Tucker - Staffie, Dog (2 Years) FOSTERED IN TENBURY WELLS

We went over to FDR on Saturday with Tucker to pick up some worming meds for his next dose, and to socialise him with a few dogs.

He and Ruby walked side by side without any problems, and were fine together in the playpen until they had a ruck about a toy that had not been put away. If dogs are to be socialised in the pen, then toys need to be put away first. A lesson for next time.

He and Ali, a sweet dog currently being looked after in Kim's bungalow, got along famously. He also met sweet Annie, and gave her a few growls and gentle mouthings when she became a little too familiar, too quickly. He is actually very good with young dogs, putting them in their place. We stood at the playpen while the puppies were being exercised, and they were very excited to meet him through the wire.

We had changed the crate in the car for the one with slide locks, but unfortunately Tucker spinned so much that they vibrated loose and he got out of the crate. We ended up having to lock it with the lead clip. He did his best to escape again. He took absolutely no notice of his marrowbone or his kong. I thought I would try him in the footwell of the car, not least because he had managed to pull a couple of things through the bars of his crate and trash them, and after we had done the shopping the boot was rather full and it was impossible not to have things up against the crate. He was better in that there wasn't the room to spin, although he did give it a go. That in itself was less distracting. We only had to put up with the heavy panting with the vocals on each out breath, but at least he was pretty stationery, until the windscreen wipers came on automatically and he tried to lunge for them. I did have to keep quite a firm hold on his harness for the whole journey, so it wasn't ideal but at least he couldn't do himself damage with the spinning.

We picked up a couple of chidgates from Lucy (thanks so much!), and managed to install one on the lounge door. It was interesting that when he tried to follow me to the kitchen I said no, and he sat on the other side of the gate without it actually being closed. He obviously has associated the gate at work with short separation, and he was happy to sit by the gate in the lounge until I got back (it was a very short space of time, but nevertheless it was a start).

Kate, the behaviourist, is coming to assess Tucker next weekend. It will be fantastic to have her input into his behaviour. At least she won't have to wait to observe it - I am sure that he will display his problem behaviour as soon as she arrives.

I doubt that we will be able to address the car behaviour, which is not such a dealbreaker if we can find the right adopter who does not need to transport him. Sadly, we can't avoid the use of the car as we have to use it to go to work, and in some ways I feel guilty for having to put him through this stress twice a day. Fortunately, it is a short journey to and from work, and once he is out of the car, he settles immediately. The sad thing is that we love to go rambling in the forest at weekends, because it is the only place we can trust Phoebe to be off lead (on a trailing lead) without feeling on edge if she takes herself off (from farmers with shotguns). Since having Tucker, we have cut down on forest weekends and done most of the walking from home. This in itself is not a bad thing, because we are surrounded by countryside, but it does mean we have to keep Phoebe on the extending lead at all times, and she certainly doesn't get the same level of exercise as running in the forest or, more importantly, the enjoyment. We went to the forest again yesterday, and decided by the time we got home that it is so exhausting having to put ourselves through Tucker's behaviour, that we will not do any more trips with him in the car other than work and vet trips. For this reason, we will have to put a timescale on our fostering of Tucker, so I am really, really hoping that Kate can come up with some techniques where we see some improvement, even tiny improvement.

If anybody knows anyone that does not drive, and spends a lot of time at home, or works from home, and is looking for a wonderful companion dog, please get in touch.

Ria, I know you've tried absolutely everything with Tucker and I'm sure this is a stupid suggestion, but any port in a storm so here goes.: Tie a piece of short, thickish rope to one of the bars of his crate and see if he will chew that instead of trying to get his tail.

I will certainly give that a try, Ann. The only thing that I am concerned about is his ability to chew through anything. He has an incredibly powerful jaw (just one single clamp down on his ball launcher and it snapped in two). All the rope toys at home have been confiscated because he has totally shredded them. This is the only dog I've had that has even managed to wreck his boomer ball (and Ferdie, Denzel and Baz all played long and hard with it)! If you could see the intensity of his determination, it would actually quite shock you. He seems to seek out confined spaces in order to actually spin. For example, at work he will push the toilet doors open in order to go into that confined space to spin. Most weird behaviour. At home yesterday, when we got back from our forest trip, his adrenaline was still quite high, so he actually goes into his crate to spin. In the end, I had to lock the crate so that he couldn't get in.

