[martem]

Hope enjoying a bit of outdoors
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[martem]

Hope is even scared of a phone being held in front of her or the sound of a photo being taken but here are a few photos I have managed to take. She is such a pretty girl, better photos in the future I hope.
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[martem]

It has been a while since I updated Hopes page, I wanted to wait until I had a bit of good news to pass on. I should really have updated yesterday but the day got away from me. The week after my last post really was ‘one step forward two steps back’. Hope likes to hide herself. She crawls under her bed instead of sleeping on it, she found her ‘safe place’ in our sitting room, a narrow space between our sofa and a chest of drawers. She picked it because it had three entrance points so she never felt trapped there. We have a giant fleece blanket which was draped over the sofa and onto the floor so she hides under that also with half her body under the blanket and half in her safe place. The problem is that once she had found that place she seemed to shut down even more. For the first few days she did not have any accidents in the house but suddenly she was (both kinds ). Once she is in the sitting room she will not leave it! During the first few days if I sat on the floor petting Ruby she would come over to us, now she wouldn’t, so no amount of coaxing would get her out of that room. Getting through a door into another room is a huge cause of anxiety. Because of this I started having to pick her up and carry her to the back door, which I know slowed the development of her trust in me. She will still only eat from our hand but I give her one piece from my hand and then put a few pieces on a clear plastic sheet on the floor and she usually eats half her food on her own that way. I took her for a walk for the first time three days ago. Maybe I should have taken her earlier but she was particularly bad for the whole week I wasn’t sure she could handle the stress. After the initial fear of being put into the car and getting out again she seemed to enjoy the walk. I picked a nice quiet location so there wouldn’t be too many people and it all went well. She even wanted to go for a little run so I ended up running beside her . But when we got back she went into the garden and crawled under the garden shed (a space of about 11 inches) and stayed there for the next 2/3 hours (one step forward two steps back!). Now for the good news (thank you for your patience). The walks have continued and she is doing great and getting used to passing other dogs and people, with a wide berth but she’s getting more comfortable with it. This morning we had a wonderful long petting session – I sat in the back hallway and she actually came over, sat down and then lay down beside me and let me give her a long, gentle rub (as she is still very skinny you can’t be too vigorous). It was the most relaxed I have seen her since she came to us. It was absolutely lovely. Also when we got back from our walk she went into the back garden but then managed to walk back into the house on her own (it usually takes a more than half hour for her to build up confidence to step into the kitchen – today was quicker). She is also drinking more – still from the puddles in the garden – which I am delighted about. All baby steps with this lovely little girl but I can see the seeds of progress so please fingers crossed everyone.

[martem]

It has been a while since I updated Hopes page, I wanted to wait until I had a bit of good news to pass on. I should really have updated yesterday but the day got away from me. The week after my last post really was ‘one step forward two steps back’. Hope likes to hide herself. She crawls under her bed instead of sleeping on it, she found her ‘safe place’ in our sitting room, a narrow space between our sofa and a chest of drawers. She picked it because it had three entrance points so she never felt trapped there. We have a giant fleece blanket which was draped over the sofa and onto the floor so she hides under that also with half her body under the blanket and half in her safe place. The problem is that once she had found that place she seemed to shut down even more. For the first few days she did not have any accidents in the house but suddenly she was (both kinds ). Once she is in the sitting room she will not leave it! During the first few days if I sat on the floor petting Ruby she would come over to us, now she wouldn’t, so no amount of coaxing would get her out of that room. Getting through a door into another room is a huge cause of anxiety. Because of this I started having to pick her up and carry her to the back door, which I know slowed the development of her trust in me. She will still only eat from our hand but I give her one piece from my hand and then put a few pieces on a clear plastic sheet on the floor and she usually eats half her food on her own that way. I took her for a walk for the first time three days ago. Maybe I should have taken her earlier but she was particularly bad for the whole week I wasn’t sure she could handle the stress. After the initial fear of being put into the car and getting out again she seemed to enjoy the walk. I picked a nice quiet location so there wouldn’t be too many people and it all went well. She even wanted to go for a little run so I ended up running beside her . But when we got back she went into the garden and crawled under the garden shed (a space of about 11 inches) and stayed there for the next 2/3 hours (one step forward two steps back!). Now for the good news (thank you for your patience). The walks have continued and she is doing great and getting used to passing other dogs and people, with a wide berth but she’s getting more comfortable with it. This morning we had a wonderful long petting session – I sat in the back hallway and she actually came over, sat down and then lay down beside me and let me give her a long, gentle rub (as she is still very skinny you can’t be too vigorous). It was the most relaxed I have seen her since she came to us. It was absolutely lovely. Also when we got back from our walk she went into the back garden but then managed to walk back into the house on her own (it usually takes a more than half hour for her to build up confidence to step into the kitchen – today was quicker). She is also drinking more – still from the puddles in the garden – which I am delighted about. All baby steps with this lovely little girl but I can see the seeds of progress so please fingers crossed everyone.

