Looking for a pal for Roger

We currently have 12 year old Roger who until 3 weeks lived with his sister, Chasey but she sadly died of a cushings related illness. She had been receiving treatment for cushings for nearly 3 years so we were lucky to have her for so long. She died in our arms and in front of Roger too in the house before the vet arrived and it was the hardest thing we have ever had to go through. I am getting emotional just typing about it.

Roger seems to be coping really well, much better than we though he would but he has lost his spark at little. We have decided we want to rehome a Staffie and we are looking for a calm gentle female as we think this would be the most compatible. We would consider any age but would prefer a smaller dog as Roger is small too.

Over the weekend we introduced Roger to two females but they didn't get along very well. Roger is really nervous around other dogs and can't cope with dogs who are in his face so to speak as he just wants to run away and hide.

We are in the Newcastle area so if anyone knows of a match I would appreciate it if you can get in touch, we have had a home check done by one of the charities we contacted and we are more than happy for any kind of check needed for the right dog.

Thanks

John

Have you contacted any rescue centres ?

Yeah I have contacted a few and met two dogs so far but both where not suitable. I am waiting to hear back from a local rescue and plan to visit our local shelter at the weekend. The thing is though, getting one from a shelter you do not know the dog's history as they are mostly strays.

Finding a match for Roger has proved a lot more difficult than I expected.

These things take time. Was there any reason why he didn't get on with the others? Are you looking for a dog of a similar age? Maybe you could foster before adoption so that you really get to know the dog in the home before commiting? It is a chance taking in a stray but if it's a decent rescue centre they would have done lots of behavioural assessments before rehoming.

Excuse me for being devil's advocate here, but is this the right moment in old Roger's life to be bringing in a newcomer? Especially since you already describe him as being 'really nervous around other dogs'? You also say that Roger typically wants to run away and hide. If a new dog is introduced right into his home, where will he be able to hide? It could make him very unhappy in his old age. By making it clear that he didnt like the two females already, could he be trying to send a clear message?

Rachel33 wrote:These things take time. Was there any reason why he didn't get on with the others? Are you looking for a dog of a similar age? Maybe you could foster before adoption so that you really get to know the dog in the home before commiting? It is a chance taking in a stray but if it's a decent rescue centre they would have done lots of behavioural assessments before rehoming.

The female he met on Saturday bit him so that has affected him a little, the one on Sunday was too hyper for him and he was wary after the meeting the previous day.

Fostering sounds a very good option, thanks.

yeahbut wrote:Excuse me for being devil's advocate here, but is this the right moment in old Roger's life to be bringing in a newcomer? Especially since you already describe him as being 'really nervous around other dogs'? You also say that Roger typically wants to run away and hide. If a new dog is introduced right into his home, where will he be able to hide? It could make him very unhappy in his old age. By making it clear that he didnt like the two females already, could he be trying to send a clear message?

I take your point and maybe you are right but he really isn't himself since losing his sister. My wife has just had him out today and she bumped into someone with 6 dogs, they were all around him and he was fine so I'm hoping Saturday hasn't scared him too much.

He didn't used to be nervous around other dogs, this is only since he got bit.

Unfortunately its a chance you take with a rescue centre maybe you should be content with the one dog.

Mia05 wrote:Unfortunately its a chance you take with a rescue centre maybe you should be content with the one dog.

'content' we are not doing it for ourselves, we are doing it for Roger, he is flat and not himself as he has been used to having another dog around all of his life.

I did mean with regards to the dog. I realise he may miss the other dog just meant is it fair this stage in his life was all

Sounds like you just need to find the right dog for Roger, I'm sure she's out there, these things just take time x

There is a lot of guff written by people who purport to be able to see into the mind of a dog and to interpret its behaviour. Obviously a lot of money can be made out of this subject. However, one book that I would rate quite highly is John Bradshaw's 'In Defence of Dogs'. This author, a biologist at the University of Bristol, does at least try and peg his observations to some proper research. He talks about an experiment where dogs that had lived together for a long time were separated from each other to see what happened. The result was - not much, no indication of any upset at all, including no elevation of the stress hormone cortisol in their blood. When the dogs were separated from their principal carer though, that was a very different story - cortisol levels went up by 50%. He writes 'these dogs, although they had kept the company of another dog for their whole lives, behaved as if they were much more attached to their carer than to their brother or sister'. I cant give you the page number as I only have it on the kindle, but it's in chapter 5. Other people do believe that dogs have the capacity for grief (and perhaps they are right) but the author points out that grief requires complex cognitive abilities that we have no evidence for in dogs. If it seems like Roger is grieving, could it even be a reaction to your own grieving for the lost dog? They are so quick to pick up our emotions. At the end of the day, it is your decision to get another dog (or not). Whatever you do, I hope you can find a solution that can suit the jolly Roger, and that will help keep him jolly.

We lost Murphy in June and it took Madge at least two months to get back to mostly her normal self; we gave her lots of attention and made sure she had walks with other doggy pals. She gradually lost her sad demeanour so I would say give it time and you may find your lovely Roger gets his happy face back.

Having rescued Ledger with a lost history (change of rescue centre due to refurbishment) I can't speak highly enough for the matching process at dogs trust however I have been extremely lucky with a non destructive house trained dog. Yes he has his issues but we get good comments in the park and must have done something right as the dog walker says he's an absolute dream!

I have also considered getting a companion for him however it really would have to be the right dog female, smaller than him staffy or similar breed calm temperament etc One of our local kennels actively encourage their residents to be walked with owners dogs and we have been up to meet a couple and so far only walked alongside volunteers as I want to know its right before handling two dogs myself especially in the early days. For us it hasn't worked out so far but that kennel also do a week trial no obligation before you adopt as a small site it's a bit more flexible than the larger branded rescues so it may be worth finding somewhere similar that is happy for you to start with just walking Roger with other dogs and then possibly look to foster etc good luck