This spunky and petite girl landed on the Maricopa county euthanasia list when she came into the shelter after being hit by a car, leaving her hind leg severely broken all the way back in April 2023. She had surgery  done by a specialist and is now fully healed, spayed, and ready to go to her forever home!

Vala is what we call a shy dog. She will need a patient and understanding adopter to help her transition into a new space. She has gotten very comfortable with some, but not all, humans in her two foster homes and will come up for love and affection with those she knows and trusts. When anyone she doesn’t know well or trust yet walks into a room she runs for her safe space – the laundry room with her current foster.

She will need TIME to show her true potential. She will definitely not be your best friend the day she comes home, but if you take the time to prove she can trust you, you will be rewarded by the most loyal companion. If she isn’t engaging much initially, we highly encourage the adopter to try to force time with her, by simply leading her around the home on a leash so she gets to know you better – this definitely helps to speed up the process.

She must go to a home with other dogs (preferably energetic and playful ones)! She absolutely loves other dogs and wants to be with them at all times – they help her feel comfortable and more confident. She will follow their lead around the house to learn the rules and routine, too. She is also very submissive, meaning she would do great in pretty much any group of pups.

She cannot be in a home with cats and does have a high prey drive towards them. Small dogs are no problem at all for her though!

She has had a few accidents in her foster homes, though they mostly have been from to being startled/scared from a loud noise, so simply a fear response. This has improved significantly in the time we have had her, though may occur initially as she transitions again.

She has just the sweetest personality and is medium to high energy once she gets comfortable. She loves to go out for bike rides to run off some energy with the other pups, and is easy to take out once she trusts you – initially it may be a challenge, but with patience and time (and a little boundary-pushing to she her that it will be ok) we know she will thrive! She has shown no aggression at all, so we wouldn’t be worried about her biting a child – but any child that would be around her absolutely must be taught to go slow and to give her space when she is scared and uncomfortable, so very small children are likely unadvisable.

We’d love to find this sweet girl her forever home – she is on the smaller side at maybe 40lbs and she has so much love to bring to the right pack!