Teddy Hughes
April 2020
Teddy passed to Rainbow Bridge.
Paula said, “He was the most difficult, destructive, thieving, determined old bugger… but had a huge heart.”
January 2015
Great News – happily for Teddy his fosterer has fallen for him and he will now be staying with her in his Forever Home.
UPDATE FROM HIS AMAZING FOREVER MUM (10.8.2015)
Paula says “Teddy has been with us for almost 10 months. He now weighs in at a huge 39.8kg. He has been for a general health check and the vet is very happy with his weight increase.
His demeanour over the last few months has improved enormously. He wanders around the house with a happy waggy tail and is delighted when he sees the lead come off the hook!! He is now as fit as he can be and can walk for miles. Lying down and refusing to walk is a thing of the past and his recall off lead is excellent….. (well 99% of the time)!!
Other unwanted behaviours are a work in progress. He will still counter surf and steal food off the worktops if given half a chance…I can’t count how many times I have come into the kitchen to see him rush past me with Steve’s carefully prepared lunch clenched firmly between his teeth ………. why do men never learn?
He has just recently started to do the “Retriever thing”, bringing me the odd shoe or cushion as a gift. The other night, he brought me a large bag of crisps he had stolen off the worktop and was just happy to hand it over….unopened I may add!!!!
I consider this to be a huge step in his progress as, from the very beginning, anything he got hold of was his and his alone. In those early days, it would have been impossible to get anything from him.
He loves going to the caravan for weekend breaks and a week in Scotland in May made it his first ever holiday. He loved running along the glorious empty beaches although he wasn’t too sure about the crashing waves!
Bedtime is a far cry from those early days when he was pacing and frantic at night no matter where he slept. Nowadays, as soon as he hears the word BED he’s in the “canine queue” at the bottom of the stairs. I open the door and he’s up the stairs and launching himself on his bed at the side of ours, snoring within minutes!
Friends have commented on how relaxed and happy he looks …he is happy and smiley and gone is the sad lost look he used to have. In fact, every day he just gets better and better!!!!!!!”
We all know how hard Paula has worked with Teddy and, after a horrendous start in life, we think he is now a very lucky boy.
HISTORY
Teddy’s owner died and he was surrendered to IRR by the executors of her estate. After some investigation by Paula, it has come to light he led a very lonely and unhappy existence living outside on his own and with food thrown to him in his pen.
4th Report – 17 December 2014
Teddy is responding well to the training and guidance given by Shaun, who has also worked with Ted around his own GSD to try to prevent him lunging at strange dogs when on his lead which he can sometimes do. This reaction is because he is fearful rather than aggressive so this is something I am working on. He has also had some basic obedience training which I think he quite enjoys as it means he gets my undivided attention and treats!
I am pleased with the progress that Ted has made in the last few weeks…he is much more settled in the house and I think much happier. He now sits and waits until I say “OK” to eat his food although you can see this is difficult for him. He will also sit outside the front door when told and wait until asked to come in without barging….if he does barge he is not allowed through so he is learning this very quickly. I am slowly introducing the cats back into the lounge area in the evening as this is when Ted is normally tired. He will settle if the cats are asleep on the sofa but is still unhappy with them if they move around, so as soon as the cats want to start mooching I move them to another room. After a difficult few weeks he is now settled and happy in the bedroom at night and lies at the bottom of the bed on a rug …he chooses not to sleep in a dog bed.
The Xmas tree is going up this weekend so it will be interesting to see what he makes of that!!! I suspect that this will be his first real Christmas!! Just need to find him a pressie he can’t chew!!
