ARLINGTON, Vt. — There's a dog at Second Chance Animal Shelter who is patiently waiting to play with her new family.

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

Mattie is a 2-year-old chocolate Labrador mix who has been at the shelter since January.

Lead canine care technician Alaura Lasher introduced us to her.

"She came to us because her last home unfortunately, didn't have enough time for her," Lasher said. "She was living in a crate. A lot, spending a lot of her time in a crate. She has a lot of energy. She's a very sweet girl, but she can be pretty nervous meeting new people."

Mattie loves to play but does take time to warm up people, especially to men. But if you give her the time and energy, she will soon be sure to love you. 

"She loves her time outside, like I said, she loves fetch, loves her toys. We're just looking for a home that is able to work with her nervousness. They need to understand that she might be a little nervous at first," Lasher said.

Mattie does well with other dogs and could live with a cat as well.

"She does well with dogs, so she can possibly live with another dog. We're looking for a home if they have cats that they're like dog savvy, that they're able to give a dog their space when they need it," she said. "And she has also lived with children before, so we believe that she'd do well with children who are used to very energetic, high energy dogs."

Lasher said she might have a bit of separation anxiety but is crate trained if need be.

"Her last home had said that she liked to chew on oven mitts, so we're looking for a home that doesn't have oven mitts out," she laughed. "I think she gets a little bit nervous, but she is crate trained, like I said, her last home, she was unfortunately spending most of her days in a crate. So she does do well if she has to be in a crate, she's a pretty clean girl."

Mattie is hoping to find a new family that will let her be her fun and adventurous self.

"She's just very, very energetic. She just needs a friend that she can go outside with and adventure. She'll probably do best in a single person home, or maybe a single couple home again, just because of her nervousness with new people," Lasher said. "And she can be kind of anxious at times. So if she can just have her special person, that would probably work for her."

If you think Mattie might be the girl for you, reach out to Second Chance Animal Shelter and learn more about her on the website.