Today, we collected our pup from a local dog shelter, our first one in almost six years. Meet Gia, a three to four year old Cane Corso cross; not sure what she’s crossed with but I’d take a guess at a bull breed because of the split in her skull and the shape of her ears.
She hasn’t had the greatest start in life; her past is mostly unknown and what is known appears to be a lot of hearsay. She’s been seriously over fed (like me) and is carrying a lot of excess timber (like me). The shelter were very specific in the sort of home they wanted for her - very active because she needs plenty of exercise (like me) as she has a lot of fat to lose (like me).
Apparently, she was used for breeding up country somewhere and developed problems after her third litter. She had to be neutered and was said to be deemed surplus to requirements. She was advertised online and a family from South Wales went and collected her on the train last May. They handed her over for adoption just after Christmas because the family mother and one daughter were ‘suffering from ill health’. Sounds like bullshit to me and it now turns out they have a number of dogs and young children in the house and Gia wasn’t getting the love and attention she needs.
Anyhoo, she’s with us now as a foster pup until the end of lockdown. Once restrictions are lifted to the extent that the shelter can send someone here, they’ll talk to the dog and talk to us and if everyone’s happy then we legally adopt her. We were basically told that as long as we don’t do anything stupid like lose her or break her then there’ll be no problem.
She’s had some training as she knows how to sit and paw; she waits when told (after about the third attempt). She has manners and will take treats gently without snatching. She initially pulls like a train on the lead, and at 50kg she takes some stopping, but she comes reasonably to heel quite quickly. Our last dog was a problem pup and we trained her quite quickly, so hopefully we can turn Gia around without too much trouble. Her behaviour in the car is impeccable; arse on front seat and paws in foot well or sits up straight on seat. We taped over all the vulnerable areas of the passenger side of my Panzer and it turned out to be a waste of time.
Note to Beaker: our kitchen is halfway through renovation and looks like a war zone. We are aware.
She hasn’t had the greatest start in life; her past is mostly unknown and what is known appears to be a lot of hearsay. She’s been seriously over fed (like me) and is carrying a lot of excess timber (like me). The shelter were very specific in the sort of home they wanted for her - very active because she needs plenty of exercise (like me) as she has a lot of fat to lose (like me).
Apparently, she was used for breeding up country somewhere and developed problems after her third litter. She had to be neutered and was said to be deemed surplus to requirements. She was advertised online and a family from South Wales went and collected her on the train last May. They handed her over for adoption just after Christmas because the family mother and one daughter were ‘suffering from ill health’. Sounds like bullshit to me and it now turns out they have a number of dogs and young children in the house and Gia wasn’t getting the love and attention she needs.
Anyhoo, she’s with us now as a foster pup until the end of lockdown. Once restrictions are lifted to the extent that the shelter can send someone here, they’ll talk to the dog and talk to us and if everyone’s happy then we legally adopt her. We were basically told that as long as we don’t do anything stupid like lose her or break her then there’ll be no problem.
She’s had some training as she knows how to sit and paw; she waits when told (after about the third attempt). She has manners and will take treats gently without snatching. She initially pulls like a train on the lead, and at 50kg she takes some stopping, but she comes reasonably to heel quite quickly. Our last dog was a problem pup and we trained her quite quickly, so hopefully we can turn Gia around without too much trouble. Her behaviour in the car is impeccable; arse on front seat and paws in foot well or sits up straight on seat. We taped over all the vulnerable areas of the passenger side of my Panzer and it turned out to be a waste of time.
Note to Beaker: our kitchen is halfway through renovation and looks like a war zone. We are aware.