10/15/2026
Meet Pepper!
Pepper came to us from a hoarding and breeding situation as a tiny, 10-day old puppy. Her mom and her siblings have all been rehabilitated and adopted into forever homes, and now Pepper is still waiting on her turn.
Pepper has had some trouble finding her forever family for a few reasons. Because we are a small rescue with a small reach, most of our dogs meet their families out at adoption events. Unfortunately, Pepper is pretty shy around new people. She tends to do well meeting people for a little while, but with so many strangers crowding her space as they come to meet dogs, it quickly becomes overwhelming for her. Pepper also seems to struggle in the same way when people force her to meet their dogs on leash. The combination of an uncomfortable new setting, crowd of strange faces, and unknown dogs with unknown attitudes is just simply too much for her to handle. We don't blame her at all, it's just an unfortunate set of circumstances that's kept her in foster care for quite a long time. That's another issue altogether; when people hear that a dog has spent a long time in care without being adopted, it tends to make people think there's something wrong with the dog. And of course in that moment when she's trying to climb inside her foster mom's hoodie to hide, we really can't blame these folks for making that assumption.
In her foster home, however, Pepper is an entirely different dog. She is honestly an absolute delight. She's got the best smile (complete with a tiny underbite) and is essentially 100 pounds of wiggles stuffed into a
50 pound sack. She's incredibly playful and active, and would make an excellent exercise companion for an avid runner. She is also a snuggly potato, and thus would also make an excellent companion for an avid TV watcher. She's very smart, and so well behaved to the point where her 'disobedience' basically amounts to smiling and wiggling at you while still looking at the bowl of popcorn you said she couldn't have.
Pepper gets along very well with all of the dogs and cats in her foster home. When dogs are introduced to her in a comfortable setting, she absolutely loves meeting and making new friends. She's able to actually 'turn off' at home and really let her inner party animal shine bright.
Pepper's ideal home would have a yard to play in, a friend to wrestle with, and a relatively low amount of strange people invading her space all the time. She would love a family that enjoys hiking or running, but not necessarily one that expects her to attend a crowded event afterwards. She's outgoing, if by outgoing you mean going outside to the patio so she can come show you every single leaf she found on the ground (you have to act excited, it's the law).
Pepper is potty trained, crate trained, and is spayed, chipped, and up to date on all of her vaccines.
She's truly an awesome dog, she's just not an extrovert, and we really hope we can find a forever family willing to let her get comfy instead of dismissing her right away due to her anxiety in public.
