Brandy's Story: Brandy came into care on welfare grounds. Rescue Remedies offered a Rescue place saving his life. Brandy is now neutered, chipped, and fully vaccinated. Brandy came in to our Rescue Centre nr Gatwick whilst awaiting his new family.
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Please note: Dog laws have changed, with zero public tolerance and prejudice against bull breeds and terriers in particular. Our Rescue asks new owners to keep their dog on a lead in public spaces and manage and support its encounters with new dogs and people, so as not to place the dog's life at risk. Destruction and Control Orders are commonplace nowadays.
Brandy's progress through our Rescue is below. We work with our dogs, who often reveal an evolving picture and positive skills as they build trust.
Original referral information: We have been asked to help Paulo
Brandy came into RescueRemedies on the 17th February 25
I walked Brandy today what a beautiful boy. He was a bit anxious at first but he soon settled. Brandy walked really well on the lead and he was happy to stop and wait when you ask him. We walked with Casey and Shadow lab. Happy to be with other dogs and seemed as though he wanted to play. Picked up a stick and a ball on the walk because Shadow lab did.
Some horses came past and he was interested but didn’t bark or lunge; he was perfectly fine. He was so good when someone walked past with their dog.
He likes people.
He is such pleasure to walk.
Brandy has been to stay for a couple of days. He is a sweet, fun and sprightly boy. He is good on his walks whether on a shorter or extendable lead and loves to sniff around. He has quite a bit of energy initially on walks which settles as the walk progresses. He enjoys saying hello to other dogs and people. He says hello gently and doesn’t jump up (although he did to my grandma). There is a tiny bit of nervousness about him when he says hello to people but when they say hello gently he is happy to be stroked.
He was fairly nervous initially when I got him from the kennel and refused to get in my car. He let me pick him up and put him in. He dislikes the boot being shut but is very good in the car. He has got a little more confident in the car over the journeys we have taken and now sits up in the boot and looks around. Just as we were leaving the rescue Brandy decided it would be a fantastic idea to roll in poo, so our immediate task when we got home was to give him a shower. He couldn’t be lured in with a treat so I picked him up into the shower. He wasn’t thrilled with the shower but stood there as I washed him and dried him after.
Brandy can be quite grabby and play bites when you put his lead on, play with him or he is restless. With his lead I gave him a crunchy treat whilst I put on the harness and then again with the collar and lead which occupies him so I can put it on. In time he will learn not to grab with the lead and it might be a stress thing which will dissipate when he settles in his forever home. The playing and restless needs some work of positive rewarding when he doesn’t do it, ignoring him when he does and redirecting on a toy.
He has been very alert which I think is probably just him although he doesn’t bark much unless it’s a really strange noise. I was looking in my breed book and he looks very much like a Finnish Spitz cross which is intriguing. He seems to love nothing more than a nap on the sofa or a snuggle. He sleeps on the sofa and is happy to sleep there all the night dreaming away about who knows what. He is also clean in the flat and goes out at the scheduled toilet break.
On Sunday we visited the pet shop to weigh him and buy some wet food as dry food doesn’t seem to be top menu choice. He was so good and met a huge rottweiler who were both gentle. Then we sat in the outdoor café where he watched the world and then we went to my grandparents where he got excited but did eventually nap on the floor. He was very gentle meeting everyone. Brandy is a sweet boy!
Brandy has had a fab weekend with me. We have met up and spent time at my parents on both Saturday and Sunday. He thoroughly enjoyed running around their garden and chasing after a ball. I think he could have done it all day. Brandy doesn’t know loads of commands but throwing a tennis ball around at the weekend lept him forward to learning fetch. When you throw the ball he runs off, brings it back and when you point to the floor he drops it. He seems to have some interest in the idea of gardening but it is not a complete picture. He will be a great help if you need some plants or soil to be flattened or need to trim anything. He is fairly easy to distract with the tennis ball though.
He is doing great on walks still and loves the initial excitement of a walk. He is good on the extendable lead and after a couple of zoomies to the end of the lead at the beginning of the walk he walks calmly for the rest. He has really grown in confidence over the last week which is amazing to see. His cute personality is starting to show and he has been actively coming up for cuddles. He happily jumps in the car and now doesn’t cower when I shut the boot. Before he wouldn’t go in the boot and would hide himself in the corner when in. He is enjoying meeting new people and dogs and does pull towards them. We come across a lot of dogs off lead who stay off lead whilst Brandy is on the lead. He desperately wants to play with them and whilst on the extendable lead I can let him have a little play without it getting uncontrollable for my arm. As he has grown in confidence he has realised other dogs are fun and has wanted to play with them more.