3rd Report from Teddy’s Fosterer – 28 November 2014
When a dog comes into rescue it is often with little or no past history so we cant always appreciate the sometimes terrible journey these dogs go through before they arrive with us. We can only guess at the kind of traumas that must have been forced upon them and try to learn how to help these poor dogs…over the past few weeks I have pieced together Teddy’s early life…. the main part it seems was spent for over 2 years possibly longer ..24 hours a day in the back yard of a house with almost no contact from either human or animal.. Ted was very underweight so also deprived of enough food to satisfy the only pleasure he probably would have had in his miserable lonely day…
IRR have made the decision to do everything they can to help this lad and have asked a Specialist in Behaviour Modification to work with Teddy and myself to help him become the dog I know is in there somewhere. This also means that Teddy’s next home MUST be his FOREVER as Shaun is adamant he will struggle to cope with any more upheaval. His adopters would have to be experienced with traumatized dogs and be prepared to spend months, possibly longer, working with him. With Shaun’s guidance and a change to a raw food diet I have already seen small forward steps in only a few days. I now realize his tendency to Drop and refuse to walk was his way of shutting down when he could no longer cope with a situation. I suppose similar to a human having a panic attack…
2nd Report from Teddy’s Fosterer – 3 November 2014
Teddy has put on 2kg in weight and is settling more into our daily routine. He will still try stealing items of clothing, shoes or food, but if he does jump up to grab at something a sharp “NO” will stop him 9 times out of 10 and with insistence he will more often than not release his stolen “prize” instead of hanging on to it for dear life! If I am in the kitchen for any length of time he goes in the crate and will settle if he can see me. If I move out of the room he will bark until I return. Despite this I do believe he is listening more and becoming more focused although this poor lad still suffers from periods of extreme anxiety and this is when his behaviour is at its worst and he becomes a very hard dog to live with!
Saturday night’s fireworks didn’t particularly bother Teddy but as they do upset one of my other dogs he too became stressed. I don’t think Teddy himself is worried about fireworks but it shows how sensitive he is to any sudden changes around him!! . Walking a reasonable distance is now no problem for Teddy and he is taking more interest on his walks instead of just pacing. And so …………………. We did the Paws walk yesterday and after lungeing a few times at some of the other dogs he finally gave up and started to enjoy the walk. I do think he would like to live with a friendly dog who would show him how to play. His early life must have been a very lonely time. He watches mine roll around play fighting and makes halfhearted attempts to join in but never quite manages to be invited! I do feel for him when this happens as he seems to be treated like the “Billy no Mates” in the playground!!.
I will be taking him to dog training this week, hoping this will help to improve his focus on me …mmmm…..we shall see!!
First Report from Teddy’s fosterer 28 October 2014
Teddy is a very handsome dog about 2 years old. He came back to the rescue as his previous owner found his present behaviour too difficult to cope with …she was very sad to give him up but felt he would be better in a home with someone who could dedicate a lot more time into his training and rehabilitation…she felt she had given it her all but it still hadn’t been enough for Teddy! He is extremely anxious and has manic episodes which start by pacing, racing around the house , looking for anything he can get into his mouth and destroy …. at these times Teddy is oblivious to anything you say or do to stop him …he has no response and if he does get hold of something you don’t want him to take there is no negotiating so it can end up being destroyed. This behaviour only seems to happen when inside his own home, we have taken him to friends’ homes and out to the pub and he will sit quietly and calmly and has been much admired and very well behaved.
Teddy walks well on a harness and long lead with no pulling and takes little or no notice over livestock. He has had a history since he first came into rescue of dropping down on a walk and refusing to budge…if you walk the other way he will jump up and go with you back the way you came…..I did video this on my phone to show the vet and she asked if he actually lost consciousness but when you approach him it shows him looking up at you as if to say “Ok what do you do about me now??”.
He has been checked out by the vet and she thinks his problems are behavioural due to anxiety and not physical …she has prescribed the adaptil collar and plug ins and Kalmaid tablets which I will continue with. Teddy reacts very badly to cats and mine have been living in another part of the house since he arrived …even hearing them from behind a door sends him into a frenzy and this I think is adding to his already heightened stress levels. So he will need a cat free home.
Since he arrived with me 2 weeks ago I have noticed much longer periods of calm when in the house although to achieve this I have to put him on a lead and hold on to him …after a few minutes his manic behaviour stops and he relaxes….very odd but I think he must feel better when someone else is in control. Obviously this is not ideal but I feel it’s some progress! I have also started to slowly introduce him to the crate and he now drops off to sleep in it as long as I am in the same room. Our walks are also progressing well. I’ve found that jollying him along, albeit firmly, gets him up on his feet and he is now walking happily up to 1-2 hours a day. I vary the walks and if he does falter on a walk I am patient but don’t give in and have noticed he hesitates far less and seems much happier during the walk. He is a lovely boy but will need consistency and routine. Hopefully, by building up his physical stamina by walking it will help him relax in the home.
