A Sweet Dog with Blue Eyes Needs a Loving Home

Crystal

Crystal is a sweet dog with blue eyes who needs a loving home.  My rescue group, COLARS (the Circle of Life Animal Rescue Society), received a call from a concerned citizen about 6 weeks ago.  She had been feeding a dog who had been abandoned near a closed-down rural business for about a week.  She called us when it became obvious that no one was coming back for her.  

We took her in for a veterinary check-up right away and he noted she was pregnant.  The next day, she went into labor ... we had rescued her in the nick of time!  She had three pups.  Two black and one brindle.  After just one week, it became apparent that these were going to be BIG puppies.  They gained 10 pounds in only five weeks.  Since Crystal is a smallish lab-mix at only 40 -45 pounds, we had to wean them early ... in their enthusiasm to feed from her, they were causing her pain and discomfort during nursing. 

So now Crystal is puppy-free and we're waiting for her milk to dry up so we can get her spayed.  I went to meet her for the first time yesterday after she was transferred from one foster home to another.  She now has room to run in a very large fenced yard.   

The first thing I noticed was that she is VERY active ... and in need of an experienced, patient trainer. She loves people, but has bad manners, and won't even respond to her name.  But I could also see that she's got great potential. She was starting to respect me after only an hour of interacting with her. Her typical sweet and friendly lab personality endeared me to her, but she acts like a 6-month old puppy.  She has no focus and is "all over the place."  She jumps on people and needs help to learn some basic good social skills.  

The second thing I noticed about her ... once she slowed down long enough to get a good look at her ... was that her eyes appear to change color.  Sometimes they are crystal blue, but they also appear white or yellow, depending on the light.  

Crystal is definitely a unique-looking dog, at least as far as black lab-mixes go.  I hope that will help us find her a good home.  She'll need lots of attention, LOTS of exercise and positive reinforcement-based training.  I'm confident she'll make some loving person or family a wonderful companion.  She's got lab smarts, lab friendliness, and a beautiful, shiny black lab coat. 

 We'll only be giving her over to another rescue group with a trainer on staff (wish we did), or an experienced person willing to take on a project dog.  She's located in southeast Missouri.  If you are interested in adopting her, or know someone who might be, please leave me a comment here, or feel free to visit the COLARS Facebook page and leave a private message.