Rhianna, Cross x Staffie, 5 years old

Rhianna, Cross x Staffie, 5 years old



Her Story: Found stray Jan 09, Kent. Homed for 4 months via the pound returned having not been walked for 3 months … haven't had time!

Salient points: Rhianna is a lively older cross breed dog ... old fashioned Heinz 57. Lovely smiley temperament. Over weight currently and beginning to shape up. Walks keenly, learning to meet dogs well.

Advert: Rhianna is a Heinz 57 bitza. Bitza this and Bitza that! She probably has Staffie blended in there giving her the willing smile and people focus. Rhianna has found herself in controversy this year: Found stray, homed straight from the pound to people who talked the talk and just didn't walk the walk. In fact on enquiry when they handed her to us they were unable to tell us how she got on on walks as she had just been around their house and garden … not walked. Oh Rhianna, we are going to get it so right for you! She is spayed, vax'd and chipped. Came in overfed probably on poor quality dog food or human titbits. Now having good a quality diet and she is beginning to shape up as much as a kennelled existance allows.

Rhianna's beauty shines through. Her willing smile, enthusaism and companionship ... out on her walks there she is steaming ahead enjoying it as though its Christmas Day come early. Tried to let her energy settle through a long walk, but to be honest she was as keen coming back as setting forth! Her spirit wins through and she will be loved for herself. She should be the most popular dog on our books that old fashion cross breed, as tough as old boots, grateful for everything, involved in the heart of the families activities. She probably is going to be an only pet, in our currently situation she is learning to be settled with dogs everywhere, and beginning to meet them and walk with them nicely. We are taking her nice and slowly; she is forging ahead full speed!
"Please note that this dog is currently in kennels and is also available for foster until a 'forever' home is found".

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I hadn't met Rhianna before so was quite surprised as I expected her to be a larger dog. She is chunky, but not as big as I expected as you will see from the photos with Cathy (my friend). Very sweet natured with beautiful eyes that just tug at the heart strings. We enjoyed out walk together and she is quite calm in nature so very much easier to photograph :wink: Sometimes she looks so sad Here is Rhianna our pretty girl ... so photogenic that I couldn't decide which photos I liked best ... sorry :roll:

awwww she is gorgeous such a beautiful face ...hope she finds her forever home soon xx

She is lovely, I cannot beleive they could not find time to walk her in 3 months

Can't get enough of this girl, she really is very pretty! A few more photos courtesy of Cathy ...

Rhianna had a weekend break out of kennels with one of our volunteers - here is her update:

"I picked Rhianna up on Saturday to take her home for the weekend.

She is a real sweety, a really easy dog to have around. The first thing I did as she pulls a little bit on the collar is buy her a halti, which she accepted first time and then walked nicely with no pulling at all.
We met my friend in the park and went for a nice long walk. She was so well behaved. She will let dogs have a small sniff of her before seeing them off, she seems nervous rather than aggressive. She is happy to walk past them and doesn't pay much attention. We wandered around North London's many parks for most of the day stopping for tea and bowls of water. She is totally relaxed with cars, buses, kids running about, skateboards, bikes, deer behind fences, everything really.

There are two little issues. She is football obsessed. If she even hears someone kick a football and she cant get to them she throws a tantrum. Its not a bad tantrum, its just a throw your toys out of the pram tantrum on the floor. With the halti its fine and it got better over the weekend (lots of football playing in the park in the sunshine) but people do look at you a bit strangely. Its not even the movement of the football as later we were walking down the street and a man had a football in a carrier bag as he had just bought it and she tried to pinch that one too. How she spotted it I have no idea. When we got home in the garden she found a football and was happy to play with it with us, she doesnt get possessive over the footballs, in fact my friend and I had a great game of football with her. When we got bored she just lay down holding it in her mouth until it went pop.

The other thing is she will not go to the loo on a walk. We tried letting her sniff behind trees in privacy but nothing worked. She is house trained but you have to let her in the garden when you get back from walks. Apparently its because she is unlikely to have walked when she was a young so she doesnt know that's what she is supposed to do.

She is also a floosey with the boys. She was very friendly with myself and my friend, but if a man talked to her she was wiggling and throwing herself on her back to have her tummy tickled - shameless. When my brother visited she was all over him. She adores men.

She was fab in the house, she is sweet natured and cuddly. She is great in the car, she is easy on walks bar the footballs. She is just a really great little dog".

RHIANNA IS STILL LOOKING FOR HER FOREVER HOME!

A couple of our volunteers just gave Rhianna a break from kennel life and took them on holiday to the Highlands with them! Here is their feedback on the week:

"We are back after having a really lovely week in the Highlands with Rhianna - want to go back!
She was so well behaved, especially considering her limited experiences, you would never have guessed.
Firstly she travels really well in the car. Its a long drive and even though we stopped for regular short walks it was a big test for her. She passed with flying colours.

