We've been fostering Harley since August of 2020, and she's ready for her forever home!

Harley's story

We found Harley running down a lane of traffic on a busy street looking lost and scared. With the help of 3 other motorists, we were able to corral her, put a lead on her, and take her to the sidewalk. She did not trust us at first, but after sitting with her for 1-1/2 hours, she finally would look at us, sniffed at us, and finally took some water we offered. Once she felt sufficiently safe, she jumped in the car with us, and we headed straight to the vet (after a quick stop at home to get some food) to get scanned for a microchip and help her find her humans, which we were sure devastated to have lost her.

After multiple attempts to reach out to her previous humans and no response, it became clear that they had abandoned her and she now was our responsibility.

Harley is a beautiful dog, incredibly loyal and protective, but she has not been the easiest house guest. She bonded fiercely with Muriel (who was the one that found her), and will protect her at any cost. Even from Matt. It has been stressful for everyone involved when Matt approaches Muriel, even to go into the kitchen or her office, and Harley starts barking and attacking Matt's feet. She seems to do better with people that spend time and energy lessening her anxiety, but even with them (Roxy and Muriel's mom, in particular), if she perceives them to be any sort of threat, she will revert to protective mode.

We've done some training but we've not been able to do it consistently enough to change Harley's behavior.

Looking for...

Harley would do best in a home with someone that is able to give her consistent training, and a place where she is not exposed to too many other people. She will chase cats, so a home with cats is not advisable. Harley came to us not really socialized to other dogs, but she's now spent some time at Country Dog Ranch where she is learning to be around other dogs, so unless you really know what you are doing and can work with Harley to create a bond with your dogs, we would prefer a home with no other dogs.

Harley will become protective of you, and will attack anyone who she considers a threat to you. This makes taking her out to public spaces a liability, and ideally not done. We have taken her on hikes, but any time we cross paths with other hikers, we had to hold her tightly and closely, and she barked loudly and ferociously. But she would make an ideal companion for someone that wants the security she is able to provide.

Harley also has separation anxiety, so she would also do best with someone that is able to have her with them most of the time.

And now for the good stuff

Harley is an ideal protective companion dog. She will follow you everywhere you go, but will lay down quietly for hours on end without complaint while you are busy. She loves chasing tennis balls, but more than anything she loves attacking water coming out of a hose. This is the only time Harley will leave Muriel's side willingly and run out to chase the water.

Harley is housebroken, takes treats sooo gently (and her meds!), is ok on a leash (she gets very excited) but I'm sure with consistent training can improve. She loves treats (especially liver and chicken strips!) but is not a great eater. We have some tips on how to encourage her to eat though! 

She's not super cuddly and does not jump up on your bed, she prefers to sleep in her crate close to you. During the day she will often lay her head on your feet (and keep them warm!) when she's napping, it's very cute!

Harley's Health

Harley is fully vaccinated and spayed (finding a spay appointment during the pandemic took a while!). She has arthritis on her front left leg and is taking daily pain medication to manage it. She also takes Trazodone daily to help manage her anxiety, as well as CBD and a probiotic formulated to help with anxiety.

We enlisted the help of a dog trainer (The Sophisticated Dog) and her adopter will have 3 Zoom sessions to work with Irith after adoption to ease in the rehoming process.

Otherwise Harley is healthy and will require daily exercising. She loves going to the tennis court and chasing balls, it's great if you have access to a backboard, you hit balls against it, she runs after them and will bring them back to you.

The Serious Stuff

Harley will take her job of protecting you too seriously and she can be a legal liability for her new family. Please be aware that her new family will have to sign a contract taking over legal responsibility of Harley and be responsible for her behavior under your care. Harley may attack and potentially harm someone, and as the new family you must make sure this never happens. Her life depends on it, as she could be ordered to be put down if she injures anyone. In addition, you could face financial and legal liability for anything that she does.

The Goodest Girl

Harley is a very good girl and would make an amazing addition to your home if you have just the right conditions for her. We love this girl and have grown quite attached to her in the months she has spent with us. We want the very best life for this girl. She deserves it. We don't know what her past life was like, but we want to do everything possible to make sure she has an amazing family to live out the rest of her days.

If you think you can provide for all of Harley's needs and have the perfect home for her, please fill out this application HERE . We will review all applications until we have the ideal home for her.

If you know of anyone that could be interested in Harley, please forward them this page, we sincerely appreciate it.

Let's find Harley her forever home!