She thinks she’s considerably smaller than she is, can be a complete bull in a china shop and, despite her size, is the biggest scaredy cat you’ll meet. She is incredibly affectionate, loves a snuggle and would happily be in your company 24/7. She is quite simply a bloody big baby.
She is house trained, intelligent and a fast learner. She knows sit, lay/down, bed, eat it, get it, wait, leave it, drop, stay and other basic commands, responding particularly well when these are accompanied by hand signals. She has been crate trained since coming home to us and is comfortable in her crate, although she is no longer routinely crated when we go out.
Indie can be left for short periods but sometimes cries when you leave without her, particularly around her usual walk time. Ideally, we would like someone who works from home or is around for a good proportion of the day. She absolutely loves people and gets very excited when visitors arrive, so expect an enthusiastic welcome.
Indie is reactive towards other dogs. Some of this is fear based following very negative experiences with dogs as a puppy which she has struggled to overcome, but she can also display excited reactivity because she wants to get to another dog to play. She is muzzle trained because we would rather be safe than sorry. Her recall hasn’t been tested as, due to her reactivity and uncertainty that she would reliably return, we have never felt it responsible to let her off lead in an unsecured area.
She grew up with another female GSD and is naturally very submissive. We believe she could potentially live with another suitable dog following careful introductions, but this hasn’t been tested since losing our older girl, so we cannot guarantee it.
We have a large garden where Indie loves playing fetch and “go find it” with her toys. A flat will not be considered. She needs a house with a good-sized, secure garden with proper fencing or dense, secure hedging as she will wander given the opportunity.
Indie is up to date with vaccinations and has no known health concerns. She isn’t currently spayed and spaying will be a condition of rehoming. Her KC documents will be retained until confirmation of her spay is provided. She has been raw fed throughout her life and we require this diet to be continued in her new home.
She will come with her crate, bedding, leads, muzzle, Halti, bowls, toys, flea treatment and other essentials to give her as much familiarity as possible while she settles.
We’re rehoming Indie because our circumstances no longer allow us to provide what she needs. We are a single-income household with a young child. Indie is large, affectionate and enthusiastic and, while she is generally careful with our son, he is becoming more boisterous with her as he grows. This is making her increasingly worried, meaning we are having to restrict both of their movements within our home. The stress this creates, particularly for Indie, simply isn’t fair.
Her walks are suffering because I don’t have the ability I once had to give her what she needs. Finding protected one-to-one time to consistently work on her reactivity is near impossible, and financially we aren’t able to provide the professional training she could benefit from.
We have genuinely tried to find another solution. We’ve worked through timetables, finances and different ways of making things work because rehoming her was never something we wanted. But asking Indie to wait several years for our child to get older wouldn’t be fair. A year is a bloody long time in a dog’s life, never mind several. She deserves proper walks, stimulation, consistent training, freedom within her home and the attention and companionship she thrives on now, not years from now.
Her ideal home would be with someone experienced and confident with large dogs, preferably German Shepherds or working breeds, who understands that reactivity and anxiety require patience and consistency. Someone working from home or around much of the day would be ideal, and we would prefer a home without young children due to her energy and sensitivity.
This is honestly bloody hard. We love Indie, but part of our commitment to her is recognising when our circumstances are preventing her from having the life she deserves. We can’t keep her simply because saying goodbye is going to hurt us.
Please be kind. I wouldn’t be writing this if I genuinely felt there was another realistic option.
If you feel you could offer Indie the loving, patient, active and secure home she deserves, please get in touch and tell us about yourself, your home, experience with dogs, working arrangements and any children or pets in the household. This will not be first come, first served; finding the right home is what matters.
Please start your message with the phrase “crazy dog” to prove you have read this description.
All messages without this phrase will be deleted.
Home checks will be carried out and a £200 rehoming fee applies; however, the right home is our priority.
Adv. ID:WQLoV7678