In the Highlands we walked and walked and walked. She loved it, especially when we got to areas where there were no sheep and other dog walkers and she could just run about off the extender lead. I wish my camera had a faster shutter speed so I could have got some pictures of her boinging through the heather. It was like she had springs on her feet. Her recall is a bit dodgy but she never lets you out of her sight. If we wanted her to come back we simply walked away and there she was suddenly by your side.

I will up load the pics that I have got of her later today as we are just going to go via Richmond Park on our way back to kennels.

As Lynne said she has also learnt to pee and poo on walks! Yeah! That made life a lot easier. :-)
She really looks fantastic. Her pictures don’t make her look like the prettiest of dogs but in the fur she is a real sweetie with such an expressive face. She has also lost a bit of weight, her collar is too big!! She also has a bit of a waist - holiday didn’t have the same effect on me sadly. :-( She so loves life and people and would be a really easy pet as long as she could continue with her lovely long walks.

Hmmm.. what is bad about her? Nothing really. She isnt great with other dogs. She doesnt go after them but she also doesnt want to have anything to do with them. She is happy to walk past dogs but if they come too close she will growl at them. In the Highlands it was easy as there are surprisingly few dogs (apart from working collies). I live in a high population Staffie area and I still don’t find it a problem here. She isn’t fussed as long as they dont invade her space.

She will also chase cats and rabbits (or try) on walks. However, she isn’t interested in my ferrets when they are in their cage. I think its probably because they don’t try and run away, they move forward and that throws her a bit. I wouldn’t put her in with cats or small furries. However, it might just be a walk thing she probably needs properly testing.

We had such a good time with this adorable dog. My husband is totally in love with her as she is with him. She still loves the boys. He loves her so much that he even got up at 8 this morning (on a Sunday!) to take her out to the local park just the two of them. He doesn’t do that, she is very, very charming and this is proof! She has been following him around like a little shadow.

Right we are off on our last walk now - cr: We will miss having her around. She is a really special dog with so much to give. A lovely nature and a smiley face. She really deserves a forever home, and if you could provide a home containing some boys to hang out with she would be very grateful"!

RHIANNA IS STILL LOOKING FOR A FOSTER OR FOREVER HOME!

Here are pictures of Rhianna from her break …



“Ok - I hope these pictures work! Sorry there are so many - there are more” …

Oh she deserves somewhere so special, I wish I had more space to take her home with me. Some lovely photos there, she looks like a true friend.

An update from our kindly kennel walkers who gave Rhianna a break from kennels at the weekend:
“Rhianna came to stay this weekend with us again. What can I say, we missed her!
Lynne met Seb at Richmond station - apparently she was very pleased to see him. Seb and Rhianna got the train back to Highbury. It was a busy train as it was 6pm and apparently she was brilliantly behaved. So that's another thing on her list of things she is good at.
We went to Hampstead Heath twice this weekend and she was great. She is absolutely fine walking past dogs, bikes, skateboarders everything, really well behaved. She wasn’t great with dogs sniffing her, but its a warning to leave her alone. She doesn’t 'go after' dogs at all.

We ended up walking for over two hours. She made a bit of a plonker of herself, we stopped at the pond and she suddenly just launched herself off the side - a big dive so the water went right over her head. What she hadn’t thought about though was how to get back out once she had jumped in as it was a drop down to the water. I had to get down and pull her out by her collar. People laughed at us - thank God she has lost some weight!!
Saturday evening after a nap on the sofa we went up to Clissold Park for a lap as she had been out already quite a lot before having a quick drink in the pub. She has improved so much with footballs. She is still very interested but she will come away if you call her, I think that she has realised that there are more interesting things in life than football!
Today the three of us went for another walk in Hampstead Heath, this time three hours! We met a nice lady with a little Staffie boy who does behavioural work with dogs. She and her dog helped us to get her to a point where she allowed the other Staffie to sniff her without growling. It took us about 20 minutes. She was happy to sit beside us while we chatted with the other dog really close to her. She was so good! I will do some more of this with her next weekend. If she can be this good with another dog after only 20 minutes then who knows, maybe she will be able to have doggy walking friends! Her grumpiness with other dogs is a confidence thing - as her confidence grew she visibly relaxed about other dogs being near her.
We put her back in her kennel in Gatwick this evening, with a brand new kong toy to play with. She loves that toy - she even fell asleep with it still in her mouth last night.
This dog is so special and so willing to learn, she will make such a special pet".

She is gorgeous, it is such a shame that she has not found somewhere yet

Another update from Rhianna's weekend fosterer!

"Sorry, just found this pic of her and she looks so sweet that I cant resist posting it. She knows how to relax after her walks :lol:



I wish we could have her permanently - whoever gets to give her a home is a very lucky dog owner. She is so fabulous and she always makes the saddest cry when I put her back in her kennel which is why I have to go back the next weekend to get her again.

She is such a special lady".

