Carrying on in the series of ‘Practical Days,’ yesterday it was Daisy’s turn for a trip to the seaside. Another stray with no history, we stopped her being destroyed in a local pound for allegedly being aggressive.
In all the time we have had her she has been superb, apart from her tendency to want to grab the lead as you enter her kennel. Yesterday was a perfect opportunity to see if that behaviour was caused by being stressed in the kennel environment or something deeper rooted.
Jumping into the back of the Defender herself, she never looked at the lead the whole time, in fact I’d go as far as saying she was perfect.
She loved all the smells and sights and was far more affectionate than I thought she would be, always offering cuddles and giving kisses, whether you wanted them or not.
It was fantastic watching her play with a random
balloon that had found its way to the waters edge. She was so gentle and tried
hard not to burst it, there was such a look of disappointment on her face when
the inevitable happened.
She happily passed people and even a group of children
who were doing some kind of activity digging the sand and running up and down
the dunes. Not once did she react.
If she saw another dog, she was interested but by no
means aggressive and even when a group of three Collies went by barking at her,
she still was just curious. That incident took her focus away slightly, so we had
our own jaunt through the sand dunes, which I think she enjoyed even more
ploughing up and down the hills and through the grasses.
From what we saw, there was nothing to say that Daisy
could not adapt to life in a home, as long as the people were experienced in
American Bulldogs. I think she longs for that ‘closeness’ of someone and would
be a great fun dog to have around.
You can see how much fun she had in this video, and if you would like to express an interest in Daisy email foreverfoster@shak.org.uk
Having been such a superstar with Nima a couple of
weeks ago on a trip to the beach, I wanted to see how Dande would cope in a
slightly busier more formal atmosphere.
He was still a little scared of getting into the Land
Rover and continued his 100% record of travel sickness, but once we arrived at
the small retail park he was in his element. By chance we bumped into SHAK
volunteers Jax and Darron, and the little man was delighted to see familiar
faces.
A trip to Pets at Home followed, where he made a new
four legged friend and loved exploring all the isles, even if they weren’t
specified for dogs! Eventually he settled on a squeaky cup cake as being the
best item in store, which Rachel bought him as a souvenir.
He really did us proud, reacting once to a dog in a
situation between isles where he perhaps felt a little bit trapped in, but that
was complimented by being great with every person he met.
I think he was exhausted going home, even after just
half an hour being out and about, but he had taken in so much and encountered
so many new things. It is great seeing him progress.