Dolly will be 2 in November. She is not spayed and vaccinations are out of date but she is microchipped. She has been in her present home for just four months but desperately needs a new home where she will get regular human interaction and training.

Dolly was rescued by a lady from travellers who were hitting her with planks of wood. She took her to the stables she owns and another lady at the yard began to try and help Dolly as the original lady was nervous of her. Fortunately, one of our volunteers who is also a trainer was asked to assist and this is a summary of what she has to say about Dolly:

“To me Dolly looked Husky X GS but there is not any paper work to confirm this. Whilst her pen was being emptied and cleaned I had a look at Dolly and found her to be  responsive and desperate for attention, she connected with me very quickly and made exaggerated body movements to build scent affiliation with me almost immediately. I showed her some toys which she took no interest in, I fed her kibble and treats from my hand and found her to be soft mouthed, Dolly was quick to pick up on cues such as “ sit” and also managed to “ sit stay” for the distance of me taking Maybe two or three steps away from her and then returning to her. She learnt “ catch’ very quickly as well.

I agreed a plan of action to get Dolly out each day clean her pen and exercise her. I did the best I could with what she could afford. Within a few days Dolly was already at a point where she could be taken off site and to my field for some proper exercise. We did this every day for the following 14 days. At this point it was clear and understandable that Dolly needed more than one walk a day . For the following two months I repeatedly raised concerns about her needs and general welfare. Her mental health was now declining seeing human beings for an hour a day was just not enough, I saw emergent behaviour of kennel and crate guarding which we managed to prevent escalating. She responded well to scatter feeding using her nose to find food helped tire her. In time she learned to enjoy chasing tennis ball, this of course also helped. We worked on desensitising her to touch across her body and in lots of ways she was doing well. But, it was not enough.

We tested Dolly around other dogs once we were confident we knew enough about her to do so safely. I think the assessment at that time could be considered a little unfair on her, all she had in her world was us for a short amount of time each day, then for her another dog appeared one day. We used our therapy dog who has been absolute gold in the past working with dog-dog aggression, however it was too much for Dolly I believe that resources were a perceived scarcity and she reacted aggressively to protect her own interests. She did not bite the other dog, she barked and used her body to move him as far away from us as she could, the amount of stress she experienced was not going to help her so we stopped the session and removed the other dog.

I think once her needs are properly met other dogs could be carefully introduced, or, if she went somewhere and there were other dogs already there upon her arrival she may accept this as the situation from the beginning.

I do not know if Dolly has ever lived in a house. The pen she is kept in is a wooden construction, size wise I would estimate 5 foot wide, 7 feet long. Hay and some sort of substrate is used on the floor. The pen is located at a stables, there are other dogs housed there and 5 horses. No one lives at this site apart from the animals. I believe Dolly may well cope with being indoors with close supervision in the early stages.

Food guarding is an issue, however, if no perceived threat is made around the food then dolly is quite happy to eat near humans, I have not seen her reaction around food with other dogs present. If she is eating from a bowl and she feels you are too close she will snap, it is more of a loosely directed air snap as opposed to an intentionally directed attempt to bite. I have sat with her while she has been scatter fed and she had no concerns about my presence, but my hands only ever add food and never take away.

The situation now, is that Dolly needs more time and attention every day and the lady cannot do anymore for her than she already is. Dolly needs training with loose lead, continuation work with touch and brushing, she will need vaccinations and at some point a bath! This poor dog is so clever and keen to be with people and has only received the bare minimum. She can and does slip harnesses and collars, a slip lead works well. I think again once her needs are met she will generally speaking make a very loyal and loving dog for someone.”

Can you please help Dolly have the life she deserves?

Dolly has been taken in by another rescue.

 

Location:

Kent - IN HOME

Sex:

Female

Age:

DOB 12.11.21

Neutered:

No

Good with children:

Unknown

Good with other dogs:

Unknown

Good with cats:

Unknown