... and looking forward to our session with Kate on Saturday.

This week we have been travelling with Tucker in the front footwell. It can be done when there are two of us in the car. He pants and cries and does massive yawns with the strangest sound effects (definitely a sign of anxiety), but slowly he is getting less frantic. We give him praise all the way, and sometimes when you get the ear scratch just right, he actually tucks his head into the crook of your arm and becomes quiet. We're going to carry this on until he gets used to it, and then we're going to try sitting in the back with him again and seeing if he settles. Kate, of course, might suggest something completely different, but in the meantime, this is definitely a much calmer way of getting to and from work.

This morning we were walking back home when Tucker found his best stick ever. Couldn't quite carry it too far without bumping into the odd tree ....

https://youtu.be/vwyhi1154WU

Kate, the behaviourist, came to assess Tucker at the weekend. We had discussed his behaviour beforehand and she knew that my biggest problems were his greeting of visitors and subsequent behaviour, his travel in the car and his separation anxiety and subsequent destruction patterns. I had asked Kate if she wanted me to restrain Tucker when she arrived, and she had said no, to let her see his unrestricted behaviour. Well, Tucker certainly didn't disappoint, in that straight away Kate could see the problem. He launched himself right at her hand area, and made contact with her sleeve, refusing to let go without his jaw being physically prized apart to release the fabric. Great start

Kate then went on to use a lead on Tucker's collar, showing Phil and myself how to direct his behaviour, and to bring the excitement under control by interrupting the pattern of behaviour. We spent a great deal of the four hours on the floor, putting Tucker in and out of his crate, and stopping the spinning and resultant destructive chewing that he automatically turns to in the height of his stress. Tucker did extemely well going in and out of his crate calmly, using correction on an attached lead when necessary, and I was told to move the crate into a more central part of the room where he could see what was going on, and start to train him in short periods of separation by using the crate. A lot of Tucker's behaviour starts with him fixating on objects, and Kate showed us how to interrupt this unhealthy attention.

We also spent a great deal of time by an open front door trying to calm Tucker's behaviour before moving through the door. Although I was very proud of my training of Tucker to wait, allowing me to go through the door first, I did acknowledge that this waiting actually had no effect on his level of excitement, so although he waited very well, the minute I say it's okay to go through the exit, it's like setting off a starting pistol. Getting the relaxed outcome certainly took a great deal of time, during which he displays his whingeing and moaning, and although there were calmer moments, they were pretty much milliseconds rather than extended periods of time. That will take a lot of persistent training, but as Kate says, he's a smart dog and once he realises that nothing bad is going to happen and starts to trust, he will overcome it.

The car was another test. Kate felt that the crate that we are using is too small. Although he can easily spin and stand up in the crate, he can't do his normal 'staffie stretch' (think wonder dog, legs at full stretch front and back). There is of course a space issue with a larger crate in my car. We tried to remove the crate and secure him in the hatch back, but I had to express my total fear of his destructive nature on my car. I have already lost two back seat covers (one brand new and totally trashed), and I was very fearful that despite being able to calm and settle Tucker at the start, once the car actually moved and I was both out of sight and more than arm's length away, he would start to redirect his behaviour negatively. Right on cue, without actually moving the car, Tucker decided that he would turn his attention to the boot liner, and we had to intervene, at which point, Tucker was happy to turn his attention to using his mouth on flesh. We discussed using a larger crate that I have at the office, and putting one of my seats down in the back of the car so that it could be wedged between the remaining seat and the boot. This would allow one of us to sit alongside him while we get him used to the crate in the car, by using an attached lead to correct his behaviour.

Kate has concluded that Tucker's behaviour, although currently extreme, will with time and patient management be eliminated.

