Sooty, Staffie, DOB 02.10 - Gatwick, Surrey

Sooty, Staffie, DOB 02.10 - Gatwick, Surrey



Homing Requirements: Sooty needs a dog experienced family who are sensitive to his needs and know how to define his boundaries with love. Sooty is not a dog where too much prodding and banter should be involved just a gentle caring home where he understands what is permissible with give & take. Not for live-in young children and needs supervision around visiting children.

His Story: Sooty was found stray before Christmas. He came to us just before new year. He has now settled in kennels and is neutered, chipped and vax'd.

Advert: Sooty is a character Staffie; full of skills and joy, but has his very own character. In strange settings he is quite fearful e.g. newly into kennels, but will settle. Sooty has very good dog skills and walks well on a lead. Sooty is friendly loving and emotional. We do not know what house rules he was subject to in his original home or housetraining, but this is rarely a problem with our dogs providing attention and positive reinforcement is given in the first few weeks.

Sooty is a real character. He is velvet soft and has the most 'baby' like looks. He may have been taunted in his past as initially he was a little protective of things found, but did give them up using substitution/distraction. This however has made us wary of him living alongside children. He meets everyone with friendly engagement and has improved living in kennels ... settled and now less stressed. It shows that given love and time, Sooty's true loving and jovial character comes to the fore. Dog aware people will promote all his many, many positive attributes.

"Please note this dog is currently in boarding kennels and is also available for foster until a 'forever' home is found".





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***PLEASE NOTE: We are a rescue finding dogs their forever homes. We usually ask for a minimum donation of £150 at the time of adoption, for each dog, to help us continue helping homeless dogs***.

Sooty is settling into kennel life ... here are some more pics taken by Lynne ...



Excited by the harness again on entry to his kennel but we were soon off out down the block




Sooty has no interest in sticks or picking things up




Sooty was very wary of the stream..I think he thought I was going to throw him in! This is as near as he was getting.




Met a few other dogs on his walk nicely and greeted dogs going into the kennel block with respect.



Poor Sooty never thought he'd wait this long for his family to find him.

Sooty is currently in boarding kennels and would really love a break in a foster home. If you think you could foster Sooty then please complete our Fostering questionnaire online.

If you are interested in re-homing Sooty then please complete our homing questionnaire so we can ensure our dogs are matched and will suit your circumstances/lifestyle.

Sooty is now in foster and here is an update from his foster home:

“Sooty has been here now for three days and his condition seems to be improving slowly. He is getting more loving and wags his little tail when he sees us. He LOVES attention, quiet stroking and friendly cuddles, but would probably not (at this stage) like squeezing and hugging etc. Simply because that would scare him.

He still comes across a bit weak and not 100% recovered from his ordeal, so the observations below need to be seen in the light that we don’t know if he is still a bit under the weather and hence a bit quieter, but this is his current character:

CRATE: loves his crate, his safety zone. Has clearly spent time there before. Prefers to sleep there at night and when left alone. Prefers to lie there and watch the world come and go when I cook etc.

LEADWALKING: Perfect, really easy, keeps looking back and checking you’re still there and slows down. Ignores other dogs around him.

SOCIALISATION: He is very good with my dogs, shy when being told off by Benji and runs back to his crate or turns his head away. As above, ignores other dogs on the walks.

BEING LEFT: No trouble, sleeps in crate quietly.

CAR: Likes the car, sits quietly and occasionally might poke your hand for some strokes.

CATS: I haven’t assessed him, but my instinct is that he would ignore them.

FOOD: Keen on food, bribable!!

NOISE: My house is very calm and quiet and I think he likes that. He gets very scared and worried if I have to even slightly raise my voice (usually because Lucy barks in the garden...!!) even if Im not even looking at him or am not really close to him.

As a whole he is a very quiet character who has possibly not had the nicest life up until now. Sometimes slightly hand shy, but he is DESPERATE to trust and be your best friend. I feel that part of his soul has died at some point... Maybe through neglect or just nobody loving him. He so needs someone to come forward and give him all the love and more he has missed out in his young life. He has so much to give.

Sooty is my first Staffie foster (normally I have terriers) and I've gotta say he is a whole lot of easier than the terriers we have had in the house! He is SENSITIVE, QUIET, POLITE, PEACEFUL, VERY CUDDLY, BIT WORRIED but oh so LOVING AND SWEET.


Above: First day in my foster home. I just slept and slept and slept.


Above: Last night I surprised myself and became all brave and walked in the living room for cuddles!!


Above: Look - today I am a perky Staffie!! Nearly feeling normal and browsing the garden!


Above: Garden browsing with my new housemates!!

If you are interested in re-homing Sooty please complete our homing questionnaire so we can ensure our dogs are matched and will suit your circumstances/lifestyle.

Delighted to report that Sooty has found his forever home!