He is gorgeous! Looks like a Barney to me... |Err....he looks like he might have a bit more growing in him yet...
Oh he looks so tall in that last one.....his ears are so cute too. If he's ok in his crate but crying when he's behind the gate I'd let him settle in the crate when you are busy doing something so it's not an issue and then when you've got time to work on it,I'd let him out just behind the gate and build up time gradually.....never going back when he is crying .....
Aw bless, he looks lovely, very appealing ! When we got Millie , I felt protective towards her , sorry for her and determined to do all I could for her, she was a challenge for sure At risk of sounding sloppy, it took her to be poorly to bring out the real love I felt for her ,I cannot imagine life without Millie in it now .Good luck Frankie with your lovely lad
He's gorgeous Frankie, he's got HUGE feet I think he looks like an Alfie. Can't imagie life without our rescue Charlie even when he was/is naughty Love 'em all xxx Start as you mean to go on Frankie and good luck!! xx
He looks lovely (and very tall!) Hope he continues to settle in with you and Maisie. My first dog was an adult rescue (Springer) and I loved her just as much as the dogs that followed which I had from pups. But it didn't happen instantly with any of them. When I first got Molly at 7 weeks I spent the first few weeks longing for my dear old Rolo back. You'll never stop missing Murphy but it will gradually become less painful and your heart will expand to include new dogs.
He will no longer settle in or out of his crate if I go anywhere. Just barks and crys. Earlier when I went out I left him in his crate with a kong and I watched on the webcam and he barked and cried for 10 mins before he ate the kong and went to sleep. I am currently upstairs and he is whining and crying at the bottom of the stairs. Poor Maisie is just sat wondering what's going on!
Had the worst day so far Had a nightmare day his separation anxiety is really bad and that's making him worked up which he is then directing onto Maisie who is really upset and not tolerating him at all. So then she's telling him off which gets him worked up more, and if I separate them with either baby gate or crate he just trys to get to the otherside and. Gets worked up more. I can't do anything that will calm him down and he's even started growling at the cat he can see at the top of the stairs. He just seems really overwhelmed and over stimulated. And I wonder if Maisie still smells from when she was in season which is winding him up more? Maisie isn't letting him anywhere near her and I feel bad for him Maisie was in the crate for half an hour and he spent the whole time pawing at the door and she was snarling. I let her out and he just went for her neck. Now he's in the crate and unless I am chain feeding him treats he won't stop barking and howling I just can't do anything to calm him down. I feel like he is getting worse because Maisie is so unhappy and intolerant and as you know I have to work and so his separation anxiety can't be properly addressed when I have to leave him. he also has had an upset tummy which is probably not helping. Also on our walk this morn some spaniels came into the field, I was able to call him back and put him on the lead but he then barked at them and I had to literally drag him away and then he was getting all snappy with Maisie and she kept trying to get to me and he kept intercepting her and getting in the way and she was getting annoyed and then walking back along the road with both on leads he kept lunging across to mouth her face and she was getting annoyed and it was hard to keep them separate with both on leads. Arrrgghhhhhhh
Aaron has gone back to his other foster. I'm heartbroken but it just wasn't fair on him or Maisie. I feel like complete failure.
