Name/Age: Sheila E. - 3-ish y/o
Family Members: Katy & Griff (humans), Annabelle Rose- Annie for short (dog 8ish, also adopted and maybe some pitty?)
How long has Shelia been in the family? September 2018, officially adopted January 2019
Professions: Katy - Sales Manager at GWCC & Griff- Investment Consultant at TD Ameritrade
Location: Atlanta, GA.
Nicknames: She really doesn’t have any…
5 words/phrases that best describe Sheila E.?
Loving
Loyal
Protective
Shy
Gassy
What makes Sheila E. unique? She has the most beautiful, sweet temperament and loves to snuggle under her humans. She also has little regard for personal space and will sit directly on top of her sister.
Happy Girl!
Rescue Story: The weather was perfect one Saturday in September and we decided to do Weekend Warrior ( a program through Lifeline to get dogs out of the shelter for a weekend) and give a shelter dog some love. When I went to pick one up, I was asked to please consider taking Sheila (her name was Sheba back then). They said she wasn’t doing well in the shelter and really needed to get out. I said sure and took her home where she cowered and kept her tail pinned to her belly. She was shaking and couldn’t relax. We took her to play and she just stood around like she wasn’t sure what to do. We couldn’t get her to eat (not even bacon!) and she just seemed defeated. By the time Sunday afternoon came, I couldn’t stand the thought of her going back to the shelter because it didn’t seem like she’d gotten anything out of the 36 hours we were together. I reached out to Fulton County Animal Services and asked if we could keep her for a couple more days.
Over the next week we found ways to get her to eat- putting cheese in her food, giving it to her in her “corner”, etc. She slowly started making progress and of course by then my thinking was that if we took her back to the shelter now, she would revert to being scared and timid and lose what progress she’d made. After all, she’s more likely to get adopted if she’s socialized. :) And that brought us to Christmas where my fiance’s mother had a stocking and custom coat made with her name embroidered on them. Needless to say we realized that she was truly ours at that point and finalized it shortly after. Now she loves dog parks, car rides, and snuggling on the couch.
Sheila E’.s shelter listing.
What is your favorite pastime as a family? Our favorite thing is to watch her and her sister play in wide open spaces. She loves to wrestle and roll around in grass. It’s just so great to see her carefree and happy after experiencing how she was straight from the shelter.
What is life like since you rescued Sheila E.? Magical!! She’s given our 8 year old dog new life and now my fiancé and I both have a dog to snuggle instead of fighting over just one. She’s gained 10 lbs and you can no longer see her ribs. I like to think that she’s pretty happy with us as well.
Photographers Note: I met up with this adorable little family at Piedmont Park and Sheila was in fact a little shy at first. I let her do her thing and didn’t push to interact with her. (as much as I wanted to love on that cute face) Well once they let her off leash to run around a bit, this sweet girl just came alive. She raced around with the biggest smile on her face and then spent a fair amount of time rolling in the dirt, much to her Mom’s dismay. (she had just had a bath for her photo shoot). Of course her sister Annie wanted in on the fun as well, with some wrestling. To hear how this beautiful pup started; so shut down and scared, to see her now with humans she adores and her BFF/Sister Annie, she is definitely living “The Glamorous Life” now. (sorry couldn’t resist the Sheila E reference here)
Sibling Love!