That is excellent news, and I am happy for his prognosis. However, I do not believe that we are the right people to bring this change about in that we just don't have the most precious resource that is so greatly needed - unlimited time. What Tucker really needs is the attention of someone who can put all of their effort into his rehabilitation in a consistent way. What we lack is the time at the right time. We can train, train, train at the weekends, but during the week we are very time restrained and busy because of our business. We started to put the training into motion yesterday. It took us 20 minutes to get through the front door. We just don't have the luxury of time during the week in the mornings. In the evenings we leave work in the pitch darkness, and again that's not the right time to try to calm him before putting him in the car in a cold, dark, public car park. At the moment, we are walking the dogs in semi darkness at the start of the walk first thing in the morning. Our normal quiet country lane is presently being used as a rat run while the bridge in Tenbury is closed, and this is going to go on for another five or six weeks. To leave any earlier for our walk would be madness, and down right dangerous. We get back at 8.20am, and have to get ready for work, to be out of the house by 8.55 at the latest. During this time I have to feed the dogs and cats, get showered and dressed, and get the dogs ready to go out. Now, according to my new training regime with Tucker, I also have to incorporate some extreme play with a bite toy to relieve any pent up stress related energy before we put Tucker in the car. We just don't have the time to wait for Tucker to settle before we can put him in the car. It isn't going to work quickly with us, and sadly we don't have an infinite amount of time to work with him.

I have suggested to the trustees that Tucker's rehabilitation would be best served by a residential stay with Kate. Of course, cost is an issue, even with Kate's extremely generous cut down rates. I have said that we are willing to continue with his training at our own pace, which takes in all of our time constraints, for a maximum of a further four weeks. That will make it 3 months in total, which in my eyes is a good crack at the whip. I honestly think that Kate can do what we can do in 20% of the time, and make Tucker a sound homing candidate much quicker than we can. If I won the lottery and was able to retire rather than be a wage slave, then things would be very different. Sadly, that's not reality.

Perhaps what we need to think about is a fundraiser specifically for Tucker's rehabilitation. Going back to kennels to await his forever home is not an option. It would be kinder to put him to sleep if that was his only option. He didn't ask to be brought up by inconsiderate, useless owners that have turned him into what he is today (and don't get me started on that conversation, because I can assure you that as a scouser, I can put together a whole string of adjectives in the vernacular that would make the least prudish people blush, to describe these low-life people). Although the rescue is, and will always be, strapped for cash, there are dogs that come along that need that extra help. If I believed for a minute that the money would be wasted on Tucker, I would be the first to say so. I don't.

Let's put our heads together and think of how we can make Tucker's outlook brighter.

Hi Ria,

I am extremely glad to hear that Tucker can make it and I never doubted it- but now it is official.

Have the trustees responded to your proposal yet-? Is ther an actual concrete answer whether they are going to spend the money for Tuckers reghhab or not?

I've just had an email to say that they will be discussing the way forward and will be back to me within a few days.

Jeanette has sent me an email will some other great ideas for fundraisers, and Nina made a great suggestion on facebook too.

I'll keep you posted as soon as I hear.

I hope it's soon, because despite our training with Tucker on his separation anxiety, I have just popped out at lunchtime to the optician, and unfortunately Phil didn't think he would need to keep such a close eye on Tucker as he and the staff were upstairs and Tucker has full run of the office. I now have some repair work to do on the reception room seating.

Well, sadly there is no news to report from the rescue. I have sent another reminder. I can understand that life at the sharp end is pressurised, but still ...

Last week, we continued to let Tucker sit in the footwell of the car with Phil in the passenger seat. His yawning was much reduced (the more stressed, the more he yawns and not just quiet yawns, but the most unbelievable loud screeching yawns!). I am also working on de-sensitizing him to the windscreen wipers.

