27th December

With the upheaval of Christmas and the New Year many will be glad to settle back  into their normal routine. For rescue it is always the same whatever the time of the year.

In January this year, Alison had a call from a young lady in the Abbey Wood area of London asking for help in finding her dog Brodie a home. As we live reasonably close to this part of London, Alison called me to discuss Brodie's case and see if I could help,. Unfortunately Alison does not always have a  good geographical mind and I explained that although it was London it is still approximately an hour and a half away from me but I would ring up the owner to discuss Brodie's situation and see what we could offer. Whilst it was one of the normal reasons :- New job, working long hours, being left for long periods and not taking her for walks this had a twist.

The young lady, who was Brodie's first owner, had her from a puppy of 8 weeks but, due to a change in her work, was being left for excessive hours (10hrs or more per day). Although Brodie was house trained she would periodically soil the house when being left for longer periods. Although there was a garden, Brodie would have to settle for a quick walk around the block on the days her first owner was able to find sufficient time. In 2008, Brodie's first owner set about finding her a new home and she placed Brodie up for re-homing through a website offering free advertising. Prospective new owners were checked,  until she found someone suitable and they were informed of Brodie's stress soiling. When Brodie was handed over to her new /second owners the paperwork including her microchip documents for change of ownership was also handed over. 

Two weeks later, the new owner rang the first owner screaming and shouting that Brodie had peed in her house and she was giving her to someone else. The first owner wanted to have Brodie back as she had not checked out the new home but the second owner refused with some expletives and passed her on.

In June 2009, Brodie's first owner received a call from the Dog Warden informing her hat they had recovered her. They managed to trace her through the microchip and informed her that her dog had been found tied up to some park railings. Realising it must be Brodie, her first owner went to collect her. Brodie was so thin that you could see her bones through her skin and she had been used as a breeding machine for a  'quick buck', the puppies sold and dispose of dog!!!!  Brodie was taken, by her first owner, to the vet who told her that the puppies would probably be no more than 6 weeks old. Although her circumstances had not changed Brodie's first owner nursed her back to health but soon realised that she still needed a new home. This time she would try through a recognised Stafford rescue as there was more to re homing than she realised.

All we could offer was a home from home re-homing, where the dog remains in it's own home until a new one can be found. Everything else is the same. Home checks are carried out and meetings between the prospective new owners and the dog take place for suitability. Brodie's first owner accepted and Brodie was placed on Guildford's website. Within 2 hours of Brodie going on line we had an application of interest for her. It seemed perfect. I spoke to them explaining about Brodie's soiling and they seemed undeterred. A home check would be more difficult as they lived in South Wales but with the kind help of the local Dog Warden, a home check was undertaken and passed with flying colours. The next obstacle to overcome was the arrangements for Brodie to meet her prospective new owners as they had to travel from Wales and Brodie's first owner from S.E London to convenient and well known location near Dorking in Surrey.  All was going well. Jan and Jeff arrived at the location but Brodie's owner was lost and her Sat Nav said another hour to destination. We decided to relocate to my house and meet there, as it was easier for Brodie's first owner to find. Jan and Jeff arrived and eventually Brodie with her owner. My husband was banished with our dogs upstairs and Jan and Jeff were able to meet Brodie. Brodie went straight to Jan and Jeff and looking at  their face it was love at first sight, you would never have known that Brodie was not theirs.

Brodie now lives in Wales with Jan and Jeff. I was lucky enough to able to visit them not long after they had adopted Brodie to see how she was settling in. Brodie is a different dog, having long country walks and plenty of cuddles. She still has accidents in the house from time to time when they are out but is clean when they are there, unless you are a male visitor coming into the house when she wags her tail while peeing with excitement! Jan and Jeff accept Brodie's problem as her qualities far outweigh them, she is a delight and joy to have and fantastic with the grandchildren. In their words "Brodie is not going anywhere but here!"

All dogs have good and bad traits, not just rescues. It is us as owners to work the problems out and get the dog to an acceptable level that we as owners are able to enjoy them. What is acceptable for one person is not for another.  There is no such thing as a perfect dog except in the eyes of the owner.