Little is known about German Shepherd Cross Molly’s past. She has been in the rescue centre for some months and kennelled with the company of another dog; it is evident she has had puppies.

She is a young dog.

Panics when man is out of sight

Molly is finding it hard to settle into her new home and panics when her new gentleman owner disappears from her sight. She goes frantic.

In the four days they have had her, the man has been unable to leave her alone at night. Molly panics. She tries to break the door down to get to him. He doesn’t want her upstairs in the bedroom so he is sleeping downstairs in with her.

The lady is not well, and her anxiety is affecting Molly, I feel. It’s quite a clear example of how a dog picks up on the emotions of her humans. The man is calm. The lady is anxious.

Over the past few days things have been getting worse instead of better. The man even leaving the room but especially the house causes Molly great distress, she panics. The lady’s comfort and concern just doesn’t help.

In my photo Molly is still panting and stressed from the man having walked out of the front door for a minute to show me what happens.

Prisoner in his house.

The poor man is a prisoner in the house! To start with I have suggested that he doesn’t let Molly follow him around the house – starting with short absences only.

During the day lots of comings and goings are needed – not only from the room but also out of the front or back door. Absences of a few seconds to a minute only. Molly needs to realise that he man always comes back. The lady will be in the room so Molly won’t be all alone yet.

The lady can help more if she does things differently. At present she so anxious for Molly that she comforts and fusses her in her distress. This is compounding the matter. I have suggested she turns on TV or to reads a book, that she makes nothing of the man’s absence. Act like it’s normal.

It is hard for her because she is a very kind lady and she’s unwell. She adores the dog already and so badly wants to bond with her and help her.

Molly is not accustomed to being the centre of so much attention and love. From her body language I could sense that it’s a bit too much pressure on her. It’s like there are too many expectations of her. Possibly her attachment to the man is because he is more confident and doesn’t put demands upon her so she feels safe with him.

Who knows what baggage she has brought with her?

I’m not sure that dog and this couple are a good match. They are doing their very best.

Ten days later: Unfortunately this story doesn’t have a happy ending. The poor gentleman can’t cope with looking after the house and his sick wife, as well as a dog that needs a lot of time and effort spent on her. The emotionally-charged atmosphere around the lady was just too much for Molly, and due to her weakness she couldn’t physically cope when necessary. My contract with an owner is to help them in any way I can for as long as they need me. Sadly in this case it meant accompanying the man and Molly back to the re-homing kennels, giving them both moral support and helping ease his pain by reassuring him that he was doing the right thing for Molly. On the plus side, Molly seemed pleased to be back! For her it was like she had spent a fortnight away – boarding kennels in reverse! As I held her lead she was quite eager to go through gate to the kennel area with the barking dogs where she had spent so much time.

At least she now has some credentials other than having been found as a starving stray wandering the streets. They now know that she is house trained and well-mannered indoors and that she is friendly with visitors. She needs confident humans who won’t make too much fuss of her while they give her time to settle in. They also know that she needs company – possibly that of another dog. She is very re-homeable and will make a brilliant family pet.

It was sad watching the poor man handing over his beautiful black dog who was still wearing the new red collar he’d bought for her, along with her possessions including a large Stagbar. They had loved her but were just not the right home for her; nor was she the right dog for them. It happens.