On Saturday we went to Wilmslow to visit Phil's dad, Ron. Sitting in the footwell for a 110 mile journey was not an option, even though we had taken him for a massive walk beforehand and run him ragged. We set the larger crate up in the back of Phil's Jeep. It has split seats, so we were able to put the larger part of the back seat down, and set the crate up slightly hanging into the rear of the car. I put the short lead onto Tucker's collar and sat alongside him. We set off, and Tucker tried to spin a few times, but was immediately corrected. As I had control over him, we had put a nice thick bed pad into the crate. For the first 30 minutes he was panting and crying very loudly, occasionally trying to grab his tail. I decided to open the side of the crate so that I could give him more comfort, and me more control over the spinning, and although he tried to fight his way out and into the front of the car, I was able to restrain him and make him lie in the crate. In the end, we compromised with him half lying in the crate (the rear half) and half lying across my lap, and at one point he was even snoring gently.

For over an hour there was hardly a peep out of him until we got to Macclesfield and had to fill the car with fuel. While I went to pay, he started to spin, and by the time I climbed into the back seat, his anxiety was at level 20. We were about 15 minutes from our destination, and although I was not able to calm him entirely, it was certainly a massive improvement from six weeks ago, when come hell or high water, nothing was going to calm him and he was totally out of control.

It's really difficult to expect other people to have the same level of understanding of how to deal with Tucker's mouthing, but we warned Ron what was going to happen, and he did his best to deal with the situation. It's getting the timing right to issue the verbal reprimand just before the behaviour is about to happen, and reading his body language in a split second to avert and interrupt his pattern. It's as though Tucker thinks everyone has something in their hands that he needs to get. He doesn't clamp down and bite, but he can catch your skin quite painfully. It actually took Tucker a much reduced amount of time to settle down, and once he was calm he was incredibly well behaved. Ron kept saying what a "bonny dog" he was and was very impressed with his behaviour after the initial excitement had worn off. There were a few times over the weekend when Tucker would get quite anxious and would revert to spinning, and Ron did ask the question whether it was confined areas that sparked the behaviour, as he seemed to do it more in the kitchen where space was limited.

On the Sunday, we took the dogs for a lovely long walk. Wilmslow is not the village it once was, and I was pretty overwhelmed with how urban it has become. Wherever we went, there were lots of dogs and children. Give Tucker his due, he was incredibly well behaved and responsive when we played with his ball, and took absolutely no notice of other dogs. Wilmslow appears to be the capital of labradoodles, handbag dogs, and Cavalier King Charles spaniels. Certainly not a staffie to be seen amongst the pedigree 'pooches', and from the looks we were getting (which were not helped by Phil in his beenie hat!), I think people were a bit fearful of Tucker and gave us a pretty wide berth!

Ron had wanted to take us out for lunch, but I was a bit loathe to put Tucker in the crate, knowing that the combination of his anxiety of not being in familiar surroundings together with the anxiety of leaving him would be a problem. However, not wanting to disappoint Ron, we got the crate out of the car and set it up in the lounge. Immediately, Tucker ran into the crate and started to spin and cry (and this was without any instruction to get into the crate, and with the crate door open). The complete change in his behaviour immediately upset Ron, and he was very sad to see Tucker's distress, so we agreed on a takeaway for lunch!!

The journey back was only slightly marred by the initial entrance into the car, with Tucker launching himself at Phil's seatbelt and clamping down on the fabric. Once we had managed to get it out of his mouth, and settle him in the crate (again with the side door open so he could stretch between the crate and my lap), it was a reasonably good journey home, and only required about half a dozen checks on his lead to avert the spinning. So, I think Tucker deserves a massive

Yesterday and today Phil has been in the back of the car with Tucker lying on the seat next to him. In the mornings we walk the dogs, and pay particular attention to completely wearing Tucker out by constantly making him fetch his ball up and down the hills of the golf course, to the point where he wants to go back on the lead!! This helps to expend all that energy before the car journey, and this morning you would have actually doubted that he was in the car at all. The next stage is to leave him in the back without correction. I think we are some way off that at the moment, but slowly, slowly.

The separation is still his biggest issue (or rather the level of anxiety that it creates).

I still believe he will massively benefit from residential training with someone who has the time and experience to apply persistent, repetitive instructions, and break that (albeit rarer) stubborn streak that makes him occasionally very difficult to handle.

Here's hoping the Trustees will come back with a constructive plan of action.