Oh Frankie, sounds a bit stressful right now. The first week or so is very hard for a new foster, and equally very, very tough on you! Especially one coming in from another country. Some re homing charities are also better than others in terms of support and information, and that helps with preparation. We knew we were starting from scratch with Blake so it did help with managing expectations. Is Aaron used to being inside a house? Or a crate? It did take a while of getting Blake used to a crate. We started with just 2 minutes, enough time for him to grab a toy, eat a treat then come out. We didn't close the door, just allowed him to see all the wonderful things inside the crate, then left the door open., Not making a big thing of it. Then increasing the time very gradually to 10mins, 20mins..with a frozen kong, or giant fish bar chew. He got all his meals in the crate to start of with. Sometimes if Blake had been a bit hyper we moved Benson into a crate in the kitchen, sort of out of sight out of mind...We have 2 crates which helps! I am wondering also if limiting playtime would help, so just giving them a couple of mins max, so that Maisie feels more comfortable. If Maisie gets annoyed enough to tell Aaron off, it may take her a while to settle. Letting Aaron only play for a minute or two will help prevent him being too excited to calm down. Also try teaching him some simple tricks that just take a minute or two but might help distract him. We taught Blake a hand touch, and now have moved on to target touching. We can do this just sitting on the sofa with a few treats, useful if something on the TV has got him a bit hyper...like the blimmin cats on there the other night! Making a fun game out of being in different rooms in the house might help. We call this Blakegate. Simply we pop him in the kitchen behind the baby gate...leave for a few seconds to start with, if he is quiet he gets a treat. Extend to 20 sec, 30 sec...then make noises, such as open close a window...rustle curtains, bang about a bit.. up and down stairs, put a radio on...then come down and reward when quiet. In conjunction with all above, try not to let Aaron follow you around, we use the baby gates to leave Blake in the hallway..or kitchen etc.. so he learns it's OK to be in a different room than us, and we aren't abandoning him. Always have a supply of kongs, chews..I make up about 5 a day...plus fish chews, so I always have something to give him to keep occupied. Give me a shout if you need a hand with anything!
Oh dear, Frankie. Try not to let it get you down too much - it sounds like Aaron has returned to a safe place, and he'll be fine. Hopefully the lovely boy will find his forever home soon. If you don't mind me saying, I don't think taking on a rescue with a potentially a lot of issues can be the easiest thing if you are working - I don't mean you shouldn't foster if you work, it's just maybe waiting until you could take a few weeks off to get a rescue dog properly settled in? Aaron might just not have been crate trained and so on, so it just sounds like it all required a bit more time than you had to give. Nothing ventured and all that though, no harm done and at least there are people in the world like you that will try - thankfully for all those dogs that need a helping hand.
Aaron had never been socialised with other dogs until a couple of weeks ago when he was just left in a galgo (Spanish greyhound) enclosure. So he has no social skills at all. He was brought up in a caravan with the people who ran the spanish rescue but actually have no experience with training dogs etc and apparently the woman used to just shout at him if he was naughty. The local rescue who brought him over told me that he was the best foster they'd ever had and that he was so easy. Just playful. They didn't take into account his lack of socialisation as a pup and so what they took to be play was actually (after spending an hour with Anna from widgets farm) stress management and he was not as confident as he seemed. We tested him with a fake dog used in training and his approach was extremely nervous. She suspected he'd had bad experiences. So the rescue had described him to me as a typical young playful dog but what I had was nervous and anxious and was redirecting that onto Maisie and had ridiculous separation anxiety probably from all the change that he has had in the last week. So I wasn't prepared for that at all. If they had told me that then I would never have tried it because I work (albeit not 9-5 5 days a week much less) but I still don't have the time to deal with it. I still feel terrible though, last night when he was tired and snugly he was amazing
You have a good, kind, heart Frankie - all you did was try. It didn't work out, Aaron is no worse off than he was. He is safe and comfy in another foster home, and hopefully it'll all work out for him. Paws crossed.
Oh Frankie, you are not a failure...don't think it...for a second. You are incredibly kind hearted,..I can't help feeling annoyed at some of these rescues, I know they have the best intentions but they inadvertently cause so much grief.. You absolutely did the right thing xx
Gosh he's huge! And gorgeous. All our dogs have been rescue, and the love comes quicker with some than others, but it definitely does come. Coco, our new dog, bothers Belle who tolerates him - usually. We have just had to put Coco in kennels for a couple of nights while we went away, he came home this morning & was so delighted to be back, I couldn't help but love him, despite all my difficulties walking him.
Taking on a rescue dog should never be under estimated, they can take a long time to settle in to get used to their new surroundings, humans and resident dogs etc. this doesn't happen over night. It's a shame he has gone back as I am sure he has had enough upset in his life, but hopefully his new fosterer will settle him in. I agree with Kate, some rescues, particularly overseas centres are not always honest about dogs as they are so desperate to rehome them but then the problem is they are sent back because new owners can't or don't want to help and they are known as 'Bouncers'. Charlie was a 'Bouncer' due to lack of honesty about his absconding which we found out to our cost, but we decided to keep him and give him all we had plus some
Sue, take a look at the 'Happy at Heel Harness' thread, it might just do the trick to help you walk Coco x
