Harley foster day 12 update – part two

Well Harley met with a lovely couple this morning and he took to them both immediately, giving them kisses and wiggling his butt! He showed himself off well in the house so after getting lots of petting and some treats, I got him ready to go out a walk putting his coat and harness on and he started to get excited about going out, which is relatively new.

I again waited at the bottom of my path until the couple got their dogs out of the car and again Harley pulled to follow them both same as he had done on Monday. When they reached the bottom of the path I started to walk on but Harley wanted to sniff their dog Ziggy, so at least today he showed some interest. I walked on in front to allow Ziggy to smell Harley then we swapped over so I was walking behind and Harley could smell Ziggy. The biggest difference when we were walking side by side from Monday was that Harley was pulling closer to Ziggy instead of away like he did on Monday. When we reached the park Ziggy got let off the lead and Harley got his lead extended everything was going well then there was a little fight between them but nothing serious and when Ziggy was back on the lead and we continued walking again Harley wanted to walk closer to Ziggy. Neither dog was fearful of the other after the fight and walked fine together so I gave Harley’s lead to the man, who was walking Ziggy at the time and both dogs walked very well together with him most of the way back.

Ziggy (on left) walking next to Harley

Maisie, Ziggy and Harley walking with their owners!

When we arrived back the man returned their dogs to the car whilst the lady came into say goodbye to Harley. Whilst she was petting him and saying goodbyes, Harley’s bottom lip started to quiver! This escalated to crying once she had left and he continued crying for 5 minutes, this was the first time I have heard him cry, it was just too cute!

I then updated Staffie Smiles Rescue with how the visit went only to hear back that Harley has been reserved by the couple!! I am so happy for this brilliant wee boy! Finding his forever home so quickly which is no more than he deserves.

He will be staying with us until he recovers from his neutering operation and the couples other dog Maisie only has weeks to live so he will stay until after she’s gone. Not only is it bittersweet for me but also for his new owners. I am made up for Harley but will miss him a lot, and his new owners will be losing and gaining a dog. They are genuinely lovely and very much staffy people, having had them before, they understand their needs. Harley has definately charmed them both and they are returning Monday morning to visit with him again. I have told them they are welcome to visit him as often as they want, to help create the bond between them and for Ziggy and Harley to get to know each other better, so it’s not a stranger moving into Ziggy’s home but to be honest I think the bond has already started to form!

Don’t  worry, if you are looking to adopt one of this lovely breed there are still plenty of staffies in the care of Staffie Smiles Rescue which you can find out more about and fill out an online adoption form here – http://www.staffiesmilesrescue.co.uk and if you live out with Scotland then your local rescue is bound to have lots of lovely staffies. If your going to a local rescue centre, please keep in mind that staffies never show well in kennels as they get very stressed so please don’t just dismiss it because it looks a bit of a handful as most of the time this is just down to the extreme stress  of being confined and deprived of as much human company as they desire, being that they are very human orientated breed of dog, at least see them outside their kennel before making any snap judgements as so many get bypassed due to the stress and the way the media has WRONGFULLY branded them ‘devil dogs’