11/08/2025
I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day. 🌞
When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May...
Who can make us feel this way? Gladys! Sweet Gladys (aka Ruby Sue) is a beautiful 4 yr old red long hair female dachshund recently released from the commercial breeding industry. This adorable little girl is making great progress from being an anxious skittish breeder dog to being a playful, snuggly pet. With patience and a bit more time, Gladys is going to make someone a wonderful little companion.
The biggest "must" for Gladys is a quiet, securely fenced yard. A privacy fence would be a bonus, but as long as the yard is fairly quiet, it's not required. When Gladys hears loud noises outside, she gets spooked and won't potty. Then she has accidents inside. But if she has a peaceful place to potty, she does great with her potty training. So if you live on a main thoroughfare, have noisy neighbors or have long project road construction on your street, you're probably not a good match. She doesn't mind barky neighbor dogs (even bigger dogs, she barks back!) And some noises aren't so bad, like a passing siren. But her first foster lived along L St with loud motorcycles, big semis, noisy pickup trucks and road construction with jackhammers and grinders. All these sounds caused Gladys to struggle with potty training.
However, we recently moved her to a foster home with a quieter yard and Gladys has done great! Hardly any accidents, even on cold mornings. She even enjoys spending time sniffing and exploring her new yard since it's more peaceful. So this is a required key to success in her forever home. It's also probably best to keep her in the Omaha area so we can visit the yard with Gladys and see how she reacts prior to adoption.
Gladys will also require a small resident dog in her new home to help model appropriate behaviors. She absolutely loves other dogs. She has a "the more, the merrier" attitude and will run and play with other small dogs. She would love to have a small, playful canine sibling to do zoomies with. Gladys likes to hoard toys, so her canine sibling must be willing to share because she will steal their toys when they aren't looking.
Gladys enjoys going on walks. She's still learning to walk on a leash and does best paired with a confident dog with good leash skills. But again, loud noises will startle her and she'll try to run from them, so it's still a work in progress.
Gladys is kennel trained. But she prefers to not be in the kennel if given the option. She loves to sleep in the big bed with her foster, but she has slept in a kennel and was quiet all night.
Gladys is showing signs of a playful, fun personality. She does great in bigger social settings like meet and greets and dog parks. She will happily greet new dogs and people. She enjoys cuddling with her foster while watching TV. When she's excited she'll do zoomies and can even be a little sassy at times.
Unfortunately, as sweet and fun as Gladys can be, she still carries "demons" from her past as a breeder dog. She finds a "safe space" in her home, which might be in another room, behind furniture, or in her kennel, and will go there when she is feeling nervous. We can tell sometimes that she wants to come out and join everyone as she peaks around corners, but something holds her back. She will just need some more time and patience to learn she is safe. Sometimes she just needs a little space and some reassurance. For this reason, no small kids.
Gladys does have an easily manageable eye issue. We noticed that she squinted a lot out in the sun. A trip to the eye specialist discovered she has iris hypoplasia. Her irises never fully developed, so they don't fully contract properly. This lets in more light than normal, thus the squinting as a kind of a "self correction." There's nothing that needs to be (or can be) done for this and it doesn't damage her eyes or cause issues with vision. The eye specialist did say we could try some doggles or other doggie sunglasses to see if they would make her more comfortable when outside. We haven't done that yet as we have been more concerned with potty training and didn't think wearing sunglasses would help with that process.
She also has poor tear production, so the eye vet prescribed cyclosporine drops every other day. She will need to check in with the eye vet (it may possible to move this issue to your vet, if they are comfortable with that) a few times a year to refill the drops.
Could Gladys be your sunshine on a cloudy day? If you're ready to make Gladys your girl, fill out an app at https://www.wagntrainterrierrescue.com/adoption-information
