02-11-2022 Oakley is an incredibly frightened girl who flinches when touched as she is not used to kind hands stroking her.  She has come to us from a breeder and is finding everything completely overwhelming as she has never seen anything of the world before.   Oakley will need an adult only, very experienced and quiet home who have had scared dogs like her before and understand how to work with her to overcome her fears. 
Until she settles into her new home Oakley is a potential flight risk so the garden and house must be very secure and she is a dog who will be best homed with more than one confident dog to help her and who will allow her to cuddle up with them for comfort and support if she wants to. 
Oakley has never been in a home so this is going to be extremely scary for her at first and she will need owners with endless time and patience to help her learn about house training etc.  At first the garden may be as scary and the inside of the home so getting in the garden and then back in the home could take time.  Oakley has no idea about lead walking and this is something else her new owners will need to work on once they have gained her trust.  They will need to start practising in the garden and then progress outside in quiet areas and the importance of double leading Oakley cannot be stressed enough.  In time and with owners who really understand her needs Oakley will slowly start to flourish and her adopters will be rewarded by seeing her become a loving a devoted friend.  Oakley has a passport.

08-12-22 UPDATE
This poor soul is such a heart breaker. She’s finding everything so overwhelming and still very shut down and extremely frightened of everything and everyone.  I think it’s going to be a long road until she is anywhere near becoming a ‘normal’ dog. Absolutely everything is terrifying for her and it’s horrible to have to see the fear in her eyes every single day. She will do anything she can to get away from me, she’ll avoid eye contact, and she still hates being touched. If she’s forced into a position she doesn’t want to be in, she will bite too. This is purely out of fear and it’s not aggression at all, but her new owners will need to be aware of this and be willing to work with her through it.
I’m very used to working with scared dogs as I do it every single day, but Oakley is not like a normal scared dog. Usually by now I would have seen some sort of progress, but unfortunately for her she’s been unable to let go of any of her fears and she still can’t understand that I’m not a threat. She has settled into my routine nicely now and does run to and from her kennel and the play yard, but even this took a few days. At first she would get frantic and would even run into gates because she didn’t know where she was. It was absolutely soul destroying to watch and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me cry. I’m only writing this because her future adopters need to be fully aware of the extent of her nervousness.
The good thing about Oakley is that she loves her food and will eat in front of me. A lot of scared dogs will refuse to eat if they’re being watched, but luckily Oakley does feel comfortable enough to do it in front of me. This is how I’m trying to win her over and earn her trust, but I know it’s going to take a long time. I won’t give up on her though, I’ll keep working closely with her every day and just do everything I can to prove to her that she doesn’t need to be afraid of me. She needs a very, very special home .. and I really hope it comes along soon. 

19-01-23 UPDATE
Okay, so it’s been just over a month since my last update on Oakley and the good news is, she is making progress!!!! The bad news is, she still has a very long way to go … but that’s ok, we know this and we’re fine with it.
Every morning she’ll now greet me with the waggiest tail I have ever seen, and she will come right up to the front of the kennel to kiss my hand. When I’m inside the kennel with her, she will still run away from me, but even so it’s massive progress. She still loves her food and will actually shout at me when she knows it’s dinner time now as she gets impatient, and I know that’s a weird thing to get excited over, but with a dog as scared as Oakley I just think it’s lovely that she feels comfortable enough to do it.
She’s finally starting to put a bit of weight on too which is amazing because I think she was struggling to maintain anything as her stress levels are always so high .. bless her. Of course Oakley still needs an extremely experienced home, and it would have to be very, very secure .. BUT she has made this progress so she’s not as bad as she was when she first arrived. It’s given me major hope and I get excited thinking about working with her over the next few weeks/months to see what’s next to come. I absolutely adore her and I’ll continue to do everything I can to prove to her that she’s safe now. I’ll update you all again soon!  

16-03-23 UPDATE
Oakley is still a very scared girl but she’s definitely getting more and more relaxed around me. If you look at the difference in her eyes between the photo in her first update, and the photo in this update, I think it says it all. She will still run away if I go to approach her, but I’m not expecting that to change for a good while yet. Having a solid routine and staying completely calm around her are the keys to keeping her stress levels at bay. If anything out of the ordinary happens, she does still panic and paces around. This is something her new owners will need to keep in mind, as she will probably be doing a lot of it when she first gets to her new home. I feel as though Oakley may struggle to make more progress being in kennels, as the whole environment is so busy and overwhelming. I also think having someone to work with her 1 on 1 will be a big help for her. Even though I try to spend as much time with her as possible, I have 9 kennels to look after that are all full, so I do really struggle with it. Of course while she’s still here I’ll keep doing everything I can to make sure she’s happy and content, but having a home to call her own is what she really needs.

