3/16/26 UPDATE...Layla was returned to the rescue due to her high prey drive. She arrived at her Illinois foster home on Saturday and she is settling in OK. Foster mom will work on desensitizing her to small animals. Layla is completely vetting, crate trained, housebroken and is good with other dogs her size and larger. We will update with more information soon as we get to know her a little better and will post updated pics as we get them. 4/17 UPDATE FROM LAYLA'S FOSTER MOM:
Layla's Foster mom here! She has been with us for just over a month and is doing great! While she had to leave her previous home due to some possible prey-drive issues with a smaller dog, it hasn't been anything that we could not work on. She is a puppy (11+ months) still, and puppies can be curious. But with some direction and basic training, she is learning that while small animals are super interesting and exciting, they are not to be chased. As with any young dog, she will need continued work until she fully understands this. Outside of that, this girl is a DREAM! She crates up PERECTLY, even taking her meals in her crate since we have another foster (Lenny) and our resident Boxer all eating at the same time. This allows her to eat in comfort without the excitement that can come from close quarters eating. She gets along famously with Lenny and our Brewer. Actually, she and Lenny are the bestest of buds - if a home was looking to adopt a pair, these 2 would be a shoe in! She loves her post walk zoomies and wrestling matches with Lenny! She walks great on leash and this is where we continue to work on her Leave It for small animals/distractions. She loves her morning and afternoon walks to the park. She does not seem to be phased at all by the comings and goings of people and cars on our walks. When I am working in the yard, she enjoys sitting on our fenced-in deck to watch the birds. We live on the river and she is very curious about the water, walking into it to investigate. She has allowed me to trim her nails and give her a bath and does very well and I expect she will get even more comfy with time and practice - again, she is still a puppy afterall.
Areas where she can use continued work? She would benefit from continued basic training, like any young dog. We work 10min in the morning and afternoon on the basics like sit, heal, stay, come, etc - we focus on Good Manners, she's not looking to get her Master's Degree . She has a GREAT sit. A home willing to continue working with her, even on an informal basis, would help her progress. She does piddle a little if too excited during greetings, so we practice calm greetings with her. She is a barker and, like many yound dogs, needs slow & positive reinforcement when new people come around, but she warms up quickly. She can be very mouthy (young dogs often explore with their mouths) so we work on that by keeping toys to mouth close by to "trade" off.
For such a young dog, she is so very good and can be even better with proper guidance. She can definitely go to a home with other dogs (we have not cat tested her as of Apr 2026); dogs her size (45lb) or larger would be easier but with proper training and management I feel she could live with a smaller dog as well, she just needs guidance.