Stella's been at the Berkshire Humane Society for eight months and is ready for a forever home.

Stella has been learning to play well with others and walk on a leash. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Stella has spent eight long months preparing for her forever family and is eager to leave the Berkshire Humane Society.

iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.

Canine caregiver and adoption counselor Simone Olivieri told us about Stella.

Stella is a little over a year old, weighs 50 pounds, and is a Labrador mix. She has been at the shelter for eight months.

"Stella loves to go for walks. She likes to go for hikes, be outdoors. She's very adventurous. She walks very nicely on the leash too. She doesn't pull too hard," Olivieri said.

Stella takes some time to get to know you at first but once she does, she is very energetic and loves to play. 

"I would say her temperament is a little shy, a little bit nervous and fearful of new situations, but once she gets to know you very happy, energetic, playful dog. She also loves to play with the Jolly Balls in our big pen here, so she'll trade and just go and fetch these big plastic Jolly Balls up. So she has a lot of fun. She's fun to play with and to hang out with," Olivieri said.

Stella is able to be with other dogs in the home that are preferably male. She also gets along well with cats who don't mind dogs. Older children are preferred.

"She is good with other dogs in the home. We think it'll be best if there's a male dog. She did show a little bit of resource guarding only towards female dogs in the foster home, and she had come from a situation where some of the females were getting into scuffles," said Olivieri. "For kids, we would ask that they are 13 and up, so teenagers, just because of her fearfulness around erratic movements and a lot of noise; quieter older kids would be a little bit better for her."

Stella also prefers a quieter space to keep her nerves down. A quiet home without a lot of visitors coming in and out would be best.

Stella was born on a farm and was brought to the Humane Society with her sister, Cupcake, who has been adopted. Stella wasn't socialized much as a puppy.

"She was on a farm, there was a litter of puppies, and the family who had her just had too many dogs, and she was a little bit under socialized," said Olivieri. "She hadn't really been off of the farm. She really didn't get a lot of social experiences that we like a puppy to have."

But once making it to the shelter, Stella has worked very hard to be where she is at now and is ready for a place to stay and feel loved.

"They did not know how to walk on a leash. They had never had a leash or a collar on. And Stella was about 6 months when she came to us, so we had to carry her everywhere for a while," said Olivieri. "But then we worked on the leash training, building her confidence, and now she walks beautifully on leash. She was a little bit nervous and fearful walking through doorways in smaller spaces. That was another fear that we really worked on, and she overcame."

She said Stella loves to be with other dogs and will even change her stance depending on the dog "because she really understands that dog language, that body language, and how to play, and she adjusts her body language differently."

With small dogs, she'll get low or lay on the ground to play; with bigger dogs, she'll run and likes to chase and be chased. "She really speaks dog very well," said Olivieri.

If you are interested in Stella you can come and visit her at the shelter; it's recommended you visit her a couple of times to see if you're the right fit. She might be shy that first time so it could take follow-up visits, taking walks and playing with her to open her up.

If you think Stella could be your new companion, she is ready for you.

"She is ready to get out of here, and she's ready to find her home where they can just keep up on building that confidence and getting her out and to see and explore this big world that she hasn't had a chance to be a part of yet, it's been a little bit closed off, but she's ready to get out there," said Olivieri.

You can visit Stella at the Berkshire Humane Society and read more about her on the website.

The Berkshire Humane Society is open Tuesday through Sunday. The adoption center is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

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