Bear with us
Thanks to Post Adoption Support, his dedicated adopters and PPL, Bear is now living his best life!
When Alina and Tony met Bear at our Evesham centre it was love at first sight. It’s believed that Handsome Bear had never lived in a home before, having spent his life so far on a farm. Bear’s unconventional start in life left him nervous and unpredictable around other animals and people too.
Our expert dog behaviour team worked with Bear to build his confidence and created a training plan for him Alina and Tony could follow to support him with his issues. After several visits getting to know him and his training needs, they took this lucky lad back to his new home.
At first, Bear was very anxious around people and other dogs, even hiding behind the sofa when his new owners spoke excitedly. As Bear was struggling to adjust, Alina and Tony contacted our Post Adoption Support service. After a chat over the phone, our team organised a visit from one of our clinical animal behaviourists, Kris.
“The session was very helpful, but the real support only just started,” recalls Tony. After the session, they had regular email support for a couple of years as they continued their training journey.
“With Bear, there wasn’t going to be a ‘quick fix’; we had to take the journey to change together. We made a commitment to him, so giving him back was not an option,” says Alina.
Thanks to the reassurance and practical tips from Kris, and the ongoing phone and email support, Alina and Tony helped Bear’s confidence grow. He’s come on leaps and bounds; he now happily walks on the lead and is muzzle trained as a precaution.
“Bear is a completely different dog now, and we couldn’t imagine life without him. The three of us did it together.”
Bear’s now getting more used to life around other dogs too and his owners are pleased that they persevered with his training and didn’t give up on him. “We’re still working around his anxiety around dogs, but he is a thousand times better. We’re so grateful to have found Bear, with all his quirks and complexities, he’s our perfect boy and we’re so glad he found us.”
Kris recently visited Bear, Alina and Tony to see how they were getting on and was amazed at his transformation. “It's wonderful to see what a content and assured dog Bear has grown to be, which is no doubt down to the dedication Alina and Tony have given to him with our support, to help him settle in his forever home,” Kris said.
“Through our Post Adoption Support, we’re here to give behaviour and training advice to adopters for as long as they need us, and Bear’s turn around goes to show that problem behaviours can be overcome.”
People's Postcode Lottery
Our Post Adoption Support service has been generously supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, and thanks to this funding we have been able to provide advice to adopters on more than 300,000 occasions over the past five years. Players of People’s Postcode Lottery also supports our post adoption research projects which allows us to provide the best possible advice to our adopters.
Thank you to the Players of the lottery, helping raise funds for good causes, allowing us to help deserving paws!
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