Tara

This beautiful girl is Tara, a seven-year-old Maremma Sheepdog with a sweet and gentle nature.

Reluctantly surrendered by her original family due to a change in family circumstances, Tara is a loyal, loving and proven companion dog.

She is a large-framed girl and currently weighs 46 kgs. She's put on a few kilos since being desexed last month but is determined to fit into her summer bikini.

Tara grew up on 10 acres with an older Kelpie X and in close proximity to cows, geese and chickens. The animals were always on the other side of the fence. She'd check on them and then pretty much ignore them.

A typical Maremma, she is naturally aloof. She likes having visitors arrive and announces them loudly, but after that she is unconcerned about them. The same goes for having children around.

Her favourite activity is splashing in water, be it front feet in a paddling pool or doing zoomies tummy deep in the dam.

She can be quite reluctant to get into a car, but once she commits, she settles in and enjoys the ride.

Tara's not keen on being left alone at home and will protest loudly, but she's much less concerned if she doesn't have direct vision of the car leaving. A juicy bone also eases the pain of departure.

Like most other dogs, she hates storms and gunfire.

She knows her basic commands and waits for "you can have it" before tucking into her dinner. She is well-mannered and responds appropriately to the verbal command "stop" if she's breaching house rules.

She's new to walking on a lead, but is getting the hang of it quickly and now enjoys a daily amble with her human.

Although Tara doesn't actually play, chase balls or participate in doggie rough and tumble, she is very engaging, loves sensible conversation with her humans - no baby talk please - and has the most beautiful grin, as you can see in the photos.

Being very dog-friendly, her ideal home will be with another compatible dog or three, doing what she does best, which is snoozing in the sun and periodically checking on her humans and four-footed friends.

Tara is an outside dog and would do best with plenty of space or even just a big backyard with twice daily walks. She is not suited to small suburban backyards or apartments.

As always, secure fencing is a must.

She is untested with cats.

Preference will be given to homes where someone is around almost all the time. Previous breed experience will be well regarded.

If you are interested in meeting Tara and can offer her a suitable, safe and loving forever home, PLEASE COMPLETE THE ONLINE ADOPTION APPLICATION at https://southerndownsark.com.au/apply-to-adopt/ and one of our volunteers will be in touch.

Tara is desexed, chipped and vaccinated.