Ria - You are amazingly patient. Well done for all that you are doing for Tucker and I truly hope you get all the support you need. I love reading all the trials and tribulations you and your family, office workers etc...have, but if I'm honest reading is as near as I want to be. I was at FDR when Tucker came in and thought he was lovely. Alsion was trying to bandage his tail and he was fine while having attention, then tail done, he whipped it round and the bandage flew accross the floor. Then he had the cone on and they had to find a different kennell to accommodate him!! It was fun at the time but lasted 10 minutes in all at the end I was shattered and I could go home. Full credit to you for managing to cope and write on the forum and go to work and have a 'normal' family life.

I really hope that anyone thinking of adopting Tucker will see the progress he's made already. He's definately a case of a marathon in terms of changing his behaviour rather than a sprint, but he's worth it. He didn't ask to be treated the way he was, and I hope some one can give him the time and attention he needs to change him from the brilliant dog he is when he's calm to a brilliant dog full time. Well done Ria and Phil for all you've done for him!

I do hope the kennels find a way of helping you with Tucker, all the wonderful work you've done with him will surely not be wasted. It's the difficult dogs that need that bit extra and you really need more support. Keep it up Ria, everyone is following your story with hope in their hearts.

I do hope that Tucker will be given the consistent & intensive help that he so desperately needs especially as he is showing small signs of improvement in the car.....An eventful weekend for you all by the sound of things...on the bright side Ria you must be as fit as a butcher's dog with all the exercise

Thanks for the messages of support. It's good to have the forum, because at least I know there is a feeling of camaraderie out there and we have the same thing in common - the rehabilitation and welfare of the dogs.

Mary and Alison are coming to see us on Saturday to see first hand how Tucker is in a home environment (of course it won't be reflective at this stage because he is still highly excited around visitors), and to talk about the way forward. Sadly, when Mary phoned last night, she caught me in Morrisons car park, as we had popped out to do our shopping. We were gone one hour twenty minutes, and had put Tucker with his peanut butter filled Kong in the large crate in the lounge. We turned the lighting down, put radio 2 on for him and set off. When we got back, he had managed to move the crate about four feet across the room (no doubt with his spinning, as one thigh now has a weeping bald patch), and somehow get a bed pad through the bars of the crate and trash it, but also, more upsetting, rip my leather sofa cushion (again through the bars of the crate). Perhaps he doesn't like Jamie Cullen? I have to admit, there does come a point where you wonder if you will ever make progress, but once I had calmed down, it made us realise that we have to position the crate where he can't get to anything to do damage by manoeuvering it to an area where he can. This might have to be in the garage or the conservatory until we can overcome this phase of his anxiety. In the meantime, does anyone know a good upholsterer that can repair leather?

Oh Ria - Words fail me. I wish you all the best for Saturday. I don't know any upholsterers sorry. I am reminded of the advert on TV, I buy this tea for my husband, he also likes this one. I don't like tea, I like Gin. Maybe Tucker doesn't like Radio 2, or Jamie Cullen he may like One Man and his dog!!!

I think he just likes the sound of ripping seams,

Ria, I will definitely think of you Saturday and I will have crossed everything I can. Oh God (or who ever, I don't care) please help finding loads of support for Tucker.

Yesterday, as I was correcting Tucker at the door before heading out for our morning walk, Phoebe took full advantage of the open door and gate (and me not realising that Phil had not clipped her on the lead) and legged it past me and out on her jaunt round the neighbourhood in search of rabbits (plentiful at 7.30am). Despite going out and trying to catch the minx for an hour and a half, we failed, so Phil had to go to work and I worked from home waiting for Phoebe to come back. I had a meeting in the office at noon, and by 11.30am she still wasn't back, so Phil came home and swapped with me. Just as he was pulling up at the gate, I could hear Phoebe barking in the garden of the neighbour, so Phil rushed round to try to catch her. By this time, I was running late for my meeting, so I had to jump in the car to go to work. As Phil was next door, and Tucker was in the garden, I didn't want to risk leaving him, so I called him and he jumped in the car. Now wait for it - he sat on the passenger seat next to me for the two and a half mile journey to work. Granted, he tried one spin, and one attack on the windscreen wipers as they snaked across the windscreen, but there was only mild crying and one chewbacca yawn. We got to work and when my visitor came I kept Tucker on a short lead alongside me. They guy was used to dogs, and was happy for me to let Tucker off, so when I thought he was sufficiently calm, I dropped the lead. He dashed around the conference table and did jump up to greet him, having a little mouth at the hand holding a pen, but a call back and he responded reasonably well, and for the rest of the meeting I stood on his lead to keep him at my feet. He had a few whines and moans, and unfortunately a couple of stinking farts that had me jumping to my own defence, saying "It's the dog, honestly!!"

