Ziggy Yorkie DofB 13.07.14 Biggin Hill

[Mon&Chris]

We had a fantastic first night with Ziggy. We gave him a selection of 2 comfy beds with blankets, but he decided he wanted to be on our bed - obviously! . He settled really well. He didn’t mind us moving about a bit and getting comfy. During the night he slept really well and we think at some point he crawled off to sleep in his own bed. In the morning he hopped back on our bed and once he realised we were up, he commando crawled up to us for cuddles.

As mentioned previously, we’re cuddling on his terms…. well… it turns out this little chap loves cuddles. He also loves to run around and play with balls and other toys.

He ate well this morning and we went for a walk up the high street. He’s completely fine with traffic and people and was very happy to sniff about and take it all in. We got back and played with his balls which he loves. We’re still going to go slowly with him as he acclimatises and do affection on his terms, but so far so good. A quick video of morning cuddles with Ziggy below… and a play time with cuddles video. What a cute dude!

[Mon&Chris]

We have extended Ziggy’s foster break, as he’s been such a wonderful guest. His lovely personality has been coming through more and more each day. He’s used to home comforts and he’s really respectful around the house. He enjoys sniffing everything, but he’s really gently with things. He’s 100% toilet trained and will let you know when he wants to go out by standing at the door to the garden.
He loves playing with toys and will bring them to you when he wants a bit of a play. He loves chasing balls, but you need 2 as he doesn’t always bring them back. He loves playing with balls, but he’s not obsessed with them and will let you know when he’s tired.
He walks well on a lead and doesn’t mind traffic. We had to cross a few busy roads and he was great at it. He knows his name and listens to directions well.
He’s very cuddly and loves snuggling up to us on the sofa and in bed.
He has a good appetite and also likes healthy treats like raw carrots and apples.
He’s overall a wonderful pooch and we do hope he finds his retirement sofa very very soon!

[Mon&Chris]

We managed to trim his fringe. We can finally see Ziggy's beautiful eyes!

[Nicky Bassett]

That’s amazing! He can see!

[Chrissy M]

How lovely to see this little chap in foster , lovely videos

[Mon&Chris]

Ziggy has found his furever home with lovely Kim!
Have a wonderful time together!

[xxlynne]

Happy families!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Kim

[Ziggy]

Ziggy is settling in well, noticed he has calmed down and relaxing more the last 2 days. He sleeps well at night and loves his food and tennis balls.

He met the postman yesterday - looked in his bag and stretched up to try and look in his mail trolley. So pleased with his progress, but still taking it slow!

[Ziggy]

Ziggy is doing well after just over two weeks in his new home. We have a zoom call with a dog behaviourist tomorrow. Ziggy does not like people running along the path or scooters so will address this.

Ziggy has met a few small dogs and walks quite happily and takes treats with Maisie a female Yorkie.

[Ziggy]

Dog behaviourist who works in dog rescue passed on useful info to me. More sleep has helped Ziggy learn to relax, he sleeps well at night and eats well from day one.

I was so worried and stressed that I couldn’t enjoy or understand anything about my new home in the first few days and weeks.
There is far too much to go through with you here now, but I wanted to share with you the
most important bits that me and any rescue dog need in the first few weeks of living in a
new home to give you some idea of how to help us feel safe and relaxed.

Exercise

The biggie - nope, we DO NOT want to rush headlong out into the big blue yonder on walks
and be shown all the highlights of our new environment. That’s way too scary, our brains
can’t cope with all that new stuff yet. We MAY be up for a 10min sniffy walk but mostly we
are not – I certainly wasn’t. I just wanted to potter in the garden, sniffing out my new home
and getting used to all the different things there – oh and get used to you too – our new
‘Lovely People’.

Cuddles

Highly likely a NO on that too. We don’t know you from Adam – some of us may have had bad experiences with humans and the last thing we need is to be cuddled and fussed over where we can’t move away if we feel we
want to. That’s way too scary too. We need time to get to know and trust you first – we’ll come to you when we feel ready for some fuss.

Play

Ah now, you may think we want to play lots of chase games or take part in lots of very over exciting activities with you the day you collect us but that will not help our already raised adrenaline levels in those early days. We
just may not be able to cope with that, in fact it could mean we will be able to cope less with
everything going on in our new life and this could make things worse for us and you.

Food

In the early days most of us will be too stressed to eat properly. So let us take our time. We
would probably appreciate having something to chew, or forage or lick because that helps
us feel better about life – that’s called enrichment apparently. Oh and please, we don’t want to have to work for our food – that again makes us feel insecure if you are making us wait for our food or just making it too difficult for us to fulfil that need easily.

Sleep

Oh boy do we need good quality sleep – you know how it feels when you can’t sleep. Good
quality sleep is vital for us when we may not have had much of this in the lead up to our
rehome and we certainly won’t sleep too well in the first few days in a new home – way too
stressed to sleep as much as we should. So you can help us by giving us lots of choice of
where we can sleep – different types of beds in different places – some raised positions too
as that helps us feel safer. Allowing us to lay out flat will also help us to regulate our
temperature – which also helps us feel secure. Remember that choice in all things always
helps us feel emotionally better about life.
So please just let us sleep – it helps us recover from the stress of a move.

These are the absolute basic needs for us rescue dogs, whatever background we have come from. We need to feel safe, have choices and plenty of sleep – we don’t want to go for a five mile hike or a 10 mile run or go visiting all your friends and family the day you adopt us –
please, that’s the last thing we want in those early days it’s way way too stressful. We just
need time to take a breath and ‘noodle’ around in our new home while we get to know you