Gala ARPH #14044
Bedford, TX
Gala came to us with 24 other aussies, including her mother and brother, when a producer went out of business.
Gala is a beautiful 2.5 year-old black tri female who has been in foster care far too long. She is a great size at just 38 lbs. She is crate trained, housebroken, and is very loving with her “family”. She is smart, learns quickly, is biddable, is energetic but does have an off switch.
In September 2019 she had a freak accident and broke two vertebrae in her back. She had surgery to repair the break. Being the determined and optimistic girl that she is, she has recovered nicely and her happy personality has not been affected. We continue to do physical therapy to strengthen her back legs but they may always be less than perfect and she probably will never move with the grace and beauty that she did before the injury. However, that does not keep her from being a normal dog. She can still run like the wind, play fetch, swim, hike, and do things like nose work that do not require any jumping.
Gala has been through a lot of training. Probably far more than most foster dogs would get as she needed a mental outlet for her energy. She has been through puppy training, manners classes, agility, dock jumping, and nose work. While she can no longer do things that require jumping, she is able to participate in traditional obedience, rally, and nose work.
Her favorite things are playing fetch, running, and swimming. Running while squeaking a toy at the same time is the best! When she is playing with a toy, she trots around with it in her mouth, squeaking it to beat the band and proud as punch. She is also very food motivated and will do almost anything for food!
Gala wasn’t extremely interested in human touch when she was very young (she came to ARPH at just 5 weeks old) but as she has matured, she has figured out that belly rubs and massages are good things. She really is a happy girl and her nubbin and grin show that. She does give kisses (too many sometimes) and has even learned to snuggle.
Even though Gala has been exposed to a multitude of different people, places, and experiences, she is still unsure about new people and dogs she hasn't seen before. She is somewhat sensitive to people and dogs staring at her as well as some movement (people moving from sitting to standing, dogs running). She does bark at other dogs when she sees them but is friendly with dogs once she meets them. She does take some time to warm up to people (Treats help immensely!), but we know that she is very capable of bonding with people in a new home as she has made “vacation” visits to other foster homes and when given time to adjust to the new environment, she did well. She has shown no aggression with any people or dogs. And she loves playing bitey face and wrestling with the dogs in the foster home.
Gala’s perfect home would be an active home along the lines of walking, hiking, swimming, or ongoing training. The injury has slowed her down only a little; she still has plenty of spunk and energy. Being injured did not turn her into a couch potato. So, while she may not have the physical abilities she did before, she will still need plenty of physical and mental exercise. It will be important to keep her weight down. They will also need to be prepared to deal with any issues with the hardware in her back and the possibility of arthritis in the future. A home with another dog that is easy going (but not a push over) might be helpful with continuing to improve her confidence. She has done well in homes with multiple dogs (even small dogs). A home without children is best but a home with older children (12 and above) who behave appropriately around dogs might be okay. Adopters will need to be patient and understanding and continue working with her reserve with people, strange dogs & situations, and the barking that sometimes goes along with those. She will initially bond with a favorite person in the home but will eventually adjust to (and seek out) all occupants.
Gala deserves to be in her forever home. She has improved so much in the time she has been with ARPH. Someone just needs to be willing to give her a chance, even though she doesn't necessarily make a great first impression.
Gala is located in Bedford, TX and it is required that you travel there to meet her in person to adopt, no exceptions. We do need the entire party to be involved when meeting available dogs, including every family member and dog(s) that currently live in your home.
Please submit an adoption application if you are interested in any of our dogs. If you have already been approved, please contact Kim at [email protected] for more information.