[martem]

Lovely to see Lance looking relaxed and happy. The poor boy, I’m sure he knows that his life has taken a dramatic turn and hopefully he senses it will remain safe and secure from now on. Well done – great job with him.

[martem]

We are just back from the vet and it went really well. She was nervous but lay really still on the examination desk as the vet checked her over, she was good as gold. She weights under 10kgs. We were given some anxiety tablets which she’ll be on for a couple of weeks – these will hopefully help her to put on weight quicker also. She had some shots (again good as gold) and we will go back in two weeks for another check up. The car journey had scared her a little, as is to be expected, when we got there we carried her in so as not to have to drag her along on the lead. But she walked out and even greeted (cautiously) another dog and the lady in reception which was amazing to see. She actually seems a little more relaxed already and is lying down having a sleep for the first time today. We are feeling very positive since the visit this morning. There is nothing physically wrong with her other than her weight! and her nerves and anxiety will decrease, slowly maybe, but we have absolute hope (Hope!!). We can’t wait to see the results that a few weeks of care and love will bring. She is a beautiful dog, I can’t wait until I can take some photos that show her off properly.

[martem]

Thanks everyone for all your lovely comments and help. With so many people caring about her we will get her back to a good place in time. We are heading to the vet tomorrow morning it will be a little tough on her but hopefully we will get more advice and it will help. I will let you know how we get on. I have tried to make an artificial puddle for her in the garden by digging a shallow hole and lining it with the same plastic bag that she drank from before, so it can collect more water. Earlier after it rained a little she just tried to lick the water up from the patio. But I will try all the suggestions. I know I am painting a bleak picture but it is early days and we are going to do our very best for this little girl. She deserves a long, easy, happy life and I have no doubt that she will get it.
P.S. This is about 5 min after I started writing this post, I went to get my phone to try to add a photo. I decided to take Hope outside to let her go to the toilet. As she wandered around the garden she found the puddle I had made for her and for the first time had a proper drink. I’m so happy – thought I should share the good news! E

[martem]

Hope has been with us for only a few days. Normally I would write something within the first day or so but with this little girl I decided to wait, the reason being that our hearts are broken over this poor little girl and I wanted to wait until I had something positive and hopeful to say. However I think with this gentle little girl it may take more than a few days – She is literally skin and bone and absolutely terrified of everything. She is good with our dog and two cats but is terrified of just about everything else. She is house trained but is terrified to go through the open door so for the first day I had to carry her out to the garden. But not one accident in the house. She absolutely does not trust humans. This is how scared she is – she will not eat her food from a bowl. She is petrified, she looks like she thinks it’s a trap. Apparently she had not eaten anything the day before she came to us. But she will eat if you feed her from your hand (again because of her fear of people this seems unbelievable). I have tried leaving the food down and walking out of the room, leaving her completely alone with the food, we have tried putting the food into plastic instead of metal bowls, and plastic plates instead of bowls but she will just not go anywhere near it! This is despite obviously being seriously undernourished and hungry. So we have been feeding her each meal by hand. We have also noticed that she does not drink much, if any, water. She does not trust the bowls of water that we have in the house and in the garden. The only water I have seen her drink was from a plastic bag that had blown to the back of the garden and had collected a little rain-water. If anyone has any advice on this please let me know as this worries me most. She is a gentle lovely little girl who has had her spirit broken. Im praying that with time and some really gentle love and care she will come back.

[martem]

I know – so fast!! We weren’t ready for the phone call so quickly but the right person saw his page and… when you know – you know! We will miss him so much but couldn’t be happier that he will be able to settle into his permanent home so quickly, which is exactly what a dog like Rosco needs – stability and love. He is going to a lovely family, we know they will love him and he will be the most wonderful dog for them. I took some lovely photos on our walk today when Rosco was feeling particularly playful. He lay on the ground and had a most enjoyable roll around after his run up the hill. He has such personality and it comes out more every day. We will miss him but know that he will be one happy, lucky dog.
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[martem]

Rosco is coming along so amazingly well. He still has some issues but it makes us all so happy to see how his confidence and happiness levels have gone up in the short time he has been with us. Even physically, despite still needing to gain weight, his coat now looks healthy and shiny and he literally smiles when he’s having fun. He really is a very trusting dog who loves human contact. It’s clear that if you treat him gently and kindly he will be your best most loyal friend. He seems to have a touch of separation anxiety when left alone which leads him to be a little destructive (ripping apart the re-cycling bin etc) and that will need to be worked on, but I have no doubt it can be. His stomach is also not quite right yet. He was on special food for the last week but now that it’s finishing and we are weaning him back to the dry kibble he has had some more diarrhea. And still needs to be fully house trained – but again this can be dealt with. He has come so far already.

