Skye is a 17 month old female Pointer cross Collie. This lovely girl I first met in Spain nearly 6 weeks ago she had found herself in a kill station there they are called kill station because mainly the dogs are put down, there are so many dogs in Spain too many despite all the rescues and people trying to help them to keep up, like here they are council run so a business and they need the space. We were given funding to help a dog that otherwise would have lost their life. I had already been told about this lovely girl so we did not have to have the heart break of seeing all their other faces – she had spent the last 5 months there – kept in dark wet kennels 24/7 for 5 months, we found out she was handed in by a Spanish family with the reason they no longer wanted her which is standard for Spain.
These kennels are washed out by hose pipe once a day with the dogs still in them everything gets wet including their bedding the dogs usually hide in the corner to get away from it. This particular shelter is lucky enough to have walkers and a group set up which try and help as many of the dogs they can and they are walked twice a week but there rest of the time its kennels and water and she had that for 5 months.
Skye came to live at my house in Spain so I could spend time with her before I flew back to UK – a lovely dog with a lovely temperament but not surprisingly lacking in confidence and anxious. We had some lovely walks together and even then you could see the wonderful dog she was a took a few videos will not bore you with too many but it will help you see her lovely character. She was lucky enough to get a foster place with a good friend who helps Little Starfish – so off Skye went while we prepared her for UK – she went to live with a quite a big group of dogs she adjusted and coped well – there was a lot of puppies and older dogs there being kept safe – and she started to relax.
Skye then made the long journey to UK and Gloucestershire – she is now living with us – a family home, 2 cats, 3 dogs and two teenagers – she has grown in confidence and changed – she still can get anxious but each day this is getting a little better, she loves the other dogs and and has adjusted well to living with cats. Skye is such a pleasure to walk – she just adores her walks and loves running – it makes your heart sing to see her running through the meadows, she has the most amazing recall and is never that long away from you before she is zooming back and boy can she run.
Skye is a very special girl – she is a pleasure to have and one that would be very easy to keep, her temperament is wonderful, she has no malice in her at all, she is living with older dogs who are not particularly bothered about playing and she is very respectful of this. She is adjusting to living with two cats and although interested she would never harm them and I think this will change eventually to complete indifference. She is fine with the dogs and kissing them a lot – she was very submissive when she first came in. She travels really well and gets in the car with no problems in the back with my lot. House training a few accidents in the beginning but more or less 100% and will be by the time she goes.
Being left, she has to be left because I work, I have not left her a lot but this will increase, she gets a bit anxious and will cry a little which is understandable once you know her back ground and what she has been through and is so relieved to see you when you return, but I am confident this will go eventually, it improves every day as she realises we are going to come back and she gets more confident about this and I think by the time she leaves us she will be there. She has not obviously been used to a lead so again something we are working on she is learning to walk on the left side and not zig zag and this again improves a bit every day she is a bright dog. Night time she sleeps in the kitchen with the other dogs again to begin with was not happy about this and would whine but again she learnt it was nothing to worry about and adjusted.
Skye is a bright girl I think should would do great at obedience, agility etc she is very biddable and keen to please, she is a pleasure to walk to see a dog who loves running is a joy to watch. I think she would do best in a knowledgeable home who have the experience to build on Skye’s insecurity and build that confidence not. A home with another dog I think would be beneficial to her but not a dominant dog and maybe one that would play and run with her. Once she is back in the house she will just lay around if I am working from home. She would be fine to live with cats and fine to live with children but not young children I think would be too busy for her. Skye changes daily but for the best and I think by the time we start speaking to potential new owners there will be more change in her confidence. Someone somewhere is going to have a very wonderful dog.
Skye is spayed, vaccinated, chipped and has her own Pet Passport.