westie rescue

sunflower!

Does anyone have the contact details for them or have details as to where they will travel to or do you travel to them>??? i have a 2 year old westie that needs to be rehomed, lovely doggie but aggressive with strangers and it just isnt possible for us to keep him. :(:(

carwash_2006

Maureen Byrne - 086 8200010

She will usually manage transport via volunteers if you are too far away. Best thing is to give her a call, she will probably need a week or 2 to find space for him, she's usually fairly up to her eyes in westies.

opti76

Unhelpful comment.

sunflower!

thanks for the rude and unhelpful comment. if you had bothered to ask i could have told you that we only recently took on the dog on a trial basis to see if we could care for him but as we live in a residential area with children i think the RESPONSIBLE thing to do is to find somewhere the dog can be happy without being tied up all day. it was a heart breaking decision to have to make but as a recently qualified teacher who has been unable to find work with a partner who has recently returned to college a dog trainer is a little outside my stretch at the moment

opti76

sunflower! wrote: »

thanks for the rude and unhelpful comment. if you had bothered to ask i could have told you that we only recently took on the dog on a trial basis to see if we could care for him but as we live in a residential area with children i think the RESPONSIBLE thing to do is to find somewhere the dog can be happy without being tied up all day. it was a heart breaking decision to have to make but as a recently qualified teacher who has been unable to find work with a partner who has recently returned to college a dog trainer is a little outside my stretch at the moment

real heartbreaking decision..

repeat it often enough and youl believe it.. u forgot to add the recession as one of your excuses..

ok what efforts have you made to rectify his aggression to strangers??????
is he neutuered..

ur at home all day he coud be trained very easily... its a real easy decision to make when you couldnt be arsed to take the responsibility seriously.. as you said youonly took him on trial.. pet ownership is 100% or nothing at all..

carwash_2006

I'm sorry, but an awful lot of westies need professional assessment and help due to having been let away with far too much, along with being stubborn little feckers.

Maureen Byrne is also a behaviorist and is much better placed for dealing with aggression problems than the average person. I think the dog is lucky to be being given a chance and not just sent on a one way trip to the vets like a lot would be in this sort of situation.

turtle dubh

OPT Do you really have to be so rude. If this in what the OP wants to do that is her choice.

sunflower!

thanks!! we are taking him to be assessed tomorrow anyway and are planning on waiting to see what the trainer has to say to see if the behaviour can be reversed but just wanted to speak with the rescue people to be prepared for the worst case

opti76

Not helpful.

cotton

I can only echo what Carwash has said.
Maureen who runs westie rescue is also one of the top, if not the top behavourist in the country.
She's a really, really lovely woman too.
A phonecall to her really might help make a difference between rehoming your dog & helping you have a great dog.

sunflower!

thanks for all the help and thanks to the mods for removing the 'unhelpful comments'!! i really have been very upset about it all day, he is such a sweet loving dog with me and my partner but is really aggressive whenever anyone comes to the gate or house, there was an incident with the post man who actually kicked the dog and so we got a post box hoping it was just the postman he was aggressive with however since then he has been really snappy whenever anyone comes to the gate or the door!! hoping that maybe some training could help i'll ring that lady in the am anyway see if she can help.

opti76

opti76 wrote: »

Not helpful.

might not have been helpful hell razer but its honest..

pounds are full of animals people are not prepared for..

she decided to take in this animal without thinking it through...

and also the lack of a pm from the over zealous mods explaing there decision to remove my post that did not contravene any of the rules contained in the charter is a little bit ignorant..

i love how free speech is ignored when a woman is the protaganist in the op..

men who have posted similar thread have been chastised for irresponsible pet ownership.

kerrysgold

Where is he kept? you say it's not fair to keep him "tied up" ..... do you have a secure garden for him or is he left to wander? don't see what the connection is between the dog and kids on your estate if he is kept in your garden and is walked on a lead?

sunflower!

he is currently in a walled in garden and has free run but as i said he is becoming increasingly aggressive and a lot of the kids and adults around lean over the gate to try to pet him, (he is very cute) im afraid i cant always be here to watch him!! he went crazy when a friend of mine called in today and really tried to go for her!! (totally unprovoked!) i do think the way the postman treated him has alot to do with his behaviour but it is getting worrying there are also children next door who have been known to hop the wall for balls etc id be afraid he'd go for one of them,

for the record i didnt take the decision to take on this dog lightly at all in fact i didnt feel it was a good idea but as it belonged to an elderly relative who was unable to look after him, i was put under a lot of pressure to take him esp b/c he was suffering from a skin condition as westies do and she felt another family might not take him on as it can be expensive to sort. however after much love and attention here he has recovered totally from this,

i dont want to give him away but as i said im not sure my home is the best place for him, i feel the way he is going he will eventually bite and as we are in a rented home securing the property any more than it is isn't really an option, we could lock up the gate but i also run grinds (for children) from home and at the moment i would be worried about having children in the house with him

kerrysgold

how much exersize does he get and what is he fed on?

