Kim and Tommy (1 year old)
"I chose him because had a sorrowful faraway look on his little face. He was found by a member of the public as a little puppy with his siblings and they brought him to Barking Mad Dog Rescue.
The first time we met he was extremely tired and slept all the way home in the car for two hours. He was scared at first of going outside, but he was fine in the garden and didn't even need to be house trained.
It didn't take him long to make himself at home. Two weeks and I had given in to letting him sleep on the bed! It’s near enough impossible to get him in the bath or vets though. He is also getting a bit more confidence going into other people's homes, and his favourite place is now at home in front of the log fire.
The DNA test said he was a Whippet, Fox Hound, and Border Collie. He has little quirks like he can fall asleep standing up, he loves a good road trip with the windows down just enough to stick a tiny bit of his nose out, and he loves a visit to our neighbours dog Max and will quite happily pinch his toys!
You don't know what these dogs have been through in the past so you need to have patience and be understanding. But it's so worth it and you won't look back.”
There were some challenges. We had to not only train the dog but train ourselves. Ellie is super independent, so this took some getting used to. It is only now looking back, do we realise how far we have come. Ellie can now be let off the lead! Her recall was non-existent; she is obviously part Husky and coupled with having been on the streets for a period of time it has taken us months of training to get to this point. We are not there 100% (forget it if squirrels are about), but we have come so far.
Rex too - he is very easy going, but can be lead reactive to some dogs who are near him. We are working to counter condition this with things like treats in the presence of others and already we are seeing so much improvement. With a bit of work and training classes we will get there.
The professionalism of Barking Mad is second to none and you know they really care about each and every dog. Take your time to do some research as it is a big undertaking in general, but if you decide to do it with them, you will never look back.”