Styx was part of an unplanned litter in Detroit. While her breed mix would suggest she’d be a bigger dog, the vet thinks she’ll stay on the smaller side of medium as an adult. A perfect size to snuggle up next to you on the couch without taking up too much space.

​Styx watched as her three littermates found their forever homes. Why them and not her? While they all came into rescue under-socialized, she was the most shy and timid around new people. She shies away from being pet until you have entered her circle of trust (this will take days/weeks, not minutes/hours), and will bark when she’s uncomfortable with a new person in her home. Her future forever family will need to be patient and likely do several meet-ups to build trust before adoption. She does warm up pretty quickly to new dog friends, so a home with a confident dog sibling to help her learn the ropes would be ideal! We do not know how she’d do with cats.

To help Styx overcome her ‘Stranger Danger’ mindset, she has started SSRI medication and is doing in-home training sessions to learn how to better manage her anxiety. She’s already showing a lot of progress, but will still prefer a quieter home without a lot of people coming and going.

Once Styx trusts you, she’s a wonderful, loving, snuggly companion! She’s very treat-motivated and smart, making her easy to train. She has some bursts of puppy energy, but is overall a pretty chill dog who happily settles on the couch or in her crate for nap time. She loves to play fetch with toys inside. Outside, she tends to get more distracted by all the smells, but does happily engage in a game of chase with her doggy playmate. She rarely barks at anything outside of the house (animals, people, cars, etc.) and is past the put-everything-in-your-mouth stage of puppyhood.

While Styx makes it hard for you to earn her trust, the effort will be rewarded with lots of love and loyalty.