Doggie Details

Current status:

Available

I am a:

Lurcher

I am:

Female

I would not like:

An active home who will enjoy training sessions with me

My favourite thing is:

Playing games, especially tug

My personality:

Exuberant, energetic, clever

Child Friendly:

Adult only home (no children)

Dog Friendly:

Needs to be an only dog

Cat Friendly:

Not cat trainable

Location:

Devon

Important: Please read our latest COVID guidelines before you apply to adopt this lovely hound.

Meet Coco! This bouncy girl is a two-year-old staffie/whippet, and is definitely full to the brim with beans! She is definitely more staffie (or possibly even collie!) than whippet in behaviour and personality. She’s incredibly intelligent, energetic and enthusiastic.

Coco loves to run and play, so a home with a large secure garden environment where she can zoom her head off would be ideal. Coco has previously been a pet, and lived in a home her whole life showing herself to be clean and able to be left for short periods once she is settled.

Coco is currently working hard on her behaviour around other dogs, and is doing so well. Due to negative past experiences she can be dog reactive – this means that in certain scenarios she will lunge and bark when encountering unfamiliar dogs. This behaviour is caused by a combination of over-excitement and frustration, but also feelings of worry about other dogs. Our staff have been working with Coco to teach her more appropriate ways of managing her emotions, and she is now able to walk with and even say hello to other dogs with support from her handler.

Coco has a lot of canine friends now, and her coping skills should continue to improve as long as her training plan is followed. Realistically she will probably never be a candidate for walks in parks, on busy beaches or other areas with a lot of unfamiliar dogs. Reactive dogs can learn to cope more easily with things they find difficult, but they will generally always need some level of support from their handler, and consideration about what activities are appropriate for them. Coco’s amazing progress so far must be maintained by following her training program on an ongoing basis, otherwise she is likely to regress.

Coco’s perfect home would be in either a rural area where other dogs are few and far between, or a suburban area where she can have road walks away from parks and public off-lead areas. Easy access to a secure, private area for off-lead exercise (such as a secure field for private hire) or a secure garden large enough to run in would be ideal. You must be physically fit enough to keep up with her exercise needs (and because she can be strong when excited!) and looking for a project dog to continue working with using reward-based training methods, with support from our behaviour team.

What Coco currently needs:

• A quiet, adult-only home.
• To be an only dog
• A secure garden
• Walking areas where other dogs can easily be avoided when necessary
• An active home – she is not a couch potato and needs activities to occupy her big brain!
• Adopters looking for a “project dog” and who will actively enjoy training Coco
• Adopters with realistic expectations of living with a reactive dog