if a dog isn't getting enough exersize it can lead to aggression/frustration, also, if he is eating a food that has additives in it (i.e. any supermarket brand) this could be causing hyperactivity.

opti76

how big is the back garden????? why does he have to be out the front. is he aggressive with strangers inside your home our outside??
does he fight with other dogs

is he neutured.

its a very fixable problem.
but you dodnt come here looking to fix it you came here looking to get rid of him..

Top Dog

opti76 wrote: »

but you dodnt come here looking to fix it you came here looking to get rid of him..

No, she came on here looking for contact details for a rescue because she doesn't feel she has the necessary abilities to curb the behaviour herself. Cut her some slack for dogs sake, if you bother to read the entire content of her posts you might realise that she's trying to do her best by the dog. :rolleyes:

It may well be a fixable problem, so why not make suggestions instead of harassing the woman?

The Sweeper

opti, in the post you wrote that was deleted, you posted something like "You probably should get rid of him, because you obviously can't look after him properly".

Yes. You're right. The OP knows she cannot properly manage this dog, and instead of handing him into a pound with a kill policy, or straying him onto the road, she's come on here looking for a good place who will rehome him appropriately.

Now get the hell off her back about it and stop being preachy - as far as you're concerned she's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't.

Here's an astonishing thought for you - if my mother in law dropped dead tomorrow and the care of her two jack russell crosses fell to me, I'd rehome them. One suffers anxiety and is biddable but snappy. The other is beligerent and food aggressive with dominancy issues and also a tendancy to bite. They're about eight years old. I'd continue to care for them at my own home and work with every pound in and rescue in the state to find someone appropriate who would like and appreciate these dogs - who frankly would be better off split up, because the firmness that the dominant dog requires reduces the anxious dog to nervous tail-chasing, and the coaxing the anxious dog requires heralds the onset of aggression by the dominant dog. But there's no way in hell I'd keep them.

Would I care what you think? No, because I would be doing the best thing for those dogs. I don't like them. They're trainable, but not while they're together because they require utterly different handling. I don't want to deal with them. Because I dislike them, I wouldn't be giving them the interest and affection and fair chance they deserve as dogs.

If you can't cope with the dog, and you can't deal with it, and you know that, the most responsible thing is to rehome it to someone who can cope with it, deal with it and care for it properly, instead of leaving it in your backgarden, fed and watered but totally ignored, like a whole bunch of people who have dogs that they found they couldn't deal with.

opti76

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

opti, in the post you wrote that was deleted, you posted something like "You probably should get rid of him, because you obviously can't look after him properly".

Yes. You're right. The OP knows she cannot properly manage this dog, and instead of handing him into a pound with a kill policy, or straying him onto the road, she's come on here looking for a good place who will rehome him appropriately.

Now get the hell off her back about it and stop being preachy - as far as you're concerned she's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't.

Here's an astonishing thought for you - if my mother in law dropped dead tomorrow and the care of her two jack russell crosses fell to me, I'd rehome them. One suffers anxiety and is biddable but snappy. The other is beligerent and food aggressive with dominancy issues and also a tendancy to bite. They're about eight years old. I'd continue to care for them at my own home and work with every pound in and rescue in the state to find someone appropriate who would like and appreciate these dogs - who frankly would be better off split up, because the firmness that the dominant dog requires reduces the anxious dog to nervous tail-chasing, and the coaxing the anxious dog requires heralds the onset of aggression by the dominant dog. But there's no way in hell I'd keep them.

Would I care what you think? No, because I would be doing the best thing for those dogs. I don't like them. They're trainable, but not while they're together because they require utterly different handling. I don't want to deal with them. Because I dislike them, I wouldn't be giving them the interest and affection and fair chance they deserve as dogs.

