100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 18 -- Meet Bear

We reached Day 18 of 100 Dogs in 100 Days series, and today we meet one of our more energetic dogs eager to find his forever home and loving pawrents - will that be with you?

Meet Bear

Bear is a 2 year old male black  short coated German Shepherd. He is a real fun character and absolutely loves playing with toys. The more the better. Bear will need an experienced owner purely because he can get over excited and playfully jump up which has to be handled carefully so he cannot make a game of it. 

When he is taken out for walks he really enjoys it and is much calmer than when he is on kennel property. He has so much potential. He loves to work for toys or treats. Because of Bears excitability he's probably best suited to a child and pet free home.

He's currently located in Mildenhall.

If you'd like to offer Bear, or any of our other dogs at home, then email us at gsdwelfarefund@gmail. You can view other dogs in our care on our website http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/dogslist/

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 17 - Meet Resident Beau

We're almost a fifth of the way through our 100 Days with 100 Dogs series. Today we meet another of the dogs in our permanent care.

Meet Beau

This gorgeous girl is Beau (AKA Bobo)  she is a black short coated 5 year old neutered female German Shepherd. She has an amazing temperament, and is good with dogs, children and people. Sadly Bobo suffers from EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency), which means she needs special medication every time she eats to be able to digest her food.  

We did manage to put weight on her, and find her a home, but they didn't follow the advice given and so lost 5 kilos in 4 weeks. She had to come back to us. We have since struggled to keep weight on her.  All manner of different medications have been tried, but unfortunately the slightest thing can set her back. Because of this we made the decision to keep her in our permanent care.

Beau is one of around a fifth of the dogs currently in our care who cannot be homed. In her case it's quite a nasty medical issue, but severe behavioural problems can also necessitate the same decision. To help fund this life long care we have a sponsorship scheme -  http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/product/sponsor-a-dog/

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 16 - Meet Millie

Day 16 in our 100 Days with 100 Dogs and we come to a young female who's not had the most settled start in life, and so needs a more tranquil loving home - can you help?

Meet Millie

This beautiful girl is Millie, and she's a short coated black and tan female German Shepherd. She was bought from the free ads, and then they quickly realised they couldn't cope with her, so homed her with a relation. Sadly within a few days of being with the relation, she fought with the resident dog. She was put out in the garden, and we took her in as an emergency. 

Millie is understandably nervous, and needs to gain confidence which she is doing very gradually. She needs time and space to continue that progress. After Millie's history, she needs to be the only dog and no other pets. We are told there were children in the relation's home, but we would prefer children over 10 so as not to overwhelm her.

We are unsure if she's neutered, and she's currently placed in Mildenhall. 

If you'd like to offer Millie her new home then email gsdwelfarefund@gmail.com.  Other dogs in our care can be found on our website - http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/dogslist/ and in our adoption Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/gsdwfadoptions

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 15 - Meet Willow

Day 15 of 100 Days with 100 Dogs and we've met some lovely dogs so far, and there's still many, many to come. Let's find loving homes for them, so they can live a life they deserve, not the one they've suffered.

Meet Willow

Willow is an 18 month old black and tan female German Shepherd, and she's an absolute sweetheart. She can be a little shy when she first meets you, but it doesn't take long to gain her friendship, and from then on she'll be fine.

She is good with people, shown no issues with dogs or cats, and we don't see any reason she couldn't live in a household with children.

Willow isn't neutered (and currently is too young to do so), and is located in Sleaford, South Lincs.

If you'd like to offer Willow her new home then email gsdwelfarefund@gmail.com.  Other dogs in our care can be found on our website - http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/dogslist/ and in our adoption Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/gsdwfadoptions

Behavioral Topic - Labels

In this latest Behavioural Topic article, our resident behavioural expert, Lisa Hird warns of how labels can limit understanding if used as shortcuts when training and interacting with dogs.

Discover more about Lisa Hird and her Dog Behaviour Clinic on her website: https://www.dogbehaviourclinic.co.uk/

Labels

Throughout our lives, people attach labels to us, and we attach labels to others. Those labels reflect and affect how others think about us as well as how we think about ourselves. Labels are not always negative, but some of the labels that we use to describe each other are the result of assumptions and stereotypes. 

We regularly apply labels to people whom we barely know or have never even met, and the same is done to us. Sadly, this also happens with dogs.

"This dog is reactive"

"That dog is aggressive"

"The dog next door is vicious"

"My dog is stubborn"

"He is a difficult dog"

and the list goes on......

Labels can limit the amount of information we can gain about the individual dog and they also shape how we think about that dog.

A dog’s behaviour is a reflection of how he feels in a particular situation, or about a specific trigger. He may not behave in the same way in other situations.

Just because a dog barks or lunges towards another dog, does not mean he is aggressive or vicious or a "bad" dog. Labelling also doesn't take into account motivation.

A dog may be labelled "aggressive" but really he may be fearful of the other dogs. He may have had a bad experience in the past, he may have been forced to meet other dogs when he would prefer not to, he may have been punished for not being "sociable", or he may even be in pain. He now uses barking or lunging to create distance from other dogs - he isn't wanting to get closer to attack the other dog.

The labels we use affect how we view the behaviour, instead of looking at why he is behaving that way.

We need to view a dog’s behaviour with compassion, empathy and understanding - not judge them (and the same goes for humans too)!

Discover a varied range of articles covering behaviour, car, and health related topics in our article archive: https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 14 - Meet Resident Ace

For Day 14 in the 100 Days with 100 Dogs we meet the amazing Ace. He's one of 20 odd dogs whose needs are complicated beyond being able to rehome him. We don't euthanise for not being suitable for homing, and so he's still enjoying life in our care.

Ace is a handsome 5 year old neutered male German Shepherd. He came to us when he was just 9 months old. He'd been in several homes by then and had become very reactive. The reactivity was born out of fear, and so it took him a while to learn to trust. 

Just when his rehabilitation was going well, we noticed him bumping in to things and suspected a problem with his eyesight. A vet check confirmed cataracts and he was then referred to a specialist.  Sadly because of his fear and reactivity he wasn't an ideal candidate for surgery as they wouldn't have been able to administer the aftercare.   

Ace is now thought to be completely blind but copes amazingly well. Ace is liable to bite out of fear if put in situations he cannot cope with, so we made the decision to keep him in our care to keep him safe.

To help pay for their lifetime of care, resident dogs can be sponsored - find out more here: http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/product/sponsor-a-dog/

   

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 13 - Meet Max P

Day 13 of 100 Days with 100 Dogs is upon on us and we'd like to thanks everyone for their positive responses thus far. Not only are the dogs looking for their new homes being shared for and wide, we've had some possible new parents approach. We still have a long road ahead of us, but with amazing and generous supports like you we'll get there!

Meet Max P

This cheeky chap is Max P. He's an 8 year old black and tan male German Shepherd.

After a change in domestic circumstances he was brought into Welfare. Max can get a bit full on, and so is probably better suited to a more experienced German Shepherd person.

He has lived with other dogs before, but he's most likely better off without cats in the household. We also recommend a child free home.

Max is currently situated in Mildenhall.

If you can offer Max a loving home, then contact us via email gsdwelfarefund@gmail.com 

You can find other dogs in our care on our website - https://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/dogslist/ and on our Facebook Adoption group  - https://www.facebook.com/groups/gsdwfadoptions