Rescuing Rocky, the Dogs Trust GSD x

I am hoping this will become a sort of diary thread for Rocky, and might help others who are thinking of rescuing, and give them some idea of what to expect. I have never rescued a dog before, so this is all new to me!

Yesterday, we visited the Dogs Trust centre closest to us and met Rocky, a GSD x who is around 10 months old. He was very nervous when he went in 6 weeks or so ago, but has improved a lot and is very affectionate.





Today, we took our collie x Maisy to meet him. We took her for a long run on the beach first, and then made our way there. We were told to walk down to a field just past the kennels, and we would be met there. Two of the staff brought Rocky down on a long line, as he is very boisterous and has no manners! We were in a secure field, so we took Maisy off the lead and let her greet Rocky.

After a bit of to and fro, where Rocky would try to grab Maisy's leg and Maisy told him in no uncertain terms that she just wasn't happy with that, the long line was dropped and then removed entirely. We walked around the field with them both off lead, which culminated in them playing chase - lovely to see! He is a big dog, and Maisy was fairly nervous when we got her six months ago, but they got on well. The two handlers said they had mixed well, and I got the sense that perhaps they'd tried mixing him with other prospective owners' dogs, but it hadn't worked out.

We were then allowed to take him for a walk, on lead, by ourselves. We walked down the lane outside, then back around the compound, with no issues between the two of them.





Rocky's trainer then had to take him back to his kennel as his new kennelmate was coming in shortly. We went back down to reception for a chat, and the lady we spoke to was lovely. We said that we'd like to reserve Rocky, and she explained that they could do something called a vet check. We live about half an hour away from the centre, and they're fairly short on volunteers, so she said she could speak to our vet for a reference instead of sending someone out to do a proper home check. I'm sure they would have sent someone to check, though, if they had any doubts about our intentions or abilities, I suppose it helped that we already have a dog who is obviously well cared for.

So, they will contact our vet, we will get a letter from our letting agent saying that we are allowed two dogs at our property, and all being well, we will go to pick him up at 9.30am on Friday. We just need to buy some fenceposts so we can make our garden wall higher, I think Rocky would be straight over that!

I have to say, I think the Dogs Trust have been fantastic so far. Adopting a dog from them costs £80. For that, you get a dog that has been neutered, vaccinated, comes with four weeks of pet insurance, a small bag of food, a lead, collar, tag, and microchip. They also sell harnesses and things to help them walk on the lead for £7 each, and say they are at the end of the phone to help if you have any problems. The staff are all friendly and polite, too. You also get the benefit of having an idea of the dog's temperament and size.

Apparently Rocky has a bit of a dicky stomach, but I expect that will settle down when he is in surroundings that become familiar, is being fed good food, is comfortable and exercised well. Maisy showed a few signs of being a little protective over my OH and her bag of treats, but I think that's only natural as she has always been an only dog. We will just need to keep an eye on it and ensure it doesn't get out of hand. We'll buy a new bed and toys for Rocky, hopefully that will help, instead of Maisy having to share hers.

So... roll on Friday!

 

What a lovely thread!

Rocky is gorgeous (as is Maisy!), lovely pics of them both. Hope it all goes well on Friday & keep us all updated

 

He looks lovely : ) hope it works out

 

I agree- lovely thread- will be interested to read about how you settle in as i'm interested in adding to our home ast some point- i'll try to follow this as best i can.

Nice pics- both lovely dogs. Good luck

 

rocky and maisey are gorgous wishing u all the best:001_smile:

 

Thank you for your kind words, everyone!

I really hope it works out too, I'll be so gutted if we can't have him. The only hurdle I can see is our letting agent - but that shouldn't be a problem. I hadn't even considered they might be happy with one dog but not two until the rescue mentioned it yesterday. They seem good though, as does our landlord, and we always pay our rent four months at a time, and handed over the pet deposit for Maisy as soon as we got her. If they want another one, that's fine too. The previous tenant also had dogs, and I literally have never seen or spoken to my landlord in the two years we've lived here, so I think he just trusts the letting agent to sort stuff out for him. And they haven't done a home check in a year, so must be reasonably happy with us!

Here's hoping, anyway!

 

Aw bless him. He is absolutely beautiful.

I hope everyting goes well and you are all happy together. They sound great at the dogs trust too!

 

Hi

I have Border Collie X 11 and half years who has always been only dog and I'm looking for a younger smaller breed via Dogs Trust.

I got the home assessment as I'm mainly housebound and can't drive. One of their field officers came and asked questions I use a mobility scooter to walk my dog and family walks her when I get snowed in for 1-2 weeks a year.

She was very impressed with Inca's (my dogs training) as I trained her to help me around the house myself and I'll train next one to take over from Inca.

I've never had 2 dogs in the house at same time so I'll be interested to see how you manage the introducing and encouraging them to be friends, as I'm just kind of hoping I'll find one Inca will like instantly!

 

How exciting - Rocky is adorable!

Love that pic of him doing a play bow, what a lovely pair the two dogs make

Sounds like Dogs' Trust have been wonderful, good to know

 

Following on the general theme of introducing a new dog to the household, what method would you recommend for switching a new dog to raw?

Let him carry on with his dried food for a few weeks until he's settled in, and then introduce new protein sources slowly (cutting out kibble completely), or just use up the bag of food he's sent with and then switch straight away? Bearing in mind he has a sensitive stomach, I thought perhaps he might get on better with raw anyway, but would need changing over much more slowly than Maisy did.

