Welcome to Winnie's Home

Mine and Winnie’s journey began 3 years ago in Flagstaff Arizona when I, like many of us in 2021, was looking for companionship in the midst of a pandemic. While longingly browsing through local shelters' websites a pair of copper eyes, lined with black, and a set of zany ears caught my attention above all others. A 20 minute drive, 3 signatures, a collar and leash, Winnie was on her way home with me within the hour.

Upon adoption, Winnie was presumably around a year and a half, 70 lbs, and suffering from severe diarrhea. While her age was only an estimate, I had reason to trust the accuracy based on the history lesson that followed. Winnie had been at the shelter roughly 2.5 weeks before I adopted her. She had also been at this shelter once before when she was about 5 weeks old. With the pictures attached to this post as reference, imagine Winnie at 5 weeks old: legs too long for her body, skin falling in curtains around her neck and face, and a tail 3/4th’s the length of her body. 

Absolute. Perfection.

You would be a fool not to fall in love, and presumably that’s what happened because, unsurprisingly, she was adopted and carted away to her new beautiful life. 

Or so it was thought. 

Cut to a year and a half later, a golden, gangly, underweight mutt with ears that make her look uncannily like Dobby the House Elf, was scooped up off the streets and brought to the nearest shelter. A quick scan of her microchip confirmed it was indeed the same awkward puppy that left them nearly 2 years ago. Only now with a superficial injury to her left eye, a chunk missing from right ear, and a fear only fending for herself on the streets could induce. What was once a carefree puppy with only love in her heart was now a flight risk with no trust left to give. 

Enter stage left, myself. A lonely 24 year old, with a brand new job, 2 roommates, and too much confidence. Having grown up with large rescue dogs my whole life, I saw this clear challenge of a dog and thought “how hard could this be?” To no one’s surprise except my own…much harder than I thought. 

Now, 3 years, 4 moves, 6 roommates, 15 lbs (gained by both Winnie and I), and 3 states later, we’ve settled in Portland Oregon and have spent nearly a year exploring the Northwest part of this beautiful state. Over the last 3 years we’ve learned the in’s and out’s of each other's personalities and idiosyncrasies. We’ve grown familiar with each other’s patterns, routines, wants and needs. We’ve gone through hours of training and have traversed thousands of miles together. What’s become very clear, now that it’s primarily just her and I, is that Winnie requires a lot more space and time than I am able to give in this stage of my life. 

Winnie is primarily a German Shepherd/Pitbull Terrier/Chow Chow mix. Clocking in at around 85lbs, she is, at her core, a guard dog and is protective of her people. She thrives in large spaces and loves to lay her long frame in whatever puddle of sunlight she can find (which is proving difficult through our first PNW winter). She is incredibly smart and requires daily intensive exercise and enrichment in order to settle at the end of the day. Being a single woman who works full time in the office I have found maintaining the attention and care she requires very challenging. 

A couple of Winnie personality traits: 

• She has lived with both dogs and cats! She is very adaptive in her play and learns quickly which furry housemates want to play and which ones don’t.
• She’s crate, house, and leash trained. 
• She loves car rides and has joined me on numerous road trips.
• She has always loved wading in shallow water but has recently learned how to doggy paddle and keep her heavy body afloat since coming to Oregon!
• She tolerates baths and nail clipping very well and voluntarily hops into my tub to receive both.
• She is cautious of strangers and needs to be introduced to new people slowly. That being said, she has made many friends whom she never forgets no matter how much time has passed since seeing them. 
• She will often get post dinner zoomies and chase her leg until she catches it, which she succeeds in doing nearly every time.
• She has an affinity for shadows and reflections and will chase them much like a cat with a laser (of which I refuse to get her). While it’s fun to play like this for a little I try to avoid this game as I think it promotes her neurosis in a negative way.  
• She does not understand small children or why they move so fast and try to grab her. She would be best suited in a home of only adults or with children old and strong enough to walk an 85 lbs dog around the neighborhood.
• She is far too comfortable on furniture but is trained to stay off certain couches if alternative floor bedding is provided. 
• She loves to press her body weight into you and to sleep as close as possible (if not on top) of you. 
• She has the most personality of any dog I’ve ever met.
• She has so much love to give and needs a patient couple who has the space to let her in. 

 My goal in writing this is to find Winnie the home she deserves. She is my love, protector, and best friend, but timing is everything and unfortunately for me our storylines no longer align. If you’ve made it this far and want to learn more about Winnie and I please don’t hesitate to reach out! We would love to get to know you and explore this next chapter you’ve decided to embark on and help you decide if Winnie will be an enriching contribution to it.   

I plan on being fully involved in Winnies rehoming process and will be diligent in making sure we find the best home for her and prospective adopters.