# Pooch, 2 year old Staffie needs home!



## Rescue Remedies (Oct 27, 2008)

Pooch lost his home when the young couple who owned him split up after a period of discord. His only place to go was in with 'mum' but although he got on well with her Westie..her 3 cats were not amused. Pooch isn't able to live with cats. He has not had formal training and basically was left in a kitchen throughout the day when owners were at work for up to 8 hours. His housetraining despite this is good with owner awareness. Can't tell you when he needs the toilet, but you can notice in his attitude, (he gets a bit excited) when he needs to be let out.

He is fine with other dogs, On a weekend break recently he spent time with another Staffie and a Jack Russell who continuously barked at him (slightly worried he might retaliate as the dog didn't give up hassling him, but he wasn't fazed). Pooch has also mixed with a Westie since a pup. Will play with dogs outside..can be a little possessive of sticks but only 'tells' the other dog..its his! Pooch is neutered; vax'd and chipped.

Really intelligent dog and has great potential to be a perfect dog. Doesn't understand a 'firm voiced' No- thinks it's then a game, but does respond to a soft no. eg. didn't understand that sofa jumping probably won't be appreciated by many; but began to get the message with consistency of message. He is great in cars, loves to sit on your lap if possible, otherwise happy to sit and watch in the back!

Great with new surroundings, settles in very quickly with no fuss, though visibilly increased excitabily initiallly. May be too exciteable to live with young children as might be over whelming. Pooch is such a lovely dog who loves attention, but can be by himself without whimpering/whining; know his place. Loves the walks, the beach and swimming!!

Please complete our questionnaire via our website Rescue Remedies..click for the Forum on homepage Please visit her forum thread under dogs needing homes under our care - updated daily.


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## tashi (Dec 5, 2007)

Still looking????


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## Rescue Remedies (Oct 27, 2008)

Yes afraid so


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## Rescue Remedies (Oct 27, 2008)

Pooch is still in kennels awaiting a foster place or his forever home. Here is a report from his kennels:

"Pooch was down in the dumps yesterday and not eating. Alyson called me three times ; moved his kennel; and cooked a casserole just for him. Today he woke with a much more positive attitude and had eaten his breakfast by 11 am".


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## Rescue Remedies (Oct 27, 2008)

Here is an excerpt/update on Pooch from our forum today:



> Pooch was looking better today than on Sunday, though still has a touch of diarrhoea & is not his usual enthusiastic self.
> He is down on weight too, compared to when saw him in December - though perhaps looking a little better today from Sunday, & finally eating well.
> We just had a short walk today round the meadow but he was a gentleman, as ever.
> There is a small haemorrhage on his gum - almost certainly from trauma (he has a stash of pigs ears etc in his bed that he sleeps on to keep safe), but we're going to worm him at a decent dose to make sure he hasn't got anything nasty.
> He just looks down in the dumps, poor soul.


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## Rescue Remedies (Oct 27, 2008)

This post was posted up on Pooch's thread on our website by the family that gave him some time out of kennels and a Christmas holiday/respite. He will go into full-time foster tomorrow, but is still looking for a 'forever' home. You can visit his thread on our forum at Rescue Remedies.myfastforum.org :: Pooch Staffie 2 yrs Horley Kens Surrey

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Poor little sweetheart . Pooch is such a wonderful dog and he deserves a loving home as soon as possible to help him recover. Please come forward for this gorgeous boy!

We are the very lucky trio who were able to give Pooch a short term holiday from kennels over the Christmas break. Sadly, we were unable to keep him as he really needs more time and company than we are able to give (and unfortunately our girl wasn't sure she wanted his excited attentions all day) but I want to share with you the wonderful character of this lovely little fellow. We are all hoping that there is a perfect home for him out there somewhere and that he will find it very soon.

I collected Pooch the weekend before Christmas and he was very, very excited to be getting into a car (as you would expect) and for his own good had to tie him into the back seat to prevent him trying to drive us home himself. He was very vocal on this trip but we have since taken many short trips in the car and he has been quiet and desperate to be as close to us as possible, and loves watching the world zoom by. Even by the time we had been for our first walk back home Pooch had started to respond really well to "sit" and is obviously a very intelligent dog, but unfortunately seemed to have been given very little (if any) training before. He was very excitable when we got him home and insisted on constantly sniffing our existing dog over several days which resulted in a few scraps (again, as often expected) but this settled down fairly well once our dog affirmed that she really was going to be "top dog" here (in fact it was more her that was the difficulty here!).

Pooch is a very, very fast learner and after only 2 weeks out of kennels had already learnt to "sit", "stay", "leave" (providing the command is repeated), "bed", "come" (most of the time - see below re walks) and knew that he had to sit before crossing a road often with only a reminder of mentioning his name (especially as he meant he got some fuss for it!) Sometimes he would forget these commands but only when he was very over-excited and he would eventually respond when the commands were repeated, Given he had only just been taught them we were really impressed with the speed in which he picked them up. He even learnt to give me his paw with the request "paw" which was very handy when wiping them clean and when wanting to give him a little hug! 

Pooch is full of energy and loved getting out to chase the ball (when chasing the ball or a stick his recall is pretty good, and again was improving at the end of our time with him, but less so if he has nothing to focus his energy on) and played really well with our dog, either chasing his or her toys and often chasing each other so they could end up in a game of tug toy which he always let our dog win! Usually he would deliberately get the toy first then run round as a cheeky way of encouraging our dog to join in the fun! Round the house he is full of energy too, especially immediately after a walk, but more than anything always wants to be close to you (leading to him often following us around the house) and he calms down very quickly when he curls up on the sofa with you or on your lap (preferably somewhere he can have a hug and some fuss) and we've had many hours spent with a very tired, sleepy Pooch curling up with us. He does dearly love his hugs! His need to be close seems as if he will need a home where he can be with his new owners for much of the day. He was fine at ours to be left for 4-5 hours at times but was not able to hold himself for much more than this (except overnight when generally it was good) and showed signs of separation anxiety after a relative of ours tried to keep him for 2/3 days with a view to fostering him for a longer period. He just needs the right home with owners that can spend lots of time and lavish lots of affection on him! He really deserves a wonderful loving home (possibly with another dog, I would not recommend a home for him with small furries or cats though after our experience!)