And how about bringing him into the house for the first time? Bring him in and let them get on with it, or let them have a sniff on the driveway with their leads on? We won't be taking Maisy with us to pick him up, I think that'd be a recipe for disaster in the back of the car as they're both very playful.

 

Cant give advice on the switching to raw, however with introducing, i would take them both somewhere neutral i.e a field, the park.
And let them meet there, then go into the house.

 

I hope everything works out and by Friday you'll be a 2 dog family They both look lovely dogs

 

Best of luck with the agent and vet, hope it all works out ok & you're new addition arrives on friday!

 

I'm not too worried about the vet, all they can say is, 'Yes, she was spayed, jabbed and brought in for kennel cough, and showed no signs of ill treatment,' which I guess is what they're looking for.

Chris rang the letting agent today. She made noises about having to ensure the property was kept up to standard, but said the landlord would listen to her recommendation. She's quite nice and has had dogs of her own, so won't dismiss us just because there are a few strands of dog hair on the floor. She's coming over on Thursday to check the house - reasonable, since she hasn't been round since we've had Maisy, so she has to check. Thankfully, Maisy hasn't damaged anything, so we'll just give the house a good blitz and airing, and hopefully she'll give us a letter for the Dogs Trust! We also said the landlord could keep the dog and house deposit if that's what it took to get him to say yes

 

The letting agent said she would try to speak to the landlord on Monday night, and Chris had a text from her yesterday saying we could discuss it all on Thursday. So I'm hoping it isn't a flat out no, and maybe he just wants an extra deposit.

We're finishing making the house spick and span today. Not that it looked bad before, but if it's absolutely spotless I don't see how she can have a problem. So it's all down to tomorrow... in the meantime we need to stop planning what we'll do 'when' we have Rocky, or it'll make it even worse if we can't!

 

Fingers crossed for tomorrow for you. Hopefully he may just want another deposit as surely the letting agent would have said in the text if it was a flat out no (not that I want to get your hopes up or anything)

Let us know how you go on

 

We've been lucky introducing new dogs and haven't run into problems. Normal method we use is to let the new dog go around the house first without the others then let the "oldies" in. Emma we normally have on a lead but then she is Dog Aggressive (DA) anyway. Ensure nothing "high value" is lying around. Be prepared to break up a fight if it does happen. With an OH around make sure you both will work the same way. Hopefully will not happen but always better to be prepared Make sure you spread the affection as it's easy to concentrate on the new dog. We normally do not start to relax for a at least a couple of weeks.

As to raw.. do your research first if you haven't already. I don't recommend anyone starts raw without looking at all sides of the "to raw, not to raw" discussion as well as the general how to. Also be aware many vets do not approve of raw feeding.

One of the potential problems with raw feeding dogs is the fact that the food is often counted as "high value" and can be the source of aggression. Be aware of this.

Logic would dictate that you let your new dog settle in before changing to raw. With both Daisy and Benny however we've switched almost as soon as they have come into the house. Daisy due to the fact she choked on her kibble on the first day here, Benny as his breath could clear a room. Neither had difficulties with transition and settled down really quickly. We could be simply lucky.

Good luck.

 

Thanks Goblin, perhaps we'll do that. The logistics of getting two of us and two dogs separately to one place with a decent amount of room before letting him in the house are a bit difficult anyway, whereas that way I can take Maisy out to the woods round the back for a bit of a ball throw while Rocky sniffs round the house.

I'll have a chat to Chris and see how we'd deal with breaking up a fight, it's not beyond the realms it's something we'll have to deal with in the first few days. We'll pick up toys and her antler before we let them in, too. She did have two antlers, but we picked one up a few days ago, with the idea of giving it to Rocky - do you think Maisy would still recognise it as hers? She didn't mind my uncle's dog nicking it, but better safe than sorry.

We've been feeding Maisy raw for about 5 weeks now (not long at all, I know) and researched for a good while before that, so I'm definitely sold on the concept. I haven't had occasion to speak to my vet about it yet, and I'm not going to bring it up unless I have to (i.e. if she needs medication for something), but if the vet doesn't agree with me, I'm not bothered. She recommended Hill's, and basically told us it was the best thing since sliced bread, so I'd guess she wouldn't like raw!

Do you think it would be best to start off feeding them apart, or together, particularly if Rocky is on dry food? I wouldn't want to have to feed apart forever. We'll have more dogs eventually (not for years yet) and I wouldn't want to have to feed every dog in a different room if it isn't necessary. Perhaps we'll see how they are with guarding food over a few days time? Sounds like you were very lucky with switching your dogs - I hope it's the same for us when we do switch him!

 

So, we're just waiting for the letting agent to turn up. I feel like I'm waiting for a job interview!


However... a friend of my OH's, who lives around the corner, has just moved away, leaving her house to be sold. She's considering letting it, and doesn't mind pets... The rent is £20 less than here, it's much larger, there's an extra bedroom, the garden is much bigger, and properly enclosed! So guess what we're doing if the letting agent/landlord says no to Rocky...

 

WE CAN HAVE ROCKY!

The landlord just wanted us to sign a piece of paper saying we'd surrender all of our deposits if there was any damage. The letting agent didn't even bother checking the kitchen... all that wiping down of cupboards and walls for nothing!

By 10am tomorrow, we'll have two dogs!