Harry Woodley

REPORT FROM JACKIE

Harry was four and a half years old in 2010 and a neutered Golden Retriever who was being fostered in Norfolk by Jackie & Ron.

She said “Harry, what a beautiful boy he is, and soo affectionate. He was a little shy of Bridie, my female Golden Retriever who is the same age as him, because she was very excited as usual. However, the initial meeting went very well.

Harry spent the majority of his time outside so he did not want to enter the house at all to start with but after a while I decided to put him on his lead and walk him in. He did resist at first but eventually came in with a little gentle persuasion and a couple of biscuits. He now comes in and out without thinking about it!!!”

“He eats his food with gusto and is a little overweight but we are working on this. Harry has a very thick coat, which needs brushing a lot but he loves being groomed so this isn’t a problem apart from his tail. He’ll sit down or turn around and around, so you can’t reach it lol, like most dogs do!!!

He sleeps well on his own and greets you in the morning with a very waggy tail and a song.

Harry lived with a family as the only dog before he came to us so he has done very well, integrating with my 2 dogs. However, he really does like to be the centre of attention and for this reason, I feel he would thrive as being an only dog again, as long as someone was at home for most of the time. He would not be happy at being left alone all day.

Children… he has lived with them and met dog savvy children at my house, but because he is a big powerful dog he can knock them over very easily. I feel that he would benefit from an adult household or one where there are only children that visit. That way he could still have contact with them but mostly would stay the centre of attention”.

“He is not bad on the lead, as long as you keep his attention on you. You can use a halti to start with, although he isn’t really keen on it, and tries to take it off. I found after a few minutes that he didn’t really need it.

As fosterers, we do not let our foster dogs off leads on walks but Harry has a great recall in the garden so, hopefully, once his forever people gain his trust, this will be mirrored outside.

Harry follows me everywhere in the house, he is my shadow lol. I think he will attach himself to the lady of the house although he is fine with men too. Harry has not been cat tested”.

UPDATE ON HARRY 20/06/2010

After closely observing Harry playing with my Bridie and noting how well they get along, I have come to the conclusion that maybe Harry wouldn’t mind living with a lively female dog, preferably one who likes to play a lot. However, Harry has been used to living as an only dog so he will try to muscle in on any affection that you give to another dog in the household. Most other dogs would do that anyway as a matter of course -my Bridie does!

HARRY HAS GONE TO HIS NEW HOME

Harry went off to his new home on the 2nd of July and, although it was very emotional for us to see him leave, Harry seemed to be happy. Catherine, Jan’s daughter, let me know they arrived home safely after a very long journey back to Bristol. Catherine said that Harry walked into the house like he had always been there.

We were originally quite worried about how Harry would react to the resident cat called Mackeson, as he had never lived with a cat as far as we knew, but our worries proved to be unfounded. Apparently, the cat ran straight past Jan and up to Harry, who politely sniffed him, and they were friends in an instant. Mackeson had lived with Barney, Jan’s Golden Retriever, up until April of this year, when sadly he passed away. Makeson was soo happy to see Harry as he had been missing his canine companion very much.