Friday, July 20, 2012

Shiloh is Back

Four months ago I rescued an emaciated Bluetick Coonhound who showed up as a stray at a neighbor’s house. I named her Shiloh, and when her owners couldn’t be located she went to stay at another foster home temporarily. Now she’s back!

Shiloh is an amazing dog – everyone who meets her seems to agree she is wonderful. She is extremely affectionate and loves to give very gentle hugs. However she also is extremely energetic and has no concept of living in a house. She hates being crated, and can break out of most crates, but leaving her loose means she’ll redecorate your house in a way you won’t particularly like. So far she’s eaten a bag of Doritos, knocked my camera off of a very high table onto the floor, chewed up a few things, and relocated several small objects such as TV remotes to various areas of the house. So we’re working on crate training, as well as house manners. She loves other dogs, and is fine with the cats. Did I mention that she has a very loud baying Coonhound bark? It can be heard for miles around. This is a desirable characteristic for a hunting dog, but not so much for a pet dog in a home with nearby neighbors. That is the reason she came back to my house from her other foster home.


Shiloh has come a long way in the past four months. This is Shiloh when she was first found:

Shiloh only weighed 36 pounds at intake
 And this is her today:
Even her ears filled out!

When she has her mouth closed, I think she looks quite regal. But she usually has her mouth open, like this:

Happy Girl!
 Not quite so regal, but still cute, right? 

7 comments:

Barbara said...

Don't give up on her! She just needs to learn manners!

Cupcake said...

How I love to see a very skinny dog gain that much needed weight.

Hey, if a dog is misbehavin' then
Dog Foster Mom's house is where she stayin'
That seems to be the theme.

I know you will do wonders with her!

Love, Cupcake

LP said...

What incredibly uplifting before and after pics! Shiloh is beautiful! Paws crossed that she finds a wonderful forever home :)

the critters in the cottage xo

Pip said...

Wow, she filled out beautifully. Good luck on the house manners!

Nicole and Macho said...

Wow, she is beautiful and looks so much better! We hope she finds a home soon!

Nicole and Macho

The Lady said...

Aw!! She sounds like the perfect coonhound!! LOL It can take former hunting dogs a while to learn to live inside a house.

As for the baying...well, its my favorite sound and I encourage it!

Letting her use her hunting skills is really what she needs. She can start to learn nosework or tracking (of people). It will help!

The Lady said...

She looks sooo good!!!

And, you don't want to be my neighbor! I live in a subdivision with two full time coonies and one foster coonie right now. Nothing like being woke up to the beautiful sound of a bay first thing in the morning! OK, I love it, and the neighbors haven't called the cops on me yet so it's all good.

One thing I do is let my girls "hunt". I'll take them out on a trail int he woods on leash and let them sniff and run and bay up trees. They come home happy and tired!