We’ve always had rescue dogs – that’s 70+ years of living with rescue dogs! Some adjust to home life reasonably easily, others take much longer. The longest for me was my galga Carmela who took about 2 1/2 years to become a ‘normal’ dog, even though she lived with 4 others!
Last year some neighbours adopted a small terrier mix. He’d already had one home, this was his second. He was typical terrier, always on the go, needed exercise but also needed to socialise with other dogs, as he always barked at them. We used to take our dogs to a local dog park meet so I suggested they brought Billy with them , once a week meets. Sadly they didn’t, they didn’t walk him, in fact hardly seemed to do more than just keep him at home and in the garden. I didn’t see them for a few months and when I finally did, I asked about Billy. ‘Oh, we took him back, he nipped one of our visitors’. I walked away rather than say what I was thinking!!!
Here’s a story about a resce dog illustrating just how much care and thought has to go into adoting a rescue dog.
I do hope Billy’s next home after our neighbours’ was a forever one with people who understood him and his needs.