Hilo, born about 12/5/2022, seems like a mix of heeler, shepherd, and a whole bunch of other cuteness. He currently weighs about 35 pounds, so if our age guesstimate is pretty close, we expect him to be a pretty big dog when full grown (some of that mystery shepherd may be Anatolian).

Hilo had a rough start to his life - when just a couple of months old, he found himself alone, homeless, and depending on the kindness of strangers to survive. One lovely person to whom he went for help spent weeks showing Hilo that everything would be OK, while feeding and calming him daily. When they finally were able to bring him to the shelter, he was SO frightened of everything, but in just the first week of having his safe kennel, regular meals, lots of staff and volunteers to snuggle and play with, we have already seen him blossom beautifully!

He seems interested in other dogs, though avoids any that seem overly dominant. He plays well with polite pups! Hilo has met some cats without showing any signs of prey drive, so we think he will do well with dog-savvy cats, given a proper introduction.

Now that he is feeling relaxed and happy at the shelter, he is able to go out "on rounds" with staff, both around the building and in the various yards, and exhibits a good recall and is eager to learn.

We didn't expect him to be housetrained, given his youth, but so far he has not soiled his shelter kennel, nor has he exhibited any marking behaviors around the shelter. What a good boy!

He has good instincts - he will bark at new faces the first time he meets them, then when he knows they are allowed, he welcomes them each subsequent time. The staff and volunteers working with Hilo say he has an impressively calm demeanor and a lot of intelligence - he should be loads of fun to train.

We just love watching these formerly frightened pups start to grin as they learn that LIFE IS GOOD! You know when they think the shelter is the best place in the world, once they join YOUR home they are going to be amazed at the "level-up" to family pet!

Puppies require a lot of human interaction, and all puppies will benefit from obedience training and full immersion in their human household. Hilo's ideal home will have someone who can exercise him with a couple of energetic walks each day, plus commitment to training him how to be the best dog he can be. He hopes to have very few hours per day when he will be without the companionship of a human or other pet, and will reward his forever people with boundless love and loyalty!

All pets arrive spayed/neutered, dewormed, microchipped and vaccinated. Adoption fee for Hilo is a suggested minimum of $150 (more gratefully accepted). All pets are placed with a 30-day money-back trial period, to give pet and family enough time to discover any unknown allergies or other conflicts.

Can't come to Republic? Don't let that stop you! We have monthly transports to the Seattle area, delivering adopted pets to their new owners. If you can add a little to your donation to help us cover our volunteer driver's expenses, that would be great!