Pepper

Pepper says "but really I've been a good girl, Santa!" This has been a year of changes for an older girl that is just sooooo resilient !! She takes everything in stride & just learns to adapt! Thank you so very much to our Santa Paws sponsors that make Christmas just so much brighter for these homeless hounds !

what i know about Pepper so far... she can be comical & unpredicatble... she reacts if she feels cornered (again invasion of her personal space is very distressing to her unless she comes to you on her terms).... she is a little head shy & doesn't like rough & tumble play unless it's with another canine companion, then she can hold her own. She sometimes experiences "night terrors" when she's sleeping, so you want to make sure the lights are on & she is fully awake before approaching her... this has been subsiding, so I'm guessing that with a consistent home life, she will continue to improve. They cannot talk or tell you what they've been through and they take everything in stride just living in the moment. I think she has done incredibly well dealing with all the changes she's gone thru in the past few months !

Please excuse the junk in the yard, Pepper loves bike rides ...or rather running along side the bike. I've ordered a proper bike leash for her that attaches to the bike so that we are safe to ride :-). I've also ordered proper harnesses so that both her & Banjo can go biking with me :-) ... sure hope we get one more reprieve of nice weather & last night's dump of snow dissipates !

Pepper is a smaller hound mix, about 8 yrs young and extremely smart! She can slide open a gate & wiggle through if she wants to be on the other side. She will bring you her leash when she really wants a walk... so someone loved her enough once upon a time, to teach her these things. She is a complete paradox because she can be an entirely different dog in differing circumstances. We were told she doesn't do well with other dogs & can be reactive... yet she gets along fin...e with our female hound and has from the moment they met. It took her a lot longer to warm up to the male hound in the house, but after a decompression time of a month or so, they are now play buddies in the yard...so it all depends on the dog. Some of her care givers reported excessive barking and separation anxiety; but she has been exceptionally quiet with me & responds immediately to an ultrasonic "pinger" to correct any late night barking in the yard (I live in a very rural area that often has nocturnal wildlife skirting the yard which understandably can cause pandemonium among the hounds). Pepper needs time to feel secure again... she's had an awful lot of changes to go thru. She is an affectionate dog, and loves to be petted, but is very nervous if her personal space is invaded...she is not a "huggy" dog, yet she loves attention, walks, playtime. Pepper is looking for a lifetime companion that is a mature adult in a quiet private home with a secure, fenced yard. She has a lot of love to give to someone who will be dedicated to winning her trust again. See more

Pepper's Story (or as much as we know): she had a home once upon a time, for about 8 yrs... but her family expanded & she was about as ready for a squalling baby 24/7 as any other old senior out there. She didn't adjust well, so she lost everything & got dumped in a shelter. Her home & her once quiet world was now a pandemonium of noisy barking and a concrete cell. She was confused & scared, and nervous. She didn't do well with all the other strange dogs, but she is one of the lucky ones that actually found a rescue placement with Gentle Jake's Coonhound Rescue. So she got moved into foster care so we could assess her. In the car she is completely relaxed & the relief visibly shows....