Sweet Ethil the snuggle bug is ready to find her forever home! Ethil was surrendered when her previous owners realized that they didn’t have the time for her that she needed. Since coming into foster care, it is clear that Ethil loves her people best. It is important for Ethil that her person or people be retired or work at home. If you could bring Ethil to work with you every day that would be fine too, as she doesn’t bark and would be happy just laying at your feet.

Ethil wouldn’t mind sharing her people with another dog or two, preferably her size or smaller, as she can feel intimidated around larger dogs. She loves playing with the two puppies in her foster home, and enjoys a good old-fashioned romp or game or chase with the others. Ethil has no food or toy aggression, avoids conflict, and has no bite history. She has shown no prey drive, and had cats in her previous home, so a dog-savvy kitty would be fine. On two occasions, Ethil felt provoked by an unexpected hug from a younger child and got snippy, so kids in her new home should be dog-savvy kids and older than 12.

Ethil’s hatred of her crate is likely the reason her teeth are worn down and missing. When she was being transported to her foster home, she literally destroyed the metal bars on the crate! In her foster home, she showed her escape skills from both metal and plastic crates. Once, she had chewed her way out of the crate and then proceeded to chew on the doorframe! Ethil’s fear of confinement means that she needs people home with her most of the time. Ethil’s foster family leaves her gated in the kitchen with access to a doggy door, where she does fine when alone for a few hours. Ethil would benefit from her forever people working to reduce her fears, but Ethil’s intense anxiety means that this would likely be a slow process, and at this point crating is not a safe option for her.

Ethil can jump very high and will need a tall fence. She gets tons of exercise playing with the other dogs in the yard. Ethil loves to explore in the country setting of her foster home, and prefers that to city life.

When Ethil first arrived in foster care, she urped everything she ate and drank, but Ethil’s urping improved considerably with a course of twice-daily dose of Sucralfate. Ethil is missing several of her front teeth as her bottom ones are quite ground down, which makes chewing difficult and she may urp every few days or so. But otherwise, she is in good health.

Ethil is not quite 100% with her housetraining, but is close. She is very good at letting you know when she needs to go out, but will not hold it once she’s let you know! As long as she goes out every three hours or so or has access to a doggy door she does fine, but her future family will have to pay attention to her cues to avoid accidents. Her foster mom tells us that Ethil will squat every time she is let out, even if she does not have to go, as if to say "There, are you happy now?"

Ethil’s foster mom has this to say about her:

“Ethil is truly a fantastic dog. She is very low-maintenance and just goes with the flow. She makes me laugh every day the way her little tail raises up a bit and wags when she sees me. She runs at the speed of light to get where her people are. She has such an amazing zest for life. She loves to get in your face and just lie there touching you. She will sleep nestled in your arms or on your pillow if you let her. She has this adorable thing where she comes up and nibbles on your fingers, and since she is missing quite a few teeth in the front and others are very worn down, it feels like a little baby gumming your finger. It makes me laugh out loud every time she does it and she enjoys the attention it brings to her. She is so smart and understands what I am saying and will do whatever it takes to please. I want to find her a home where she can be the diva she is and people will never get sick of her wanting to be near them.”

Ethil is snuggling with her foster family in Mideastern Missouri. Bring Ethil a seatbelt for a safe ride to her new home—no crate, please, and of course, she will not be shipped.