NIKKI is a spayed labrador, aged between 3 & 4 years old. She is a really lovely, gentle girl who loves attention and fuss and who is absolutely great with children of all ages and adults alike.

She is a total delight to have around the house. She is fully housetrained, walks well on her lead and travels very well in a car. Nikki was originally in foster with Natasha and family in Kent who said "I will be sad to see her go as she is a lovely easy dog in our home and she has lots of love to give."

After an unsuccessful rehoming which broke everyone's hearts, Nikki then went back into foster and is living in Derbyshire with Fran who has little Taz and the gorgeous, very gentle Sabre (GSD) who have both helped Nikki tremendously. Several people have been interested in her but we were looking for the perfect home for her and we all thought we had found it. The family had to wait whilst Nikki went through a very traumatic spaying but then, sadly, two days before they were due to meet up, it all fell through due to unforeseen circumstances. Needless to say, we are all devastated for Nikki especially Fran who loves her to bits.

Nikki really has only one problem...............................strange dogs.

She is extremely happy with both the dogs she lives with, as she understands they are no threat to her. It is strange dogs which are the problem, as she can still feel threatened by them, so she is going to need continued socialising with lots of different dogs.

All that she really needs is a very knowledgeable home with someone who is willing to spend some time on her and take on her training. She will definitely need experienced owners who can deal with her firmly but fairly. As long as someone is willing to be her pack leader and look after her, she will be more then happy with this.Her new owner must be prepared to utilise a Halti, a long training lead and a muzzle. In turn, they will be rewarded by having a lovely, friendly, undemanding dog.........the perfect house guest. She loves people, she's quiet and well behaved around the house and is a real cuddle monster (when Sabre lets her get a look in).

UPDATE ON NIKKI

Fran says, "Nikki really does seem to have got her feet under the table now and has decided that maybe she would quite like to be part of this mad family. She used to just hang around the edge of whatever was going on, gently wagging her tail and waiting for you to approach her but now she will come forward and put her paws up on your lap and demand her share of cuddles (still in a very gentle way). She loves to race up the stairs with Sabre and Taz at the weekend, when Andy decides I've been in bed long enough, but, unlike them, she doesn't jump on the bed and cover me in big wet sloppy kisses (yuk) but just stands quietly at the side of the bed waiting for me to wake up enough to stroke her. The first time she went up stairs she had no idea how to get down again and I had to coax her down by sliding down on my bum one step at a time.
She really is a wonderful dog, very calm and undemanding around the house but great fun and very lively when out on walks.

Her recall does need more work as she will come when called but tends to stop a few feet away rather than come right up to you We are limited to how much work we can do on this because of the amount of time she has to spend on her lead but liver treats work well (typical Lab).

She is very easy to walk on her Halti and will happily sit for you to put it on and off. She doesn't even mind being hosed down to get all the mud of when we get back.

I took her muzzle and long lead off today, while on our walk, and she spent about 15mins charging round with Sabre getting covered in mud and play fighting, she really loved it and looked so happy but I couldn't relax so it had to go back on. It was like turning off a light switch all the fun went out of her and I felt so sad for her.

I really wish someone could give her the time and training she needs as she really is such a lovely dog, loves people, is gentle around children, calm around the house and has already proved that, with the proper introductions, can live with other dogs.

Her one and only fault, as far as I can see, is that she has no idea how to behave around strange dogs that she meets outside and she reacts badly but she is young and clever enough to learn given the chance. She really is missing out on so much in life because of this.

A VISIT FROM A PUPPY......SAY "AAAAH"

Fran says, "Nikki blew me away today. My son visited with "Sparky" his 8wk-old Jack Russell Terrier pup. First hour , mom is panicking, hanging on to Nikki for grim death, then muzzle on and still panicking. Eventually calmed down (me not Nikki) and this was the result".

"I'm not going to pretend it was easy, in fact Sabre was more of a problem than Nikki (I know he's nearly two, but he still behaves like a big daft (Scooby Doo) puppy and doesn't realise one swipe of his paws sends this little baby across the room."

"All Nikki wanted to do was wash and clean him (very soggy puppy) There were a couple of "hairy" moments when pup decided to flex his muscles and growl/bark/snap (I guess it's a JRT thing because Taz is exactly the same) and that is the one thing that Nikki won't tolerate but a very loud "no" stopped her in her tracks. How lovely are these pics of this very special girl?"

A VERY ENCOURAGING BREAKTHROUGH

Fran says, "We've had a small but encouraging breakthrough with Nikki. A couple of weeks ago, Nikki met the J R pup and behaved really well. Last weekend my brother came to stay with "Guinness" his 7yr border collie. As usual Nikki lunged at him, not in any way aggressive but, as she was over excited and she is a very heavy solid dog, I had to hang on to her for grim death to save him being flattened. However, once everything had calmed down, they were the best of friends."

"Now for the exciting bit. Twice in the last few days, we have met strange dogs on our walks and both times Nikki lunged at them but there was no growling or barking and her hair wasn't stood on end, instead her whole body was wriggling, her tail was wagging and she was yelping and whining and turning somersaults with what seemed to be excitement. I still had to hang on to prevent her pulling me over but I really feel that she is starting to see other dogs as something to enjoy instead of as a threat. I know this is only a small thing but, after all these months, it was wonderful to me. I now feel I can enjoy walking her without having to worry about what is going to happen if we come across another dog. It's a small step but at last she's going in the right direction."

GSD WALK

Fran says " I started off with Nikki on her lead and we met up with about 15 other dogs in the car park. Nikki, initially, reacted by barking and lunging and was quite a handful but I was holding Sabre as well and Andy had Taz who was yapping and barking and winding everyone up as only a JRT can!!!!!

Once we actually set off, she calmed down with just the occasional grumble if someone came too close. After about 20mins I put Nikki on a long lead so she could mingle with the other dogs. An hour later she was off lead (with her muzzle on) racing round having a great time with all her new friends. One dog in particular kept barking right in her face but after a couple of very loud "leave it's" she chose to totally ignore it, how proud was I?

I still think she needs to wear a muzzle in any situation where she may encounter a dog she hasn't been introduced to, as a few times we encountered other dog walkers (not part of our "pack") and I had to grab her and put her back on her lead because she reverted to the grumpy Nikki. However, around dogs she has had time to meet and make friends with (under controlled conditions) she is a normal happy waggy Lab."

©2008 Irish Retriever Rescue UK