Rhianna's part-time fosterers took her on a four day break with them. Their circumstances mean they can't have a dog full-time so they take this girlie for break and weekends where they can to give her a break from kennel life. They would dearly love Rhianna to find a forever home. Here is their update:

We are back from our lovely holiday in Devon. Rhianna once again has proved herself to be a fabulous dog.

There were 6 of us on our trip including a friend who is nervous of dogs and she was fabulous with everyone.

We had lots of lovely walks on the beach. She was so desperate to run that we took the plunge and let her off the lead. So wish we had done it loads earlier as she is fab. She never lets you out of her sight. Her recall is pretty good these days, perfect if you have a ball in your hand. She played and played on the beach with balls. Poor thing is still not the fittest, her mind wants to go on but her body just wont run any more!!

She still isnt the biggest fan of other dogs but its not an issue. If a dog comes over we just pop her back on the lead for a bit while she has a growl and then let her off as soon as they leave her alone. She never goes after dogs she just doesnt want them sniffing her bottom.

The signs with the crate are pretty good as well. She cries much less at night time with the crate, in fact she slept right through the night. It could just have been that she was sooo tired from all the running on the beach, we will see if it still helps with her separation anxiety at home.

We are going to have her as many days as we can but unfortunately we cant keep her out of kennels all the time. Wish we could. I cant tell you how much Seb and I have fallen for gorgeous little Rhianna.
Anyway time for the photos, I warn you there are lots but she was so easy to photograph off the lead.






Rhianna with all her new friends.

Rhianna is lucky enough to have foster carers that cannot foster her full time back give her wonderful weekend breaks and holidays away from the kennels. Here is a recent update from them:
"Had such a lovely weekend with Rhianna. Yesterday spent the day on Hampstead Heath. Seb had the car so we got the overland. She was very well behaved on the train. On the Heath she was fantastic as usual. We went for a very long walk (partly on purpose, partly because I got lost)! We found a quieter area of the Heath where we played ball off leash, that is definitely her favourite thing to do.
She is so good walking past dogs on the Heath. She is still growly when dogs sniff her, or if they approach her when she is on the lead face on looking interested.
Seb and I, Rhianna and Digby went for a very long walk today - off leash!! They were fantastic. We had a minor incident at the beginning of the walk where Rhianna jumped up at me as she thought that I was going to throw something into the river for her to chase. Digby thought that was not on so tried to stop her (a little rich coming from Digby as he jumps up all the time!!). She saw him off, however she literally just chased him off and came back to me. When we saw there was no intent behind it, it completely relaxed Seb and I and we let them get on with it.
They ran and ran around together. Disapearing into the bushes together, running through the fields they were fantastic. So now I am wondering whether she is one of those funny dogs who is just grumpy on the lead and not off???
We then took it a step further, Mum wanted Seb and I to stay for supper so we thought that we would try them in the house. Again perfect! They just behaved like they had always lived together. Rhianna even started sniffing Digby - up untill then she would never sniff another dog. She still growled at him a little bit when she found his toys and pinched them, after we took them away they were fine again. She was so well behaved with Digby. We still fed them on seperate side of the kitchen just incase - Mum gave them left over roast chicken with their biscuits!
Rhianna's recall on walks is perfect. She is also starting to prove herself with other dogs. Her seperation anxiety is very, very nearly fixed, totally fixed if she is tired enough!
Unfortunately Seb has to put Rhianna back in kennels tomorrow for two nights. We will pick her up again on Wednesday afternoon. I hate having to put her back for two nights. She really, really deserves a home. When she is rehomed we will miss her like crazy but we are just not in position to keep her full time.
She is so special. We absolutely adore this dog.

Some pictures from Sunday. Am so so proud of her. She is such a lovely lady. We will start to try her out with other dogs now, not just Digby. Will let you know how we get on".

did not have time to walk for three months, how dare someone take on a dog and use that. i may not be able to take my girls out every day pending on the pub but that is awful. i hope she finds a forever home

Here is an update from Rhianna's fosterers:

"Rhianna went to visit Seb's Mum yesterday in Lamberhurst. All of the kids descended on his Mum's house - his sisters three and his brother's three. They range in age from 4 months to 10 years old and Rhianna was brilliant with all 6 of them, well 5 as she didnt meet the tiny one. She still had her collar on, even though its completely useless as she took the bandage off anyway over the course of the day.

Seb took her back to the vet this morning and she is fine, bandage off and also the collar - yeah! The backs of our knees I am sure will heal in time. She wasn't very charming in the vet. I may have a chat with them about taking her in there a few times and putting her on the table for treats etc, hopefully they will be ok with helping with that.

The rest of the time she is a delight, gorgeous sweet little dog. Although I have to say I am beginning to feel a little neglected myself and might put myself up for rehoming as Rhianna and Seb seem to only have eyes for each other!! Last night all I could hear from the other room was Seb telling her she was the most beautiful girl in the world and giving her a big kiss before coming to bed. I seem to have been ousted by a pooch!



You can't see me!!





As I was saying... ousted by a pooch!


Poor little dog :-( "