Penny Sale

PENNY NEEDED RE-HOMING AGAIN

Penny is a Labrador who went to her last owners in April 2008 when she was approximately 4 years old. They didn’t know very much about her history except that she came from the countryside, was being confined to a shed and had had at least one litter of puppies.

She had, however, been well fed and didn’t appear to have been in any way mistreated. At that time, Penny was vaccinated, neutered and was given a clean bill of health. Penny settled well and quickly became a very important part of their family where she had company for most of the day. Unfortunately, they found themselves no longer able to keep her.

This was their description of Penny:-

“Penny is extremely patient and gentle with my children (who are aged 6 and 4) and with any of their friends who visit the house, and has actually cured some of them of their fear of dogs. My daughter loves to hug and lie down with Penny and can often be found sharing Penny’s bed with her.

Penny loves to be rubbed and petted and would sit for hours with her head on your lap, or would roll over to have her tummy rubbed, she has a habit of nudging her nose under your hand if you stop petting her, and she loves to lick hands.

She is extremely friendly and will run to say ‘hello’ to anybody. However she can sometimes jump up on people in her exuberance, although she has never jumped up on a child.

Penny doesn’t go upstairs in our house and is not allowed up on any furniture although she loves to sneak onto a small low couch in the children’s playroom for a snooze.

She enjoys lying on the floor in our living room in the evening when we are watching TV.

Penny loves to go for her daily walk and gets extremely excited when she knows we are going out. She loves to be let off her lead in the park and chases a tennis ball although she is not very good at giving it back so I usually use two.

Penny has not been cat tested so we unsure as to how she would react to them.

On the minus side:-

Penny is terrified of loud noises and was extremely distressed at Halloween.

She needs more exercise than we are able to give her, she loves to run freely, but also needs a lot of attention and doesn’t like to be outdoors on her own.”

REPORT FROM HER FOSTERER

Penny is a good all round dog. She is quiet in the home, but ready to play when you are, walks well on a short lead but doesn’t understand flexi leads. When she gets to the end she thinks she has to come back to you. She doesn’t bother wildlife. She has excellent recall and certainly knows her name. She knows her basic commands sit, stay, wait, lie down. Typical lab in that she loves her treats and food. She’ll give cuddles and lick your hand but I think she’s been taught not to lick faces. She waits to be invited on to furniture.

So far, this little girl has shown no negative traits at all. Her previous owners stated that she can have toileting accidents and was showing signs of being depressed. She has gone in the garden and performed on request every time so far with nothing happening in the house. As you can see from the photographs she is also evidently happy here.

She is getting on very well with the resident dog and bitch. She is respectful and interested and wants to run with them when out. No snatching, no barging, no unwanted behaviours yet at all. So if anyone wants a ready made dog – plug and play – Penny fits that bill.

I think she would ideally like a home that will enjoy keeping up her training, obedience or have a go at clicker and agility. But if she’s getting attention I don’t think she’d mind a quieter lifestyle either. She has come from a family with young children so anyone from young family to retired active people would all be OK with Penny so long as you can love her.

FOSTER REPORT – 24 JANUARY

As Penny’s foster home was only temporary, she was, then, transferred to the care of Jackie in Norfolk until her forever home could be found. This is what Jackie had to say.

“I have had Penny with me for 8 days now, and she has been the perfect house guest. Penny is a very, very affectionate dog, whose aim in life is to please you and everyone else. For a 6yr old, she is quite laid back but loves her tennis balls and dances with her front paws until you throw it for her. Once in her mouth, you won’t get it back unless you have another tennis ball or a treat of course!

Penny is a gentle and loving girl who will sit for hours at your side for strokes and belly rubs, nudging you if you stop. She has got on very well with my 2 dogs, but as she came from an only dog household, she doesn’t really know how to play with other dogs, but she is learning with the help of my GR Bridie.

Penny will pull on the lead initially, but settles down on a short lead. I have used a canny collar on her with no problems at all, she walks great with it after the bit when she tries to get it off lol. She has a very good recall in the garden, and comes back instantly when called, but as we have the policy of not letting our dogs off lead in public open spaces, I can’t say what she would be like whilst out walking. I have a feeling though that once she gets to know, love and trust you, she’ll probably be fine.

I believe that it is important for a potential adopter to know that Penny may wee when she first comes into your house, but personally I think it could be due to the excitement and nerves of being in a new place. When I took her to my mum’s house for first time though, there were no accidents at all. I have been giving her Cranberry Tablets just in case there was a problem, so maybe this has helped as she has NOT had any accidents in house since last Sunday.

If this should become a problem, just ask her to go outside. I went back to basics and treated her like a puppy letting her out every hour during the day, then gradually increasing the times between.

Penny is crate trained and sleeps happily in it overnight with the door open, and doesn’t attempt to come out until the morning although the crate is in our ensuite bathroom, where there are no sofas or chairs to creep onto lol!

She doesn’t really like being left alone, she may whine a little but that’s about it. You wouldn’t know you have her in the car, she is soo quiet and just settles down straight away.

I would recommend Penny to anyone that has the time to give her the love and attention she deserves, she hasn’t got a bad bone in her body and is an all round loveable lady.

Saying goodbye to Penny when the time comes is going to be very hard, but just knowing that she has found her perfect forever home will make me very happy, especially when I receive updates on her progress.”

PENNY HAS FOUND HER FOREVER HOME

Well I had Penny for 4 wks today, and I must say that she has been the perfect house guest. She is a very loving and an affectionate girl, who has found her new forever home with Chris & Jane and her new friend, 6yr old male Lab Bracken, and the 2 cats.

We went for a lovely walk through the woods, and Bracken found the pond and ran straight in with Penny in hot persuit lol. They both enjoyed a good swim, it was lovely to watch them both.

Have a nice life with your new family Penny.

Love from Foster Mum & Dad, Jackie & Ron, and from Bridie & Gizmo

REPORT ON PENNY FROM HER NEW OWNERS

Penny seems to be finding her feet a little more and testing her boundaries. Only this morning she tried to sneak up on to the sofa, with that look. you know the one “I’m not meant to be doing this but I am gonna try anyway”.

We are getting topside of the cat issue. We still get the odd chase but she no longer has the look that she wants to eat the cats.

We have discovered she is terrified of gun shots. We went caravanning and on the second night some local hunters were out shooting rabbits, and she did not like it one bit. She got on the bed trembling and would not leave us all night.

Penny has discovered the joy of the east coast, especially with a ball chucker, the photo in the caravan was after a good day on the beach.

I have to say just how loving Penny is. She has the ability to melt your heart and she always makes time for you to give her a fuss.

Bracken and Penny are slowly working out the rules of engagement with regards to playing, sometimes Penny gives Bracken a nip when he gets a bit too rough, but we just let them get on with it and Bracken takes it in his stride.

We are loving Penny more and more each day as she lets us see more of her own personality.

Chris, Jayne, Bracken and Penny