Tuesday 29 August 2017

Leisha Poodle

Leisha is now reserved and will soon be joining a new owner in a home where she will get the love and calm she needs.

We have a three-year-old spayed girl poodle who is looking for a new family.


Her name from her previous home is Leisha, but I feel she would benefit from having a new name to give her a fresh start. Her registered name is Vega so her new family could use that, or choose something new. Dogs are complicated social creatures, and in order to help define the sort of home this girl needs, it’s necessary to explain some of her history.

Leisha was born and bred here and is from health-tested parents (both BVA eye tested clear, clear SA biopsies, genetically clear vWD NE DM, BVA hip scored 3+4=7 & 2+2=4). She went to live in a household with several other dogs. Her best dog friend was a GSD boy the same age as her, and she also got on well with another, older standard poodle. Unfortunately she did not get on with a small-breed fear-aggressive male dog. This situation escalated when her owner unfortunately had to go into hospital and Leisha sadly ended up having to stay in kennels at this time. Her owner was unwell for some time after the incident, and Leisha became stressed and clingy and the situation with the small dog deteriorated further, and in particular because of the size difference this became a risky situation and is the reason she is looking for a new home.

Like some of her relatives, Leisha is a very loving and human-oriented poodle who has the need to bond closely with a person. She is rather less in tune with other dogs, and her play with them tends to be quite rough and often she isn’t very observant of other dogs’ body language. She has met each of my dogs individually for one-on-one assessment and she behaves well, but gives clear signals of stress when dogs come into her personal space to smell her, which most likely comes from negative experiences with fear-aggressive dogs. She will need controlled interactions with safe dogs to help her build confidence (continuous advice and support will be provided). She has done scentwork and recently has been working as a therapy dog at a nursing home, and she needs a home where someone wants to work with her to build that special connection she craves. She needs a home where she is either the only dog in the house, or will join a very sensible and calm dog who is as big or bigger than her, a confident working or guarding breed would be ideal as she can draw mental strength from another dog’s confidence. A couple or single person would be ideal, but households with teenagers (the sort who study hard rather than party hard!) and other situations with settled adults would also be suitable. She is well behaved with children, but needs a calm home environment.

Leisha is (as one would expect from an adult dog) fully housetrained and knows obedience commands well. She tends to be settled and quiet indoors and prefers to curl up in peace on a sofa or bed, ideally close to a person. She doesn’t bounce around barking at noises (Adhara, I’m looking at you) or use the furniture like it’s the set of Gladiators (Otto and Saffi, the same). Outside, she enjoys walks and walks well on a loose lead. I’ve not let her off lead yet while she gets used to us, as all the paddocks have animals in at present. She has thus far shown little interest in farm animals.

If you think you can offer Leisha the loving home she needs and deserves, please get in touch. While Leisha will of course stay here for as long as it takes for the right family to be found, finding her a permanent home is a priority as she is in desperate need of stability and a clean start after what she’s been through, and unfortunately she is not going to thrive here where there’s an established group of 5 other dogs. I would be grateful if this post could be passed on to anyone who may be suitable.

2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. That is the question -- where is the line between a dark blue and a dingy black? :-)

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