01-05-23 UPDATE
Since my last update, I’ve put Oakley on a herbal aid tablet called YuCalm to try and take the edge off her stress here in kennels. She’s been on it for about a month now and this week I do believe I’ve seen a slight change in her. She seems more relaxed during the days now and spends most of her time cuddled up in bed with her kennel friends. Before, she would either lay on the floor keeping watch of what was going on, or she’d be at the front of her kennel pacing. She also made me cry this week by booping my nose with her nose for the first time. She always does this to my hand, but she’s never been brave enough to come that close to my face .. so yes it did make me emotional!! Oakley of course still has a long way to go, and I really don’t know if she’ll ever be a dog that goes for walks because of her stress levels, but I hope with everything I have that a calm, quiet and steady home will ease her mind and help her find peace for the first time in her life. Bring here in kennels is absolutely no place for her and I pray every single day that she gets her lucky break soon. She deserves it more than anyone I’ve ever known. I really can’t put into words how special she is. I just hope someone else will be able to see that soon.

05-08-23 UPDATE
Oakley has been in foster here for 6 weeks. My goodness she is a very traumatised girlie - so petrified, so pitifully vulnerable. Being in a house, living with a human, so completely alien to anything she has ever known, utterly terrifying.  At least she's able to take some comfort from the other kind dogs living here. Considering all of this she has done really well and made progress.  She has gradually come to understand the routines here. Meal times are especially wonderful and she has just found her voice in that regard, barking with excitement when dinner is being prepared. She sleeps contentedly upstairs in the family bedroom with the rest of us, cosying down in her own very comfortable bed ( she welcomes a soft cover /helps her feel safe.)  Over the days & weeks she has become incrementally accustomed to wearing a soft collar and trailing lead.  She has gradually become calmer about the lead being held (although this has been very frightening for her)  She has moved on to accepting a soft harness, and being shown the world immediately outside the front door. Yesterday, she came in the car to my secure field. This was a huge leap forward. Considering her starting point she managed really well (video below) Oakley has a very long journey ahead of her, but she has shown her intelligence and a brave heart.  She will NEED the support of another kind dog or dogs in her forever home. She will need adopters who can keep her safe and have the sort of experience to help her in her journey. Her new home will be calm & easy going and be in a peaceful rural area.

09-10-23 UPDATEX
Oakley continues to progress. She amazes me with her bravery, her enthusiasm and her kind nature BUT she is still very nervous and fearful much of the time. She now walks well on the lead (in quiet places). She adores trips out in the car finding them very relaxing. She happily runs around in my secure field popping herself back in the car whenever she wants. At home she makes herself very comfy up on the sofa. At night she sleeps in the family bedroom in a comfy toddler bed under a cosy duvet. The two videos show her in happy mode! Very sadly this happy girl regularly and quickly disappears very frequently throughout the day. Oakley gets spooked by so many innocent things, she then bolts away in a frantic panic. She still finds any close contact VERY intimidating and frightening and will poo herself in sheer terror if this is prolonged (eg for gentle necessary grooming ). Oakley really wants to be the jolly spirited girlie hiding inside her shy self. She is emerging, bit by gradual bit. Oakley is so beautiful both in looks and nature but she still poses a massive flight risk. She will need exceptional new owners who can really understand and help her in the long journey ahead. She will probably need MORE than one kind dog in the adoptive home to help her feel safe and secure.

17-03-23 UPDATE

x

Oakley has now been here in foster for 8 months. She has come on so much in that time but sadly remains very skittish and fearful of random things. However she is doing really well in lots of ways. She loves being out in my secure field and really has lots of fun. It is there that she is most confident. She is even able to sometimes approach visitors with a waggy tail and a little sniff. At home she needs routine and certainly enjoys home comforts.
Oakley is a beautiful, gentle darling of a dog. She will need a particularly special home with the right blend of circumstances in order for her to continue to develop and enjoy her precious life. Her new home will not be too busy, not too many people, MORE than one kind resident dog and facilities to allow her to run free in safety. Her new family will need to have had previous experience with a 'special' dog like her.

