Shepard – or Shep for short – is one very very sweet boy! He’s about 5 yrs old, so he’s calm, as compared to the puppy to 2 yr old cocker kids. He was not well cared for wherever he was before ending up in a shelter. He had 2 horrible cherry eyes, and his ears were in absolutely horrible shape, and smelled unbelievably bad. They were so bad that the bacterial infection had also caused large pockets of infection on his neck and behind his skull. With antibiotics and proper food, the infection has subsided. Plus one of our great vets gave him anesthesia and did a deep clean on his ears, and may have to do it again.

Because of how bad his ears were when he came to us, he will probably have to have daily cleanings of his ears, but he’s worth it. Shep’s very smart as well. He knows when I’m getting the eye drops out and he runs away. He can’t run too far in the house, so he gets drops in his eyes every day as well. We don’t know if that will continue or not. His eyes have improved, too. So, he’s making wonderful progress.

Thankfully, Shep was heartworm negative. He really didn’t need to go through heartworm treatment too. That would have been a lot with all his other health challenges.

Shep will weigh around 30 lbs when he finishes filling out. He was pretty skinny and is enjoying being fed extra plus lots of nutritional supplements. Shep’s coat will be magnificent when it comes back in (he was so matted that he had to be shaved down); he’s primarily chocolate and his legs are either light sable or tan. He’s housetrained and does well in his crate. He’s past the chewing stages, so he should be trustworthy to be left out. He loves to chew on and roll over rubber dog toys. Most of the time, instead of a low bark, he howls. It’s really kinda cute, and he will do it to get your attention. This dog is not at all aggressive, loves to be in your lap and give a couple of kisses. He gets along very well with people and other dogs. He will beg for human food, but that is just plain not allowed at his foster home.

Shep is not quite ready to go yet, but if you want a wonderful Cocker boy, who is also a great companion, go ahead and put your application in for him.