Jake O’Connor

JAKE SURPRISED US ALL

When he came into IRR care in 2008, we could see JAKE was about 3years old and a Retriever Cross. He was neutered and micro-chipped and was house trained. He was fine to be left but would bark for the first few minutes that you left him. He then settled and could happily be left for up to four to five hours. He loved the car and travelled very happily.

We decided not to re-home Jake with young children but we felt he would cope happily with older children (12+) however, his true and forever home was with Mary and her family where he was influential in helping her daughters to interact with the world around them.

UPDATE ON JAKE FROM HIS FOSTER HOME WITH ANDY AND VAL

He is currently went into foster with Val and Andy in the West Midlands and settled in very well except for one very dodgy meeting with a visiting male dog, when Jake felt compelled to “get in first”. Luckily, no harm was done and we all realise that Jake needs time to adjust to the huge changes in his life and begin to chill out.

Andy says, “He’s a very loving and loveable dog, who has benefitted from the calm and 1:1 attention this week. We think he’ll make someone a very loyal and loving companion, as he so loves to be with you and be a part of what you’re doing.

Jake’s been with us for 4 weeks now, and has settled in very well indeed. He’s such a loving dog, who always wants to be part of what you’re doing, and is never far away from you. He’s also quite a character, and great fun to have around.

Apart from his aversion to sharing his house with other dogs, he’s a very well behaved guy. Housetrained, good on the lead, and he absolutely loves going out in the car. He loves his walks, and playing with his squeaky toys, and is fine to be left for a few hours if necessary.

For anyone who is looking for an only dog, Jake is the perfect match.

Jake was pretty determined not to stand still to be photographed but I managed to get this one.”

A MOVE TO DENISE and PHIL

A MOVE TO DENISE AND PHIL

Denise, who was his guardian for 2 years says, “Jake is one of the most wonderful dogs with people (once he get to know you, he loves nothing more than a cuddle on you lap) but we also own several other dogs.

He walks really well on the lead, but cannot be let of the lead as his recall is awful! Fortunately, he does love the car and is always happy to jump in. Unfortunately, he can be an escape artist and will try to follow you out the door so prospective owners need to be very aware of this.

His biggest problem is that he is unable to live with male dogs or dominant female dogs. He can go a few days and live in harmony, then he has what we call a ‘Jake Day’ where the boy dogs get picked on, sometimes in a serious way. He doesn’t like cats too much either. Unfortunately, we foster and have dogs coming and going all the time and poor Jake doesn’t do well under stressful situations and will panic.

It breaks our heart to re-home our Jake, as he has been part of our life for two years, but, for his sake and the sake of our boy dogs, he needs a home where he isn’t going to get stressed around other dogs. Poor Jake is suffering as he is always in trouble for something he cannot control.

Rehoming Jake is the hardest thing we have ever had to do but he has issues with other dogs that we have worked on as much as we can. Unfortunately, Jake needs more than we can give him.

JAKE IN HIS FOREVER HOME

Jake is now living very happily with Mary & Terry in Berkshire. He loves his daytime walks with Mary but he especially looks forward to his evening runs with Terry. He and the twin girls have developed a mutual respect and Mary is hoping that they will overcome their agoraphobia and soon be able to join her & Jake on their walks. Jake still has a few phobias but he is slowly overcoming them through gentle training and with the back-up of homeopathy and flower essences.

Jake is not just doing fine, he’s doing particularly well because Mary is putting in a lot of time and effort with his training and is even planning to build him his own agility course in their garden. With a little help from Amy, one of our fosterers, who is a brilliant trainer and behaviourist, he’s quickly learning the basics and is getting better all the time with other dogs when out & about. He is a very much loved member of his family.

HI FROM JAKIE

Hi, Jakie here

I just wanted to say my family are really nice. I don’t growl at anybody any more cos I am very happy & trust my new family completely now.

I particularly like the children & enjoy running around the garden with them. I even climbed on to the trampoline one day which everyone thought was VERY funny.

I get 3 or 4 walks every day & I really, really love these. I also play ball every day and absolutely love it when the ball goes into the paddling pool, although I’m not quite brave enough to go in & get it out myself yet.

Thank you to all you very kind IRR people for finding me my very, very special forever family
lots of love
Jakie xxx

UPDATE FROM MARY

Jake is the most amazing dog. He has added even more love and joy to our home & we all love him dearly.

He has taken to training like a duck to water and responds to the 12 steps of training amazingly well.

In 3 short weeks, he has become a fully integrated part of our family. My twins adore him and he is incredibly gentle when around them, which is so beautiful to watch.

Jakie is absolutely full of life and just needed a lot of love and understanding.

Jake is the perfect dog for us and I could not imagine life without him now.

UPDATE SEPT 2008

Mary says. “When we received Jakey he was a lovely yet very fearful dog prone to growling and being a little grumpy and was somewhat in the last chance saloon! This is no longer the case for our boy!

Thanks to the support given by IRR and the love, support and training from me and my family Jakey is a changed dog. He goes for walks with me and my daughter Shannon, who has autism and he is perfectly behaved. Because of Shannon’s autism she had not been out of the house for a very long time and having Jakey has really helped her more than you could ever know. He no longer growls but comes to my side if he is unsure in a situation. Jakey has shown great improvement in all aspects of his training and tries very hard to be a good boy.

He has conquered his fear of other dogs in the street walking calmly by my side with his handsome head held high. I am very proud of what we have managed to do with him and proud of Jakey for what he has managed to do for himself. But one of the greatest joys we have had is in teaching our fella to play with us and accept our love without fear. Jakey has forged an individual relationship with everyone and is loved by the whole family including extended members, with his funny character and his loving nature – he is so much fun.

Shannon was given a new toy that makes an unfamiliar noise and she took it upstairs to play so the noise came ringing out down the stairs and then my daughter began to cry. Jakey tore up the stairs and when I got there he was gently sniffing around her room for danger. It touched my heart to see this former loner being the big brother that he is now.

We would no sooner part with Jakey than we would any other member of our precious little family. We are enormously grateful to IRR for bringing Jakey into our lives and I know that Jakey would thank you too for helping him find his family.”