RESERVED
ROCCO - PORTUGUESE WATER DOG X LABRADOODLE
LOCATION: MANCHESTER
RESERVED
(foster placement which it is hoped will lead to adoption - adoption fee will apply)
ROCCO, 3 YEAR 2 MONTH OLD MALE PORTUGUESE WATER DOG X LABRADOODLE, 32KG (Rocco has recently been chemically castrated and, all being well, surgical castration will be required once the implant has worn off in approx 6 months time)
LOCATION: BURSCOUGH LANCASHIRE
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION
Adorable, brave Rocco has been through so much these past months. Due to his own health issues his loving owner was unable to meet Rocco's needs, and Rocco has not receive the training or socialisation he needed. In October last year, Rocco developed Pseudomonas, a serious bilateral ear infection, which unfortunately remained untreated as his owner was unable to administer the prescription medication. As a result, Rocco was left in excruciating pain with ulceration and inflammation in his ear canals, and he became extremely fearful of having his ear, head and neck areas touched. Unable to afford the necessary investigations or to administer the necessary treatment, and believing he had run out of options, his owner took him to his vet to be euthanised, at which point Doodle Rescue stepped in to fundraise to get Rocco the help he needed. Rocco underwent a head CT to ascertain the extent of the damage to his ears and to enable vet specialists to decide on a treatment plan. As a result, last month Rocco underwent bilateral ear canal ablation and he is now deaf, albeit that it has been ascertained that he has some ability to hear higher pitched sounds (and he is now being trained to a whistle) and over the past two weeks his hearing has continued to show signs of improvement, and he is now responding to high pitched verbal praise. Rocco has recovered extremely well from surgery and now just wants to get on with his life, free from pain and anxiety!
For the past 6 weeks, Rocco has been lovingly cared for by one of his vet team in her home, of necessity, due to the risk of cross infection, separated from her own dogs. He has bounced back (literally and metaphorically!) from surgery, doesn't give a fig that he's deaf and just wants to get on with his life, thank you very much! A little over a week ago Rocco commenced deaf dog training with our behavioural adviser and IMDT trainer, Debbie Topping, and he is doing brilliantly! He first arrived at Debbie's training facility with not a clue about anything training-related and behaving like a giant puppy, jumping up, mouthing, climbing on anything and everything, humping Debbie's leg, pulling like a train on lead. Since then, he has come on in leaps and bounds and Debbie describes him as now being a typical dog who sometimes pulls a bit on lead as many dogs do. His progress in such a short space of time has been a very happy surprise and illustrates just how smart this special boy is: by day 3 he was walking nicely alongside Debbie on lead (not yet ready for distractions to be introduced, mind!), keeping all four paws nicely on the ground, resisting the urge to chomp on her hands and arms and "listening" to Debbie telling him what behaviours she wanted, and this past few days he has walked nicely on lead down a busy high street! Training will need to continue and Debbie’s training techniques will need to be consistently applied, and his fosterers/adopters do need to be clear about this and to be prepared to put the work in. In return, they will be rewarded with the most amazing, fantastic, loyal and loving best friend.
To foster (with a view to adopting) Rocco, you will need to be active, fit and strong, because its inevitable that, in the early days, he WILL try to pull you towards that dog he just knows wants to be his best friend, or towards that cat he just wants to give kisses to. Until he works out the polite and socially acceptable way to approach another dog, he WILL continue to execute overly enthusiastic play bows, before launching himself full throttle towards the doggy object of his affection, without waiting for a signal that his friendly overtures are welcome (risking a telling off from the other dog) His fosterers will be supported in continuing Debbie’s deaf dog training and we provide fosterers will full support and cover all costs associated with the care of our foster dogs.
The right family may have been following Rocco’s journey from being booked in to the vets to be euthanised, through to his recovery from surgery and his training, and may have already fallen for this daft goofball of a doodle, whose indomitable spirit in the face of what seemed like insurmountable odds should be an inspiration to us all.
