Phoebe, Staffie, 1 year old

Phoebe, Staffie, 1 year old



Her Story: Found stray in Wales as a young Staffie x.

Salient points: Young and lively. Hasn't had training put into her so plays with the lead and exuberant energy initially on meeting. Meets dogs well once settled.

Advert: Dainty and dear Phoebe which means 'little bird'; that she is. Phoebe is is a young vibrant Staffie. Slender in frame and delightful in nature. She is cheeky and has bounce, but being small can get away with absolutely everything ... well almost! Her owners will need to enjoy her energy or simply look for an older dog. She is a little shy of other dogs, but no malice. Playful and loyal. She is checking you continually on her walk as though frightened she is going to lose you. Currently kennelled near Gatwick.

Phoebe needs further training and routine. She needs a fair-sized secure garden. Her currently energy level will be too much for living with very young children. However, after a few months of certainity, constructive occupation and socialisation in the round, Phoebe, no doubt, will delight in meeting 'little people'. Spayed and chipped, now being vax'd, Isn't she lovely!

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

Phoebe your lovely hope you find your for ever home soon x

Gorgeous girl...... so sad that she was a stray.

Good luck rehoming her x

Phoebe



The meditation on Phoebe always is that she is presenting completely different in a kennel environment than what she will be in her home. Her energy will settle rapidily within a few days of entering a home I'm sure. Phoebe isn't a ready made dog. She is a puppy who has never had proper guidance, direction or 'fun'. Her lead is to play with 'what are walks?' Never had them! Her instincts are good with dogs but again needs affirming and confidence to steer. I see Phoebe off lead and enjoying her walks..connected in with her owners and racing back at the hint of a sausage or a whistle! We're looking for a training home who wants to offer her opportunities to learn and succeed. She adores; she just doesn't understand what your expectations are.

An update by one of our lovely volunteer kennel walkers:

“Phoebe and I had a good work out together today :O). She was her usual bouncy self and after the lead and even held onto the metal lead. So I decided we would have some fun together instead of trying to walk properly. So I got out the cotton lead and showed it to her. She ragged it for a while which was fine because my lead was left alone. Whenever she dropped it I got her to pick it up which she enjoyed. Overall it worked very well and she used up a lot of energy, but I was able to say good girl for going back to pick it up. Then on the way back we did some sits for treats and she was surprisingly good at that”.

Look how nicely I can sit and wait:


So much potential Phoebe )

An update from one of our volunteer kennel walkers:

My first encounter with Phoebe today and what a lovely surprise!! First impressions - she is tiny wee!! I had no idea she would be so small.

Put her lead on - two in fact, just for security - and for the first bit going out of the kennels she did grab the lead and PULL. Then, she had to wait outside with Katy while I got another dog and once we were off, so was she, but no more grabbing the lead - not once. We walked her with Cassie and Ava and the three of them had a super walk and all got on fine.

Difficult to get a good photo but here goes -

Having a chat with Cassie

An update from one of our kennel volunteers:

“Dear Phoebe was jumping out of her skin today. She was leaping about like a nutter and took a while to settle. I did use a very firm gutteral noise to stop her in her tracks and she did settle and enjoy the walk after a while but she desperately needs a committed foster home to sooth her anxieties and really give her some consistent one to one training.

She is thin and this cold weather must be hard for her. We did give her a nice new coat - dont eat this one Phoebe!! Poor Phoebe also has a red, sore eye which Karen is going to get drops for”.

An update from one of our volunteer kennels walkers:

“Phoebe is SO pretty....she is dainty and elegant and has a beautiful face. She enjoyed a run round the paddock this morning then a good walk with lots of cuddles on the way. She did grab her lead to start with, but then she settled and walked so well, no pulling and very attentive - she comes and sits next to you as soon as you ask. She is such a sweet little bundle, it is sad to see her making her funny little noises in her kennel.

She did have a good munch on a pigs ear afterwards which seemed to cheer her up!

Look at her adorable face





She wanted her profile on show too –“

Delighted to report that Phoebe has gone into foster for a little while. She sent us a postcard and some pics ... here she is:

Hi All,

Won't be at the kennels for a while as I've gone on Holiday.

Karen booked me in at this little Hotel down near the New Forest, everyone needs a holiday now and then!

Had a nice relaxing journey down and arrived just in time for lunch. Sometimes that foreign food isn't nice but the food here is lovely and I wolfed it all down without any bother, in fact I went back for more - I am on holiday after all!

The Hotel Manager seems like a nice chap, he help me get settled in my room and took care of my luggage. The Manageress turned up later, she's nice too (smells a bit like postwoman though, I'll have to keep my eye on her!)

Thought I'd take a nap after lunch but the Manager insisted on showing me the grounds and a couple of the local parks. One park is enclosed, it's specially for tourists, got a nice big fence around to stop too many humans getting in. Thought I'd do a bit of exercise here and spent a long while jogging.

In the park the Hotel Manager kept dropping his tennis ball, that guy must be stupid or something, anyway I kept bringing it back to him, but he must be a complete butter fingers because as soon as I gave it to him he dropped it again!

Met some of the locals in the park, they were really nice and we had a little play, no problems at all.

Not sure if the Hotel Manager is as fit as the girls from the kennels I go walking with, so I thought I better not pull him along on the lead so much. After a while my lead was almost slack as we walked along - Almost!

OK I'm going to have a little sleep now as we've just finished our evening meal.

I'll keep in touch, so watch this space.

Love

Phoebe

xxx"






Now, doesn't she look gorgeous! Phoebe is still looking for her forever home!

An update from Phoebe's fosterer:

"Hi All,

I've taken on Phoebe for a while to give her a break from kennels and to give her some training to help her move on to her forever home, but to be honest she's not really going to need too much training as she really is very good already.

Everything that's been written about her so far IS NOT the Phoebe we have at home, she has instantly calmed.

Good points:

She responds to commands well:
Sit - Anytime you want - before food - before putting on the lead
Stop - at the edge of each road we cross
Down - If she jumps on the sofa - further training is ongoing but she certainly understands
Out - If she walks into our bedroom
Speak
Paw

She has been totally NON food aggressive, you can take away her food at any time without any reaction.

She has been totally NON dog aggressive, she just gets on with what she's doing when she meets other dogs, she's not really too interested in them but will have a play if in the park. She's NOT been perturbed by two huge Old English Sheepdogs given her attention, has meet other Staffies, Fox Terriers, Scottie, KC Spaniels without any problem whatsoever.

She understands which is her bed (as you'll see below) and she loves it (in fact she's in right now)

There were no separation issues last night when we went to bed and she slept on her bed outside our bedroom door, no whining, no scratching, no complaining at all.

The rescue warned me about her lead play, excessive pulling, over excitement. Just take a look at the video below, this is after one day of good training! You can see quite clearly the slack on the lead. This was our first walk today where she was well rested and well feed so she had a lot of energy but did not display any of the traits mentioned above! I am confident with more training in this area she is going to come on very well.

She will happily play with her toy indoors when YOU want her to.

Bad Points:

Not much to say here really, the only thing at the moment is when we try to wipe her feet when we come in from the muddy park she thinks it's a game, no big deal really!

- - - - - - - - -

I've only had her for a short while, so let's see how she develops. I will keep you all updated.

Generally though, all round she's really very good, I really think she's ready for her permanent home now, she's very calm and she's slotted in here very naturally. If you're thinking about a Staff then she really should be considered.

All the best

Kelvin"