For Day 66 of our 100 Days with 100 Dogs series, we meet one of our resident dogs. Unfortunately, not all of the dogs we rescue are suitable for rehoming. This can be for various reasons such as complicated health issues, or trauma that is too deep-rooted to fully work out. In a few cases, they have police orders, so if anything such as a bite incident would be put down.
We don't take a decision like this likely and only if it's best for the dog. And from our inception, we wouldn't put a dog down just because they couldn't be rehomed. They deserve a chance at a life they can enjoy like any other. Sadly we're finding that more of our recent rescues have issues beyond the usual rehabilitation and so require more work to prepare for adoption if they ever become suitable at all.
This little darling is Bella and she has been with us since she was 7 months old.. Bella's original owner wanted a guard dog so spent time winding Bella up. Bella didn't have the right temperament for this and became so traumatised that she started to react to the wife and the children.
Bella was now terrified but the family decided she had to go. They called a 'behaviourist' (we use this term lightly in this case) and he collected her and he put her in a stable. He spent hours trying to encourage her out of the corner. The next day for reasons best known to himself, he let her out in the menage. At this point, he couldn't catch her, and she'd tried to bite him. He then contacted an acquaintance of Rose to see if they knew anyone who could help or he'd have to have her shot.
Rose received the call and agreed to take Bella in. He pointed out that she would not have any more luck catching her than he was having She told them to contact her old owners and have them catch her and bring her to her. He did and it worked she arrived wearing two muzzles and petrified. Her owner put her in the kennel and took the muzzles off, and Rose then didn't see Bella for the next week.
She ate her food overnight, and never entered the run if Rose was near. She proved the most difficult case Rose has dealt with. After continuing to toss treats and ignore her, some weeks later Rose managed to get her out in the bigger run, still not touching just using treats to get her in and out of the run. It took months for Bella to gain confidence. As she did so it became apparent that she wouldn't tolerate strangers. With this in mind, she will stay in our care.
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