Berkley is a brindled lurcher. He had been in rescue kennels for seven months before his new owners found him three weeks ago.
Seven months!
I cannot understand why nobody wanted him. He is beautiful, confident, friendly and calm. He has been well trained by someone. A very good dog.
Berkely confidently knows what he wants. His new owners are being a little too obliging and I could see that he is beginning to call all the shots.
Other dogs
I was called out because they want to get things right. They are worried about his reaction to other dogs when they get too near and are too boisterous, pushy or impolite.
Berkely is quite happy to ignore them altogether and he makes this quite clear. Because, if they push it, he snaps at them and growls, his new owner
s are concerned he may bite one.
They hold his lead tight. He is never yet off lead, and the dogs in question are all off lead dogs so Berkley is at a disadvantage.
He can’t escape and he can’t after all say ‘Go away, I don’t want you sniffing my bum!’
The owners need to be his advocate and save Berkley from awkward situations rather than push him into them. If he were free I am sure he could deal with dogs himself without a fight. This isn’t aggression.
Understandably they don’t yet dare let him off lead yet, so there is work to be done!
Berkley’s perspective
We had a very good evening looking at things from Berkley’s perspective so they could see if he continues to make all the decisions. When to be touched, when to be walked, when to play and when to stop playing, where to walk when they are out and so on.
They could actually spoil a very sound dog.
One month later: The lady now not at all worried now when she goes out – she says she and Berkley are both much more confident in each other.
