Meet Pepper, the Old English Sheepdog mix! Pepper came into the Shelter by no fault of her own – her previous guardian was having some medical difficulties that made it hard to care for a large, fairly active dog. Pepper was clearly very well-socialized and trained in her previous home - she rides well in a car, is sociable and friendly with everyone she meets, she plays well with toys, is quite manageable on leash, and she responds to quite a few training cues, like sit, stay, heel, and come. She has lived in a home with teens previously and did well, but she may be a little too exuberant for small children, especially those unused to larger dogs. Pepper has enjoyed interacting with dogs while out and about. She spent some time in a home with two other dogs. She coexisted but was known to take their food from them, if allowed. Any resident dogs should be fed separately to keep from Pepper taking their portion of their meals... Sometimes large breed dogs seem to intimidate her a bit, so we recommend that any resident dog(s) in the home meet her prior to adoption. Pepper is probably not a great fit for a home with small animals, cats or livestock as she tends to want to chase. Her favorite things to do are play with toys, go to the beach, and go for walks and hikes. Her favorite toy in a previous home was a soccer-sized ball. The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter Foundation is now offering “Pawsitivity Bucks” with every dog adoption. This $200 training voucher is a way for newly adopted canines and their guardians to connect with local positive reinforcement based behavior consultants and get their relationship started off on the right paw! Please note: Our Santa Cruz location’s Shelter hours are 11-6pm, 7 days a week! Although clients can walk through and see any animals in their kennels during open hours, we end “meet and greets” (aka meeting an animal out of the kennel) at 4:30pm every day. If you’d like to meet an animal out of the kennel, please arrive before 4:00pm to allow for time to discuss individual animals and meet them.