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| Denzil enjoying a little attention. |
Denzil, our American Bulldog in rehab, has been out for quite a long walk today around the sanctuary. He's had some short walks...some successful, and some not so successful, but today was definitely a success.
The routine set out by Anne since Denzil's arrival has been one of ensuring that he feels safe and secure in the sanctuary, without feeling threatened by people or other dogs. Over a 3 month period, this has had a marked effect on him.
Anne and one of her dog handlers, Alan, walked him down to the stream and then up through the woods. We were accompanied, as we usually are, by two or three of our resident dogs who are scared of missing something. Despite being growled at by a senile miniature Jack Russell terrier, Denzil didn't show any sign of aggression. In fact, he wagged his tail at the terrier and carried on walking. He probably thought, "Just what on earth do you actually plan to do to me?", laughed at him, and walked on. Denzil completely ignored the alpacas, which is a good sign, and when Sooty May, our resident Welsh Cob, trotted over to say hello to us (and see if we had any goodies), he once again completely ignored her.
We found that Denzil became a little jumpy when the extension lead caught on his tail, and when he got the lead caught around his legs, he got very panicky. He looked for a short while like he might become aggressive, but reading his body language, we could see that he just wanted to free himself. He was given enough space and loose lead to sort himself out, and then he came for some love. He'll soon learn that the lead won't bite him.
We were more than impressed with Denzil's progress today. He's like a different dog to the one that was growling and barking at everybody a couple of months ago. Today was a very small step in a long process towards complete rehabilitation and eventual rehoming. We'll get there, and Denzil must be feeling the improvement in his quality of life from successfully interacting with people and other dogs.
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| Denzil, with resident dog Serin |
