Dorothy is a 3-5 year old female Cross-Breed. She may not appear it but Dorothy is a big dog, at 28kg she’s slightly bigger than a Labrador. Dorothy is an ex-street dog that never learned how to be a pet and missed a very important early socialisation window. She has done incredible in her training with us and absolutely loves to learn and this will need to be continued in her new home- she’s a lot better but she still has a long way to go!
Dorothy is ideal if you’re ready for a bit of a challenge! She does still carry a lot of stress and often resorts to using her size when she’s uncomfortable, mouthing and jumping etc. This has reduced as we have worked with her, and she has never shown any kind of aggression or intention to harm but because of her size we feel no small children is safer.
If you’re looking for a pet to cuddle on the sofa and watch tv with or to take on a quiet Sunday off-lead stroll- Dorothy is not it! We’re convinced she has working line dogs in her as the amount of energy and mental stimulation she requires can be a force to be reckoned with. With her enthusiasm for training and working she’s going to thrive with some scentwork training or some agility work – or both! With the balance of proper training and the right amount of mental stimulation she’ll do so so well.
When Dorothy first came to us she was suffering with some pretty severe kibble allergies. We implemented a single-protein raw elimination diet so that we could remove allergens and let her recover before slowly introducing new proteins and noting down any issues. It took a long time but we are happy to report that she is allergy free and her skin is the clearest we’ve ever seen it.
We can’t even imagine how much the discomfort was feeding into her behavioural issues. She also has been stress/habit biting and itching herself, which has resolved with the addition of a cone overnight. We have been training this out but this will need working on.