Doris

In June 2019, Doris, a 1yr old Retriever Cross lady was taken into IRR care when she was discovered in the Pound. She was due to be put to sleep along with her sister.

DORIS and her SISTER TERRIFIED ON DEATH ROW

Her lucky sister was adopted by someone else but Doris was left behind. On her very last day, IRR received a phone call asking if we could take Doris and, of course, we were able to say yes. Thankfully, it meant there was another innocent life saved!

Doris had all the necessary health checks and Rabies vaccination in order to have a Pet Passport for transportation to the UK but, on arrival, she was still very scared and went to Lynn in Scotland for foster and rehabilitation.

She said “Doris is putting on weight and muscle tone. She is physically coming along very nicely and is beginning to enjoy life and relax. She is still basically a puppy.

She is now more or less housetrained but Doris does rely on a human to let her out at a suitable time. Her anxiety has reduced but is still there. She initially paced and followed her foster mum everywhere but she soon learned that was unnecessary. She has taken the lead from the other dogs and will settle when there is nothing else going on.

She will sit for her bowl of food but is in it as soon as it touches the floor. She can be fed with the others but her bowl has to go down first. She is a bit of a thief and steals shoes so – note to future owner – put your shoes away”.

Her foster mum had her out and about in the local town where it was quite busy with traffic, people, bike riders, scooters, wheelchairs etc. She only reacted to a couple of strange men by trying to pull backwards out of her collar. Everything else was tolerated helped by her being fed treats to reassure her. She eventually was walking in between approaching people and responded well to encouragement.

Her foster Mum says “Doris is a super little dog who will be a lovely pet dog and companion. As an aside, she would be really good at agility and something like this would certainly help with her confidence. She learns quickly and is eager to please. Her body language is exaggerated as she is constantly giving appeasing signals. Hopefully, as her confidence grows, her language will be easier to read. I think she would be fine as an only dog or with a lively older dog who can show her the ropes”.

Initially, Doris had been very scared and shut down but, much to the torment of poor old Sherlock she soon became a full of life young lady. When Doris came out of her shell, she turned into every inch a bouncy, inconsiderate teenager. Of course, really, that was only what everyone had been hoping for her. Fortunately, the crazy phase passed and Sherlock relaxed.

Doris turned into a lovely girl who attracted much attention and, soon, she went off happily to her forever home.

THOUGHTS FROM LORRAINE

Lorraine reflected on being able to say yes as that doesn’t come cheap and isn’t always guaranteed. She said “We can only say yes if the funds are there……rescue doesn’t come cheap. Not only is there the time spent in kennels preparing to come to England and all the associated costs, the transport, any vet bills but we also have to consider if we have enough funds to meet our commitment to ongoing medical costs which for some previous rescues with medical issues at the point of rescue. Meant for life!

Imagine if we had to say no to Doris and many more who will come after her too because we didn’t have enough funds. This is where we rely on the friends of IRR, without whose support Doris would no longer be with us and looking forward to a life filled with love, warmth and comfort as an IRR dog. It often feels like we constantly ask for money but generosity is what keeps IRR running and, without IRR supporters, there would be no IRR and no Doris!!