If you can't cope with the dog, and you can't deal with it, and you know that, the most responsible thing is to rehome it to someone who can cope with it, deal with it and care for it properly, instead of leaving it in your backgarden, fed and watered but totally ignored, like a whole bunch of people who have dogs that they found they couldn't deal with.

but would you take them in on a trial period????
no because youve though the ramifications through. regardless of fmily pressure she should have said no without giving the dog a home and then taking it away.

i know she hasnt done this yet and i hope she gets it sorted but im sick im people dumping dogs because "i cant cope"


needless to say this isnt my favourite time of the year..

opti76

sunflower! wrote: »

Does anyone have the contact details for them or have details as to where they will travel to or do you travel to them>??? i have a 2 year old westie that needs to be rehomed, lovely doggie but aggressive with strangers and it just isnt possible for us to keep him. :(:(

really looked for help dealing with his issues.

opti76

Top Dog wrote: »

No, she came on here looking for contact details for a rescue because she doesn't feel she has the necessary abilities to curb the behaviour herself. Cut her some slack for dogs sake, if you bother to read the entire content of her posts you might realise that she's trying to do her best by the dog. :rolleyes:

It may well be a fixable problem, so why not make suggestions instead of harassing the woman?

ahem have alook just up there rob ..

where did she look for help in the initial post.. as i said she came here looking to get rid of the problem not fix it.

after my comments she has now decided to get him assessed. so at least thats something

Top Dog

opti76 wrote: »

where did she look for help in the initial post.

I don't believe I claimed she looked for help

Yes, its great that she's now (hopefully) going to get the dog assessed before making any decisions on his homing. But have you ever heard the saying that you catch more bee's with honey? A person is much more likely to be receptive to suggestions and information if they do not feel like they've been pounced on.

golden

Why are people getting so aggressive lately on boards. Surely boards is a good communication tool to help out other posters problems. If you cant say anything nice dont say anything at all.

spurscormac

golden wrote: »

Why are people getting so aggressive lately on boards. Surely boards is a good communication tool to help out other posters problems. If you cant say anything nice dont say anything at all.

+1

luckat

golden wrote: »

Why are people getting so aggressive lately on boards. Surely boards is a good communication tool to help out other posters problems. If you cant say anything nice dont say anything at all.

Real sign of the stress people are under. Let's all take our Westies, etc, and go and sic 'em on the bankers.

Seriously, OP, I'm very sorry to hear about this problem. Westies can be little beauties, sweet and affectionate. Yours may just be suffering a period of anxiety after being rehomed; with patience and gentleness, and offering treats *when you see someone coming* but NOT when he's started to growl, and by crouching down and talking to him gently and quietly until the 'threat' has passed, you may help him to grow out of this.

(My mother's cat was weirdly aggressive and unpredictable when I first took her in, after a few traumatic months. She gradually calmed down with gentleness and affection, and became an absolute darling.)

The suggestion to go to the Westie specialist is a good one. I hope she can help you.

sunflower!

clearly opt has a very high opinion of his 'advise' my partner and i had already decided to take the dog to a trainer whose number i was able to find on boards early yesterday afternoon. i was however unable to find the number for westie rescue which is why i posted asking for it. i wasn't aware people needed your life story to answer a simple question. i posted some simple background to explain my resoning for wanting the number, not expecting to be ranted at,

i appreciate all the advice and as i said will be having the dog assessed i am however a grown woman who is not going to be guilted into keeping an aggressive dog by some stranger

most people i know would do their best to try to help a relative in this position,

thanks for the help i'll post after we have the dog assessed and let you know

Top Dog

Good luck sunflower, and please do update us after the assessment.

luckat

The pooch's aggression may not be a permanent part of his personality - it may be an effect of the extreme stress of his changing circumstances.

Lookie here:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20081012/tuk-pets-suffer-when-owners-split-dba1618.html

Pets suffer when owners split

Sunday, October 12 04:43 pm
ITN

Stressed-out cats and dogs are suffering compulsive disorders because of Britain's high break-up rate between couples, an animal charity has claimed.

The increasing frequency of relationship breakdowns means pets are developing obsessive and compulsive disorders, including self-harming, because of the stress caused by their owners breaking up.

Leading UK veterinary charity, the PDSA (People's Dispensary for Sick Animals), is now urging owners to make the well-being of their pets a central part of the process of agreeing to a separation.

Sean Wensley, senior vet at PDSA, said: "Dogs that are stressed can show signs of compulsive disorder.

"This may include chasing their own tail or excessive licking of one or more limbs. As a result of such licking, the area can become raw and itchy, which in turn leads to further licking or chewing.

<snip>

In my own, limited, experience, angry, frightened animals can calm down and become loving pets if they're smoothed down with love and gentleness and privacy and joyous training.