To be considered to foster (to hopefully adopt) Rocco:
* Although (once he has had time to settle) Rocco can be left for short periods of time, he is at his happiest when he's accompanying his humans everywhere. Part time work from home should be fine, provided Rocco can settle in the room where you are working and won't be shut away elsewhere in the house (fair warning: he will bark if shut away from his family!)
* Rocco has not lived with children, so any children should be 13+ and respectful of his needs (children should always be supervised around dogs)
* Rocco is a big, strong dog and he could inadvertently pull or bowl a frail or elderly human over.
* Experienced dog owners who would never dream of using punishments or anger to force compliance. Rocco responds very well to repetition, reward and encouragement and he is a very quick learner.
* A calm home where Rocco will be at the centre of family life
* Rocco has not had the opportunity to meet and socialise with other dogs. As a result, he can be a bit over exuberant in his attempts to engage other dogs in play, which has resulted in him being told off by other dogs. Rocco’s social skills will need to be worked on, with Rocco being provided with ample opportunities throughout the week for carefully managed meets up with other dogs, under Debbie’s guidance (a secure dog field can be booked daily for Rocco to exercise in and to be introduced to other dogs). We feel that currently Rocco would be best as an only dog.
* Rocco is not in the least bit bothered about his deafness and neither should you be. You will simply make adjustments to his training, following our behavioural adviser/trainer Debbie Topping's advice and guidance, and giving the necessary consideration to his safety when out and about (he won't hear you shout a warning)
* Rocco WILL try to chase cats (if only to say "Hi!") so a cat free home
* You must have the time and patience to commit to Rocco’s ongoing training needs through daily fun, reward based training sessions (under Debbie's guidance) and gradual, managed socialisations with other dogs. You must not mind his occasional, inevitable lapses into daft giant puppy behaviours and will understand to correct these lapses calmly and gently.
* All family members must be in agreement with fostering Rocco. Given his deaf dog/training needs, we would like his fosterers to spend time with Rocco, Laura and Debbie at Debbie's training facility in Bury, Lancashire before taking him home. In an ideal world, his fosterers will live within travelling distance of Debbie’s training facility to enable her to continue working with him and his fosterers.
* You should be in a position to meet and foster Rocco in the next week or two.
If all agree, following a period of time in foster Rocco's fosterers will be given the option of adopting him (an adoption fee of £250.00 will apply) We provide full support and cover all costs associated with the care of our foster dogs.
Doodle Rescue is run by a small team of volunteers. We typically receive in excess of 100 applications for available dogs and we regret that we are unable to respond to unsuccessful applicants individually. If your application has been shortlisted to the next stage of our vetting process, or if we require additional information to enable us to fully consider your application, one of our volunteer admin will contact you via Facebook Messenger, by email or by phone/SMS within 3 days of your adoption application form submission. If you do not hear from us within this time frame, regrettably your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion. We endeavour to provide sufficient information in each dog’s adoption bio to give an overview of our assessment of the dog and the required criteria to be considered to adopt the dog, to enable interested parties to assess their suitability before submitting an adoption application. We regret that at this early stage of our vetting processes it is not possible for our volunteer admins to respond to requests for further information on a dog available for adoption since – with limited resources and time - we must prioritise finding the right home for the dog and we are grateful for your understanding in this matter. We regret that we are unable to enter into discussions with unsuccessful applicants or with those who are considering submitting an application but who have not yet done so. Note: due to GDPR we do not retain unsuccessful applications on our system and a new application will need to be submitted for any other available dogs Please be aware that our vetting processes are thorough to ensure the welfare of the dogs and by submitting an application you are agreeing to cooperate with our processes.
EVERY DOG IN OUR CARE IS CAREFULLY ASSESSED AND OUR ASSESSMENTS FORM THE BASIS OF THE CRITERIA TO BE CONSIDERED TO ADOPT THEM. OUR PRIORITY IS THE WELFARE OF THE DOGS AND WE REGRET THAT THE STATED CRITERIA ARE NOT OPEN TO NEGOTIATION.