Rescued Dog finds a forever, safe home
Oreo is a 3 year old spaniel cross bitch with a fair proportion of Staffie in her. She was adopted earlier this year by Jackie and John and taken home by them to Lydney. At two and a half years old she had clearly had at least one litter of puppies and had experienced a hard life before being rescued through the Dogs’ Trust. Despite this, she is a sweet natured and generally friendly girl.
Oreo didn’t know how to greet dogs politely and could be reactive to other dogs when she was on the lead. He would often play with them when she finally met them but occasionally would lose confidence and react badly. She would pull on her lead, bark and wasn’t keen to come when she was called sometimes. Her people approached me for help in settling her into her new life.
Over the course of a few weeks, we helped Oreo to understand that her new family could give her the security and love that she desperately needed. Jackie and John supported her in learning to relax at home and to understand that she was home to stay, with people who can take responsibility for keeping her safe and offer her love and companionship.
We worked on strategies to encourage Oreo to check in with them instead of barking and lunging at dogs when they took her out, and to learn to calm down enough, in her own time, to avoid losing confidence at the last minute when meeting dogs.
For a while at least, greeting other dogs will need to be managed, to stop Oreo becoming overwhelmed, but she has done so well that last week we went for a relaxed, fun and carefree walk with my own dog Delphi and the two shared space amicably and even played chase once or twice. Brilliant!
