Brodie's Success Story

I've moaned for years about getting a dog but Mum and Dad both said not when you are living at home, as its not fair as your at school/college all day and we work. Which was fair enough, after my first year of University i decided to stay at home and just travel up! Then last Xmas mum got a little 'merry' and said that she wanted a dog! That was enough for me so we went to the local rescue centre, saw a couple of dogs but they said they were not suitable as first dogs as they had been neglected/abused. So i put our name down for dog that was coming in the following week due to a marriage breaking up! Sounded perfect, fine to be left alone for a couple of hours (i'm only away a max of 3 hrs while at uni), house trained, brill recall etc etc. Then we got told about Jed, who was rescued by a lady who owned one of the boarding kennels in our area. So we went up to see him. He was rescued from a local village, the lady owner had went into hospital and he was left with the man. Jed was underweight, had burn on his leg and just looked scared. Coming from the home he did we weren't sure if we would be suitable owners for him, as mum's only had working collie's when she lived on my grandparents farm. We decided to go and look at the other dog at the Dogs Trust. however all the way to the centre i cried as i just couldn't believe someone could do that to a dog!
The next Friday Brodiecame home! We thought new start - new name


He was that skinny that i could place my hands around him at the back. He settled in straight away, was perfectly house trained and never did anything wrong! Wasn't properly socialised, the first time he saw a child he came running back to me and his recall was terrible, even on the long extending leads!

He started to put weight on and then a dog attacked him. Luckily it wasn't too bad, just a small scratch. He then started barking and lunging at other dogs, going mental in the house when the phone rang or when someone knocked the door. We invested in a halti (they are worth there weight in gold ) and we slowly started to make ground work with the other dogs.
I took him on holiday in August and he was a total star, didn't once bark at any of the other dogs! his recall was brilliant in a strange place and he really did me proud.
When we came home he was then attacked by a Choco lab, and we were right back to square one.

we started doing agility class! Which he has taken to brilliant and he's much better with other dogs now! Every time he sees one his tails about to explode off! There's still a couple of dogs he takes dislikes to around here, chocolate labs and staffies (both of these dogs have attacked him) but we can live with that! With the phone and people knocking at the door, he still goes into a frenzy but we're slowly and i mean slowly getting there with him!

He's been a lot of work, and times i think i've been way over my head but now i've got a lovely dog who's always so pleased to see me and i can take him anywhere
Looking back i can totally understand why rescue centres don't give dogs out to novice owners when they have had problems. Luckily i've had a great friend who's gave me hints and tips along the way.
When i leave home (when i eventually finish University) i'll definately get another rescue dog! Cause at the end of it, their worth putting all the work in!
And i would never be without my boy

What a lovely tale, thanks for posting it was fantastic to read and what a handsome boy you have. You must be very proud of him.

Love;y story - so nice to read of the downs and ups and he is a splendid looking dog!

A great story... and he looks fantastic

Brodie and Nikki's success story!! Well done to you, really enjoyed reading that, so thanks for sharing x

Glad to hear things are looking up for Brodie. Thanks for sharing

Brodi sure does look very happy with you Nikki!
Well done!

Well done for providing such a great home for your rescue lad.
He has certainly benefitted from all your care and being a novice doesn't matter if - as you so obviously have -you are prepared to put some effort in. We all have to start somewhere and you are doing a great job.

What a beautiful story, obviously it has been very hard work for you but it has paid off and Brodie is an absolute beauty. Well done, I wish you all the luck in the world with him.