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Stray Thoughts
Busy Busy!
- Details
- Category: Stray Thoughts
- Published on Saturday, 16 July 2011 18:14
- Written by Pretty World
- Hits: 390
Wow, time zooms by quickly when you're busy! Sorry for the lack of garden updates lately. We've been a little tied up making preparations for a new addition to the household.
Here he is - Danno the rescue Rottweiler! He's been here almost two full days now after traveling over 13 hours to get here.
Rescue dogs come in all shapes, sizes and breeds and each one has a different story. Danno is a smart, intense dog with fine temperament who was living in a home that didn't provide the sort of consistent, fair, firm training that he needed. His breeder intervened after she saw this promising young dog start to show high levels of uncertainty and anxiety which she knew could lead to big problems down the road.
Rescue dogs often have complicated personalities. Breeders and rescue organizations take great care to match up rescue dogs and new owners so that they have a real chance of having a successful lifetime home. Danno very much needed a home with people who could handle the high level of training, exercise and attention necessary to channel his intensity and uncertainty into confidence, obedience, and mentally stimulating work.
We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but he's doing great so far. He likes his new sisters a lot. Oldest sister Diva is a rescue who came from a home where she was attacked by other dogs in the household. (We think that her drive to steal toys from other dogs may have contributed to that situation.) Georgia Rae (6 months older than Danno) is a special needs dog with a severe heart murmur. As healthy as she appears today we have no way to predict whether she will have a shortened lifespan or a more normal length one. Georgia Rae came to us with her litter mate Luther who died on his 6 month birthday from a heart attack.
Before that we had Guinness, my first rescue dog. He was a very good dog, turned into a potentially dangerous dog because the owner didn't have the skills to train a Rottweiler. He was a lot of work - and we were able to retrain him into a loving, stable and safe dog. But wow, was he a lot of work!
Now that the flurry of activity with making Danno's travel arrangements and first adjustment days is taken care of, I'll be back to garden and flower talk in no time. Tune in tomorrow for a good look at what's currently in bloom in the July perennial garden.