The Darling Dog Company

Grimmy and Puppy: the story of how a rescue dog met its match!

Throughout life we are taught to not judge a book by its cover. When you are looking for a rescue dog, its what you end up having to do! You are having to make a decision based on its kennel behaviour, its interactions from behind bars or on a lead in the most stressful environment it will probably encounter. And this behaviour either hinders a dog or pushes them forward.

I work with potential owners to find them their forever friend whether it be a puppy or a second hand hound and one of the things most people get frustrated with is the time it takes. We are a society that is used to things instantly, when it comes to sharing your life with a dog, timing is key.

Puppy's first experience of water and swimming

I wanted to give you an example of a situation, a dog and a client who demonstrate all of the above perfectly and will hopefully inspire those of you who are thinking about taking on a rescue dog. I don't generally write about any of my clients who are in the public eye but I feel quite strongly about this one.

I first met Grimmy last year, a few days after having my baby. We were trying to work out about the kind of dog he wanted, he has a busy lifestyle presenting the Radio 1 breakfast show every morning, he is out and about and he has alot of commitments and friends with dogs but was adamant he wanted a rescue dog. Since that meeting it took me around 6 months to find him the right dog. That is a long time and we saw a lot of dogs in that time, never once did he whinge or moan, he paid attention to every dog I introduced him to. But above all I kept saying that you have to go with your gut instinct, it guides you through life I think.

We first met Smarty a couple of days after coming into the Dogs Trust kennels, she had been a stray and not much was known about her. She was nervous, she favoured Aimee (Nick's friend) and I and was unsure about Nick. But something clicked for Grimmy so we left it a week for her to be assessed and waited. The feedback was that she was reactive with other dogs which was an issue as Grimmy lives in London and there are dogs everywhere. She was barking alot, she was lunging, she was vocal and was finding life hard in kennels. In honesty, there were easier looking dogs out there but I knew that if he was prepared to work on her then there was so much potential.

To cut a long story short, we then spent time re visiting her, taking her out, and the Dogs Trust allowed me to test her in situations relative to Nick's lifestyle and she wasn't perfect at all but she showed eagerness to learn and enthusiasm for life. With all of the checks done on Nick  the date was set to bring this little Jack Russell Terrier home to her new life.

We are a couple of months in and I feel like I could burst with pride, for both of them. Grimmy has followed everything I have asked him to do, he has channelled time and effort into this little terrier. He has showered her with love whilst showing her how to react and teaching her what her new life involves. Her coat is shiny, she is lean and loving life. Nick and Puppy (as she is now known) are a shining example of a dog that on paper might not have seemed like the ideal dog but the thing is, you have to take time to get to know a dog and we didn't just judge her on her behaviour in kennels because that isn't fair. We still have work to do but the key to all of it is tackling things slowly and methodically. You need successes to spur you on and the progress she is making is so great to watch.

Recall was top of our list to teach Puppy. Off lead and long grass are her favourites.

There is a saying "you may not change the world but you will surely change the world for that dog you have taken on" and it applies to any dog that you choose to share your life with. Which is why it is worth putting the time, dedication and effort into finding the 'right dog' for you and if you need assistance, you know where to find me.

Relaxing with Thurston. Once reactive to other dogs we have taught her how to behave in a controlled and disciplined way.

The possible results of flooding your dog with socialisation

Every puppy owner wants to do the right thing with their socialisation. In my first week of puppy classes I do a 10 min talk on the rules of my class and what I will and won't accept. Two of which are on lead greetings and free play with the other puppies. People look at me like I'm mad and always question me afterwards. Some go away and listen to what I have said and others don't. I can't control this.

Every dog is different

However what I can comment on is those who repeatedly put their dogs in situations that it cannot cope with. Flooding is a training terminology used to describe when a dog or human is put in a situation they find very stressful. You over stimulate them with the fearful object/person/dog/situ and hope that they realise that nothing bad happened so they learn to cope. e.g. on lead greetings with other dogs. In my opinion, not a great way of doing things. For many years I had a severe needle phobia, I had to have hypnotherapy for it. Rest assured that just being in a room with needles laying on a mat but not doing anything to me would not have helped this phobia, in fact it would have made me so stressed that if I was a dog I would have bitten you very hard.

So with the above analogy you might now be able to get a little insight into why some behaviours start to show. A puppy was flooded with a particular experience they couldn't cope with but owners didn't notice so eventually the dog made owners notice. By on most occassions using aggression.

Anything that you want your puppy to learn must be done systematically and slowly. Don't rush and don't push them. And don't feel that you have to do something just because another owner in the park is telling you to. What works for their dog doesn't always work for anyone elses.