Adoptees

Things have moved on considerably since my last post when I was bemoaning the state of the world and the difficulty in getting a rescue dog if you work.  A chance conversation with someone enquiring how I was coping without Sonny led to me finding out about two dogs which were down on their luck and needing a new home.

Dog1 and Dog 2 are 6 yr old brothers, apparently Weimaraner, Springer crosses, I  couldn't imagine this at all but was advised that at least one of them looked like a chocolate lab which was my first choice.  Hot off the press I rang the rescue who had already received a call of recommendation from my contact.  I arrived with copies of my injection cards to prove I look after my dogs, plus copies of my house details to show I had enough room for them.

One of them is vastly overweight.  He should be 30 kgs and he is 43, so a long way to go before he looks trim again.  It seems that the story is they had been kept in a crate for much of their early years and got terribly fat.  Then put onto a website 'free to good home'.  The people who took them on then had a relationship breakdown and couldn't keep them.  They are now in the kennels and seem quite happy although only been there a week.  The rescue also found out they had not had any injections since 2009 and were covered in fleas!

I read up on all my notes from the Shaun Ellis course and did the Circle of Trust Exercise with the more confident one, who was definitely trying to lead me.  After three times around the 'safe' area I created he stopped sniffing and calmed down.  When I got him to sit he gave me eye contact for the first time.  Result!  We then got my other dog and we all went for a walk together.  They proved themselves to be really well adjusted, we passed a horse (not even interested), pigs (not remotely interested) then went into the enclosed area to allow all 3 dogs off lead together for the first time.  They were very respectful of Holly and sniffed her vaguely but not enough to irritate her.  I was really pleased with the result.  They are definitely not aggressive and Ok with dogs and that is the main thing - much as I adored Sonny I could do with a break from aggressive dogs for a bit I think.

Afterwards like an over enthusiastic teenager, I rambled on about all manner of issues to recommend myself as the best owner these dogs could possibly want.  My partner said I overdid it a bit!

I would have taken them there and then but we need to get a report from the vet on Monday about the fat one's issues and what treatment is required.  I think he may well have an underactive thyroid as he has some hair loss on his tail which can be a symptom of this.  If he does have it the most expensive one will be the blood test and then the drugs are relatively inexpensive.

I feel a new sense of purpose and am excited about the prospect of having a dog training project very soon.