Jess

Jess is a 6yr old female Golden Retriever who, after receiving her vet checks and rabies vaccinations, traveled to the UK where she was fostered in the UK by Di and Rob.

She was surrended because she had been in a home with 2 small children who tormented her and the owner didn’t think it was fair on her.

HEALTH

Jess is, generally, in good health. She needs to lose a couple of kilos and we have started her slimming regime. Her ears are slowly improving and her vulval infection has more or less cleared up. She is now getting past the stage of the uncomfortable hair regrowth in the shaved area. She will now roll over on command to have the area bathed twice a day – especially as a tummy rub always follows.

FOSTER ASSESSMENTS

Jess is a sweet, gentle and very affectionate girl with a Goldie sense of fun. She is fine in the car and travels well. She is housetrained a nd has had good basic training.

She walks well on the lead – if the lead goes tight, she will stop and look worried, sometimes hunching down a little. A bit of encouragement and she’ll move on again. Jess gives the impression of having been negatively trained – chastising when she does wrong instead of praising when she does right. Gentle praise and positive encouragement are helping her considerably. She is still a little nervous of being in what she sees as enclosed spaces when she’s out on a walk. She will stop and look worried but with a bit of encouragement, she will move on.

She is great with everyone she meets without being pushy. She loves people and other dogs (especially Golden Retrievers) but she would probably chase cats. Jess greets other dogs politely if they greet her. If they ignore her, she will ignore them, with the exception of her own breed. If she spies another Goldie, she will make a rapid beeline for it and greet it with great pleasure. She could live with another dog of similar temperament as long as introductions were done sensitively. She couldn’t cope with a young, boisterous companion though. She chases pigeons in the garden so would almost certainly chase cats. Jess is fine to be left for a reasonable period although she does love human company.

We have seen no evidence of resource guarding and, if she meets other dogs who are playing ball, she is quite happy to watch and not steal.

Jess doesn’t seem nervous of anything in the house (vacuum cleaner etc) and welcomes strangers in with a waggy tail and a wiggle of her rather substantial bottom. She hasn’t experienced fireworks or thunder yet but it seems unlikely she would react badly.

Jess seems to love children, especially older ones, say 6 and over (but she couldn’t cope with pre schoolers). She has formed a special bond with our 8 year old grandson and it is lovely to see her moderate her play to account for his size.

We have seen no undesirable behaviour from Jess since she’s been here. She coped well with staying at the vet hospital to have her ears cleaned and she is happy for us to do her ear treatments. She just puts up with it patiently, waiting for the treat at the end.

Jess likes a calm, peaceful life interspersed with periods of play. She’s quite happy with a 30 minute walk twice a day, supplemented with ball games and chasing in the garden. Being safe at home is very important to Jess – we think she is still a little nervous of being taken away and returned to kennels. Fostering her is a delight.

A DREAM HOME FOR JESS

She is a very sweet, gentle dog who loves people to make a fuss of her but prefers a quiet calm environment. Having said that, she does love to run round the garden with someone – finally hurling herself on the grass and demanding a tummy rub. She is less confident when away from home on a walk and is keen to return. As the memories of being taken from her original home and going into kennels recedes, so we think her confidence will grow especially if her new owners continue showing her that training is fun, not scary. She’s adorable and needs the perfect home where she can begin her life again.

APRIL 2019

Jess has gone to live in her lovely Forever Home.