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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 25
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Looking for very special fosterer / rescue for a very special dog
Looking for very special fosterer / rescue for a very special dog
Background: we are a couple in our mid twenties who both work full time. We adopted two rescue dogs from the Dogs Home at the start of January, Benjy (a female Terrier x) and Thorn (a male Alsatian/Greyhound x). We booked off a couple of weeks to house train them and then working staggered hours so they are not normally left for more than 7 hours during the week. Benjy has settled brilliantly, and Thorn has settled into the immediate family of Mum, Dad and Benjy - neither of them have any separation issues.
Issue: the Dogs Home had assessed Thorn as nervous, and it took him a while to let Mike approach him, although he instantly fell in love with me. He seemed to be settling well for the first few weeks, but as soon as he became used to his new home his nervousness changed to defensive aggression, especially towards men and male dogs (he adores Benjy - our female Terrier x). We manage the issue with distraction training in the park, and by being calm and getting visitors to ignore and to throw treats - this has worked to some degree with females and certain family members, but over the last few weeks he seems to be getting increasingly stressed and now jumps up to bite (we have him muzzled when we have a visitor) even men who he previously met and seemed to accept. I am worried that this may have been exacerbated by his castration operation, which was supposed to help calm him but may in fact have increased his nerves and aggression.
Problem: whilst we both know what we should be doing to help Thorn overcome his nervousness we both work, so we feel we are letting him down commitment-wise. We cannot meet stooge dogs and stooge visitors as our families are not close, and based on previous visits, male friends will just not visit us since the ‘training’ is so stressful for everyone concerned. We have consulted with a trainer who visited us in our home and had planned to attend a training club, but have not yet felt confident enough to begin to try and teach Thorn socialisation based on bad experiences on walks (we only ever let him off lead when he is muzzled and there are no other dogs in sight). We are extremely upset by the situation we are in - we love Thorn to bits and would be really sad to give him up, but we both feel that we are not offering him the best chance of a happy and well adjusted life. We are getting married soon and plan to have children, which would change the situation from uncomfortable to dangerous. I know from previous posts both here and on Dog Pages that he will probably never get over his fears - they just have to be managed - and so we are making enquiries here to establish whether there are foster homes or specialist rescues which have the experience and time resources to help him find his best possible person - ideally a couple who live in the countryside and do not have children or many visitors, and who have the time to give Thorn the daily support and encouragement that he needs to relax into his surroundings and enjoy life a little more.
I have contacted the Dogs Home and talked through our experiences and they have said that they would do a home check for us, because I cannot bear to send him back into kennels - he was in a real state when we first adopted him - so terrified and very thin indeed, and not at all housetrained or used to tvs, radios etc - we think he was an outdoor dog
He is perfectly housetrained now, and I have basic obedience trained him to sit, lie down, stay - heel with limited success - he tends not to listen on walks as he is on ‘high alert’ to danger everywhere…
To be honest, I would not feel comfortable sending him straight into another family based on the experiences we have had - we have tried so hard and have still come to this, so I would be very concerned that another family might end up having to go through all the emotions that we have and still end up in the same position. He is such a loving and affectionate dog with me and (although to a lesser degree) with Mike - I know he has potential to be happy with the right specialist support. Can anyone help?
My mobile number is 07843685105. It is on silent when I am at work, but I will ring back if you leave your number.
Thanks. Kate, Mike and Thorn.