He is getting less grabby and mouthy in general. He doesn’t tend to listen if you do the trick of yelping but he is starting to learn when you say no and disengage with him that being grabby is not the correct type of play. He is really getting there with not being grabby when putting his harness, collar and lead on. I can now take it all off him while he just stands there. I still use the treat to put it on but I am sure it will only be a matter of time before he gets it.
Yesterday we went to the pub which he loved and he lounged on the grass next to me. We also went to the pet shop at the weekend where he met some dogs and people. He was perplexed by the ceiling fans and he went up on his back legs like a meerkat to stare at them. Brandy has an interesting relationship with motorbikes or people on motorbikes where he stares, huffs at them and barks if they get close.
Brandy is doing so well, he needs a bit more work but he really is a little gem!
He knows he looks pretty, what a pose
Forgot to mention, he is happy to be left home alone in the living room. This was him on the camera when I left him for an hour.
Brandy's chosen toy monkey
Under the picnic table
Nap time after chasing tennis balls
Hi :)
Resting in the garden after having a busy session of gardening and running
Pub snacks
Ooh you have food too. Brandy can beg but can be distracted and is starting to listen when you say no.
Brandy has had a good couple of weeks with me in my flat. He is improving all the time, and he is a joy to have around. He is enjoying playing with toys and I bought him a chew toy as I noticed him having a go at some of the furniture. He still has his moments when he is mouthy and when I ignore him he either moves on to a toy, lies down or I go back to stroke him until he isn’t mouthy. This also extends to getting his harness, collar, and lead on which I have been doing without him getting mouthy which is a real achievement and shows his potential with the right training. He has also started to rag the lead a bit when we go up and down the stairs of the flat, but he is listening to me when I say ah no or I drop the lead, make him sit and then we continue when he doesn’t rag it.
I think Brandy could be about 1 or 2 based on his playfulness, energy, and training. Brandy can be stubborn which if I am correct about his breed is a common trait so sometimes, he just doesn’t listen so you need to adapt training to see what is working although this could be because he has lacked having much training in his life so far. We have started practising stay, come, wait and off which is going okay and there is a bit of improvement. Off takes him a bit of time, when he jumps up at the table or the counter, I don’t move him off but say off several times and he comes down. Any dog will take time to settle and work out those training kinks when new behaviours arise.
Last weekend I took Brandy to a café in Woking with friends and he was so good. Initially he was excited and maybe a bit overstimulated, but he calmed down. We walked past loads of people eating and some people said hello to him. I took him in the café and into the toilet cubicle with me (I am not sure what he made of this and he sat in front of me like what are we doing in here). We sat down and had lunch where I had already brought a chew for him, and he sat under the table with it whilst we ate. We then went on a walk, and he met lots of dogs again. He did so well, and he is good when out and about.
Out on walks he is so good and has met lots of dogs. He is quite excited to meet other dogs and can jump in the air and get excited. The start of our walks there is usually quite a bit of excitement, but he settles quickly and absolutely loves going on a walk. He is getting the hang of being on the extendable lead and is listening when I do a gentle tug on the lead and say come on lets go.
I took Brandy to a secure field on Saturday which he loved, and he ran around for the whole hour. Unfortunately, I sprained my ankle quite bad (tripped in a pothole, typical). So, we went to my parent’s house so I could rest and didn’t have to deal with the stairs for his toilet breaks. Brandy was generally good as we had been there a few times. But we had only been there for a few hours at a time and this time it was the whole day so he had moments where he got (I think) too overstimulated and then later in the day he got v tired. This resulted in him becoming v mouthy and he wouldn’t settle so we came back to my flat where he settled on the sofa instantly and fell asleep. Although he was overstimulated towards the end of the day at the beginning of the day he was settling in the garden well, did bark at the neighbours a few times when they made strange noises but when they were talking, he just listened and didn’t bark. When I did trip Brandy was so sweet and gave me a kiss, he did seem somewhat worried about me. Brandy is back at the kennels whilst I recover but I am sure he will be back unless homed.
I think Brandy would benefit from a calm household with owners who are experienced with dogs and had dogs as adults. When people come into my flat, he can also get quite over stimulated and jump over them and be mouthy but as long as you stay calm and ignore him when he is mouthy, he can be a delightfully sweet boy. For example, my family are calm with him, and he loves to have his head stroked and tummy tickled by them.
I have so many pictures and videos of Brandy, I decided to put them into a video, enjoy. As you can see from the pictures the right home and right owners will be rewarded with this adorable energetic boy. He has got cuddly as he has settled and loves climbing on me, then I pick him up so he is lying on me, and he falls asleep ❤