As Phil later came to work in his own car, I said I would take Tucker home with me. Again, I sat him on the front seat, and he was very good. Not perfect, but my goodness, what a fantastic improvement. Again, this morning as Phil was out to a meeting in Bromsgrove, I brought him in on the front seat. Phoebe decided that the crate was actually much comfortable than the parcel shelf, so took up residence in that. A few corrections on the journey and Tucker was brilliant. We got to work, and he did get very hyper once in the office, especially as Cass, our cleaner, was there. Sadly, he reverted to his mad spinning, and it was difficult to divert his attention, so I popped his lead on and took him with me to the bank, and by the time we got back he was calm again.

It's early days, and we will put it more to the test this weekend, but I think we might have broken the back of the car anxiety. Halleluyah!!!

Oh Ria, I am so pleased about Tucker's breakthrough. It just goes to show that he can really do it. I am sure that with a professional training targeted specifically at his issues he will be able to leave his problems behind and blossom into the lovely dog we all get a glimpse of when he calms down.

Brilliant news!

I also had a thought, and I don't know if it's viable, but thought i'd mention it. Does Tucker like water? Because if he does, then it might be worthwhile considering taking him swimming at a hydrotherapy centre. One minute of swimming is equivalent to a one mile walk and it's said to improve the dog's confidence which might help with Tucker's insecurities. Plus, ten minutes of swimming is a 10 mile walk which might help wear him out as he's using most of his muscles, without any pressure on his joints. I don't know if it's a viable option, or if there's any centres that are near you, but I thought it might help.

The Manager at FDR used to work alot in hydrotherapy and rates it highly.....wonder if she still has connections x8)

I have never really come across it as a suggested treatment for anxiety before, but it makes sense. Any form of heavy physical exercise releases the happy hormones, and reduces anxiety, blood pressure and stress (I need to polish off my Personal Trainer certificate from 1997 and start practicing again, ). I have trawled the internet but can't find anywhere locally that suggests hydrotherapy for anything other than joint problems, post operation recuperation and general health. The nearest centre is 25 miles away, but interestingly there are about 6 centres within a 40 mile radius, so it's obviously a growing trend. They also all require referrals from the vet. None of them mention cost, but I should imagine it would be high. I did think about our spa out on the deck We haven't used it for a good few years after a freak windstorm picked up the one ton redwood gazebo and deposited the roof in our neighbours garden and completely trashed the side against the spa itself. Personally, I'm not into open air spas in our climate, but I could just see Tucks bobbing about in the bubbles. Mind you, knowing his personality, he would expect to sit back in the moulded seats with the jets on his back and a glass of chilled champagne and a pair of dark sunglasses. Or should that be a pint of bitter!!

He is not that keen on water. Phil threw his ball across the brook yesterday morning, fully expecting him to take the bridge across, but no, Tucker, being the meat head that he is, went the direct way thinking he could clear the brook. Wrong!!! There was an almighty splash and he was out of that water at the speed of light.

I have tried him on my treadmill, but cannot get him to stay on. The most effective form of exercise at the moment is the undulating terrain of the golf course, a good spot that makes him run downhill and uphill, and his ball. The boomer ball is an incredibly good form of exercise too, but he put so many grooves into it that it ended up scratching his nose and making it bleed. I did want to try him on the lane pulling me on my bike (I used this a lot when I had an incredibly active foster dog of a similar size), but with the current traffic up and down our lane and the dark mornings and evenings, I haven't been able to try it yet.