[martem]

She is adorable. Hope she knows that life will be good and safe from now on. Well done to all of her new foster family.

[martem]

Rosco went for his operation yesterday and all went well. He is coping well with the cone, it’s obvious the stitches are bothering him somewhat today but he is still being a super brave boy. He is just such a lovely boy, he obviously had a rough start in life but he is so loving and trusting and willing to give people a chance. He loves to be petted and spoken to – and looks at you with those big brown eyes like he is looking for approval, he has become a real tail wagger. He can also be a bit of a ‘divil’ at times. A couple of times when we have been out during the day he has emptied the re-cycling bin and had a good rummage and chew through it, he has also had a couple more accidents in the house since his operation- but he looks so guilty and sorry sitting outside the back door as I clean up (he literally sits looking in with a really sincere sorry look on his face). Who could stay mad at that gorgeous face??
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[martem]

Thanks guys and thanks for following his progress – But it’s really all down to the amazing work done by the organisers in DID. None of these dogs would have the same chance at happiness without them. I’m glad to say that after a visit to the Vet yesterday (again enormous praise to the Vets who help all these dogs for DID) Rosco is on the mend and there was no horrible mess last night. He is probably the most nervous, timid little dog we have looked after to date but he really is coming on in leaps and bounds even in a few short days. It is so obvious that he has huge amounts of love to give. He has no training that we can see and is not properly house trained so there is some basic work to be done. Even teaching him ‘sit’ is tricky because when you put your hand at his back to guide him down he cowers and tries to move away. But he will get there and some lucky person will end up with a gorgeous, wonderful loving dog.
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[martem]

This little boy came to us two days ago. He is a most nervous and scared little man. He is very gentle but jumps and cowers at almost every sound and movement. It breaks my heart that he is such an skinny boy and seems to be constantly hungry and searching for food. Hopefully it wont take long to get him to his proper weight and he will realise that he does not have to worry about being hungry again. Despite all of this is he a very sweet and gentle boy. It will take time for him to feel completely comfortable and secure -I imagine he has not had much loving human contact to date but he is becoming more confident and wags his tail furiously as he cautiously approaches. Lots of friendly gentle words and slow movements seem to be doing the trick, I think he will be one of those dogs that even when you are telling them ‘No’ you will have to do it very gently. I was a bit worried that he would have trouble settling at night, being in a new enviorment etc. but he has been wonderful at night. Unfortunately he has been suffering with bad diarrhea since we got him so there have been a few unpleasant clean-ups in the morning but the poor little boy can’t help that, and he has been dry so I am hoping that is a good sign. The first few walks we went on he almost jumped out of his own skin to get away when he say other people or dogs approaching. We had to just hunker down beside him and pet him gently until they passed, even in a couple of days he has made huge improvements, and although his first instinct is to run he relaxes more quickly and he has even started approaching other people and dogs. After our walk the last couple of mornings we’ve gone to a quiet little beach and I have let him off the lead, which he has enjoyed so much. He likes the water and had great fun chasing birds up and down the beach with our dog Ruby (some photos attached). This little boy will take time but you can tell that he will be a wonderful, happy dog one day.
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[martem]

Indy went to the vet for her operation yesterday. She came back a little drowsy and uncomfortable but she is such a good girl she just rested for the evening and this morning was much better. She hasn’t been fussing at her stitches and has been a little sweetheart and we have been giving her lots of rubs and hugs today. She will be resting for a few days more but I can tell she really missed her walks today. We are really enjoying getting to know her and seeing her become even more relaxed with us. She is just the loveliest girl. Again I am left baffled by what could have led to her being lost and not reclaimed because she is so sweet tempered and good. Apart from a few small toilet accidents in the house (she does know to go outside when the door is open but if it is closed she does not ask to go out – so there have been a couple of small number 1’s – we are now being more vigilant about letting her out regularly) she is the easiest dog to look after, she does not chew things, she is calm and well behaved and very loving. She has such a happy face, one of those that actually smiles when she is happy. She will be the most wonderful family dog for some lucky person.
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