Barney

 

 

“This is Barney. A lovely Boxer cross (maybe the other half is Pointer), he was found as a stray in Ireland & brought over here by the Dorset Animal Workers Group to save him from being put down. When I went to see him in his foster home he was quiet & affectionate, with the most adorable face. He played well with the other dogs & looked like he had the potential to get on with my 15 year old cat. I had my home visit that very same day & was approved. HURRAH !!

 

Two days later I set off to pick him up. Having watched many episodes of The Dog Whisperer on Sky 3 I was hoping to be able to take him for a long walk before taking him into the house, so he had ‘migrated’ & would know this was going to be his new home.

 

Best laid plans though…. It turned out Barney didn’t want to go outside & was extremely scared of getting in a car. So we ended up having a 2 minute walk to the end of the road & back, before I took him in his new house.
It took about a week of 2 walks a day before he would go to the front door under his own steam. Now it’s all wags & where’s my lead. The car is a different story, he is still petrified.

 

The cat has gone from being mildly interested, to distant, to indifferent to the new arrival. Barney, however, is still fascinated by the cat & needs a great deal of supervision when they are together.

 

I have contacted a local dog whisperer to come out & see if she can help with the car & the cat, so fingers crossed we can soon pop in the car for a nice walk on the beach without a second thought, as he loves it when there.
All in all he is a lovely dog & he is getting more settled everyday & I am sure we will soon be one happy band of human, dog & cat.

 

I’ll keep you posted.”

 

Jill