If the FDR manager has any ideas, or contacts, that would be great.


P.S. Journey home last night - almost perfect, he sat on the passenger seat alongside me. A few corrections and he lay down and curled up on the seat. This morning he was in the crate on the back seat with Phil in the front, in control of his lead through the bars for corrections. Absolutely perfect!!

Haha success! I think swimming would be brilliant for Nico, but he hates water. Another idea i've had is a treat ball. We used to use it for Nico when he had separation anxiety when Dad went to work. It's just a ball with food inside, which Nico had to try and work out how to get to the food. Nico used to get quite anxious and would race from the front window, out to the garden to the back gate and back for about half an hour, yelping and whimpering and then we discovered the treat ball and he'd be focussed on that. I don't know if it'd work for Tucker, but my thought was that he'd be focussed on the ball and not as dependant on your attention.

Either way, it's great that the car journey's don't stress him (or you!) out as much - definately progress.

I use the Kong stuffed with peanut butter and treats. It holds quite a lot and occupies him for a good half an hour. What treat ball do you use?

Having said that, at the height of his anxiety, he ignores any treats. It's the company he craves. We are trying short periods of leaving him in his crate and leaving the room. When we started it was 10 seconds and he was trashing anything in the crate and himself. I am up to about 10 minutes. Obviously, 1 hour 20 minutes just wasn't on the radar. I want to compose a film of Tucker, because I really do want people to see the side of him that is so endearing. The side where he stays with you off lead, lets you pick him up and cradle him like a baby, fetches the ball, follows direction when he is calm, looks at you like you are the best person in the world. All the things that make him the most wonderful companion. I was having some time with him at lunchtime, just asking him to sit down and give me his paw, and lie down, and I thought, "Someone has taken the time to teach him all these things. Why the hell didn't they take the time to make him feel loved and cherished? Why didn't they teach him not to fear separation?" I have to admit, being the big soft sensitive sod that I am, I actually had a little cry and gave him a big cuddle.

The treat ball looks like that. I got it for him after The Bone Incident, and it works because it keeps him occupied with chasing and trying to open it. The downside is that once he's finished it, it has to be removed because he gets quite grumpy about it being empty. He's a greedy sod! He's calmed down so much that he can be left on his own in the living room when we go out. The longest we've left him in there was about half an hour, but we thought it best not to run before we could walk, and we did remove all items that would prove too tempting, but he just slept in the sunshine, on his duvet.

I wish I knew of a fail-proof way to help Tucker with his anxiety. My friend's dog (staffie cross) had terrible anxiety but he was fine if they left the radio on for him, but he howled if Madonna was on the radio....

I get what you mean about someone taking the time to train Tucker to sit and give a paw, but never taking the time to love him. Someone obviously cared enough to have Nico neutered and microchipped, but never showed him any affection because he couldn't cope with it when he came here. Some people just don't deserve to experience life with a dog...stuff nobody that's never had a dog can appreciate.

Maybe if Tucker's rehabilitation was to progress a bit further to a more manageable level, then someone that worked from home could take him in and he could be their office dog!

Wonderful,progress indeed Ria, at least in the car. Love the thought of Tucker giving his paw and being nursed.Isn't it encouraging that so many people bother to try to think up ideas to help? Of course any therapy has to be practical enough that adoptees can carry it on , as there is obviously no instant "cure".I think you said you were having visitors from the kennels tomorrow, so good luck with that.

Just about to dash out but thought I would let everyone know that Debbie, the FDR Manager, and Alison and Mary, the trustees, agree that Tucker should go to Kate, initially for a couple of weeks, for intensive rehabilitation. She will work specifically on the separation anxiety and crate training. He will be reviewed after two weeks and then, depending on his progress, a decision will be taken on whether he needs a bit more training, or whether he can come back to me on foster with support from Kate until he is ready to be rehomed. There is a third option, which I'm not going to mention, because it will not have to be considered, such is my faith in Tucker and Kate.