At meal times he learnt fast that if he waited for us to feed our dog first he would still get food and responded very well so that we no longer had to hold him back and he would patiently go to "his side" of the kitchen, sit and wait for his dinner. Watch for anything within reach though - we did catch him attempting one day to pull a bowl off the work top, very patiently and slowly, with only one claw! Bless him! 

Pooch spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day with us at our families and was generally pretty good despite being understandably over-excited. He did rather a lot of humping initially with all the ladies when very excited but again a gentle hand on the scruff of his neck to remove him was all that was needed to remind him that it was not appropriate behaviour! He loved the adult men in the family - just loved curling up on their laps and promptly going off to sleep!! Just as excited by everyone but figured out who would give fuss (no children there so cannot say how he would respond but would suggest he may be too excitable to be homed with young children).

We let both dogs sleep in their beds in our bedroom and shut them in with us with a bowl of water overnight. Pooch initially tried the whole "yeh, human bed" thing but with repeated firm commands quickly got into a routine of only trying it on once before heading to bed. Having said that he did somehow manage to end up on our bed by morning so best for someone who is more than happy to share their bed space with their newfound friend. And what a friend! We spent some lovely hours all curled up on the bed - none more so than Christmas morning when both dogs and our sacks from Santa took up almost as much space as us!

How to sum Pooch up? A lovely cheeky chappie who learns fast and who loves to be loved and made a fuss of - a real character of a dog. We really loved him and were so sad to have to return him to the kennels (I'll admit that I shed a tear or two to have to let him go) but we hope that the time spent with us will mean that he can now quickly find his forever home with people who can lavish the time and affection on him that he truly deserves.

Click to expand...

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## Rescue Remedies (Oct 27, 2008)

An update from the kennels on Pooch today who is still looking for a foster home or forever home:



> Pooch came out on a joint walk with Elaine and I today..meeting Fizz and putting her at ease in a very strange and new surrounding. Pooch is so good with dogs and oh so very very lovely. He is more settled back in kennels now; loved by all and has the 'king' kennel where he gets to know all the gossip; see all the goings on and knows exactly when meals are being prepared and makes sure he get his fair share! (He gets more than his fair share!)


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## Rescue Remedies (Oct 27, 2008)

An update from one of our volunteer walkers:



> I took Pooch for a run today, and after his initial trepidation that I was abducting him (!) he settled into a comfortable trot. I think he could carry on for hours, maybe I should use him as a training partner for my next marathon!
> 
> A dog that pulls would be very tiring, but he was very good. And very good with any other dogs we met too, although the pair of Spaniel puppies were a bit overpowering outside the farmhouse. He made sure his tail was in a safe place.
> 
> I think Pooch needs a job! As long as he's doing something with someone, he's a happy chappy. He just needs a little praise, and his confidence grows and gives him a purpose. I wish I didn't work in a stuffy office or I'd keep him with me all the time.


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## Guest (Apr 2, 2009)

Sadly I cannot help
But my fingers are crossed for Pooch - as they are for all the other dogs that are looking and waiting for their forever homes.
regards
DT


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## Rescue Remedies (Oct 27, 2008)

Some new photos of Pooch who is still looking for a foster home or his forever home:


































These were taken on Saturday with one of our wonderful volunteer dog walkers:


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## Rescue Remedies (Oct 27, 2008)

Pooch went into foster with a view to homing and his dream came true. Here is a final update from his new home ...

The adorable Pooch is eating, sleeping & playing well.

Busy days & peaceful nights with him. Haven't walked so much in years & it is doing me the power of good. He continues to settle more & more every day. Can't imagine not having him around, he is SO part of the family. Boy does this handsome fella surprises us every day....he has charm, good looks & a sense of humour. The first time I got the hoover out he was like a Health & Safety Exec....it must be dangerous, so put it away! Grabbing at it and generally being a real pain. Stu has just done the hoovering again today and he's like a different dog....calm, calm, calm. So glad that we are taking everyday as it comes with him x x

Walked the Basingstoke canal for 3 hours yesterday morning & he was enthusiastic all the way, especially as the first part of the walk involved a lot of ball throwing on the Army fields across the road! Learning to leave the ball when asked is a real step forward for us. As you all probably know....Poochie does LURRVE his ball :lol:

Today we have just got back from a very wet, muddy & deep puddles common.....Pooch was in his element. Wading thru every & I mean every puddle he could find with his ball in tow. Loves plonking it in the puddle to get it REALLY wet & dirty....then offers it to you to throw :roll: He is also very good at show jumping! Loved the fences that horse riders have put up over there.

He has enrolled me into an 'owner' training course towards the end of the month and has told me if I show him up he will be really embarrassed. So I need to be on my best behaviour!! I don't think for one moment that Pooch will struggle, he is one quick learning little Cookie.

Dee....time to make Pooch officially a permanent fixture in our lives 

Some pics:




Pooch doing a very good 'chillax'


Mmmmm....those eyes....that face x x


Where he belongs at the end of a long day.


Oh the anticipation for his ball.....focused or what?!!


I think if you look closely he has all four feet off the floor....or he's learnt to levitate!!


Handsome, handsome, handsome 8)


Guiness World Record for the cheesiest grin?


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