11-08-24 UPDATE

Dearest, darling Oakley. Such a wonderful girl! She continues to progress and gets braver every day. She has now been here in foster for 13 months. She is a happy girlie, enjoying her precious life with enthusiasm but still, as referred to in earlier updates, she is fragile and can go from hero to absolute zero in a millisecond. She has not yet been for a walk out in the big wide scary world. This will be another big difficult and challenging step for her. She will NEED DAILY ACCESS to a safe, secure field in order to run free and relax in safety. Oakley needs a very special, experienced and quiet home, with MINIMAL people and several kind supportive dogs.

Please read our information on ADOPTING EX-BREEDING DOGS before you apply.

02-11-2022 Oakley is an incredibly frightened girl who flinches when touched as she is not used to kind hands stroking her.  She has come to us from a breeder and is finding everything completely overwhelming as she has never seen anything of the world before.   Oakley will need an adult only, very experienced and quiet home who have had scared dogs like her before and understand how to work with her to overcome her fears. 
Until she settles into her new home Oakley is a potential flight risk so the garden and house must be very secure and she is a dog who will be best homed with more than one confident dog to help her and who will allow her to cuddle up with them for comfort and support if she wants to. 
Oakley has never been in a home so this is going to be extremely scary for her at first and she will need owners with endless time and patience to help her learn about house training etc.  At first the garden may be as scary and the inside of the home so getting in the garden and then back in the home could take time.  Oakley has no idea about lead walking and this is something else her new owners will need to work on once they have gained her trust.  They will need to start practising in the garden and then progress outside in quiet areas and the importance of double leading Oakley cannot be stressed enough.  In time and with owners who really understand her needs Oakley will slowly start to flourish and her adopters will be rewarded by seeing her become a loving a devoted friend.  Oakley has a passport.

08-12-22 UPDATE
This poor soul is such a heart breaker. She’s finding everything so overwhelming and still very shut down and extremely frightened of everything and everyone.  I think it’s going to be a long road until she is anywhere near becoming a ‘normal’ dog. Absolutely everything is terrifying for her and it’s horrible to have to see the fear in her eyes every single day. She will do anything she can to get away from me, she’ll avoid eye contact, and she still hates being touched. If she’s forced into a position she doesn’t want to be in, she will bite too. This is purely out of fear and it’s not aggression at all, but her new owners will need to be aware of this and be willing to work with her through it.
I’m very used to working with scared dogs as I do it every single day, but Oakley is not like a normal scared dog. Usually by now I would have seen some sort of progress, but unfortunately for her she’s been unable to let go of any of her fears and she still can’t understand that I’m not a threat. She has settled into my routine nicely now and does run to and from her kennel and the play yard, but even this took a few days. At first she would get frantic and would even run into gates because she didn’t know where she was. It was absolutely soul destroying to watch and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me cry. I’m only writing this because her future adopters need to be fully aware of the extent of her nervousness.
The good thing about Oakley is that she loves her food and will eat in front of me. A lot of scared dogs will refuse to eat if they’re being watched, but luckily Oakley does feel comfortable enough to do it in front of me. This is how I’m trying to win her over and earn her trust, but I know it’s going to take a long time. I won’t give up on her though, I’ll keep working closely with her every day and just do everything I can to prove to her that she doesn’t need to be afraid of me. She needs a very, very special home .. and I really hope it comes along soon. 

19-01-23 UPDATE
Okay, so it’s been just over a month since my last update on Oakley and the good news is, she is making progress!!!! The bad news is, she still has a very long way to go … but that’s ok, we know this and we’re fine with it.
Every morning she’ll now greet me with the waggiest tail I have ever seen, and she will come right up to the front of the kennel to kiss my hand. When I’m inside the kennel with her, she will still run away from me, but even so it’s massive progress. She still loves her food and will actually shout at me when she knows it’s dinner time now as she gets impatient, and I know that’s a weird thing to get excited over, but with a dog as scared as Oakley I just think it’s lovely that she feels comfortable enough to do it.
She’s finally starting to put a bit of weight on too which is amazing because I think she was struggling to maintain anything as her stress levels are always so high .. bless her. Of course Oakley still needs an extremely experienced home, and it would have to be very, very secure .. BUT she has made this progress so she’s not as bad as she was when she first arrived. It’s given me major hope and I get excited thinking about working with her over the next few weeks/months to see what’s next to come. I absolutely adore her and I’ll continue to do everything I can to prove to her that she’s safe now. I’ll update you all again soon!  

16-03-23 UPDATE
Oakley is still a very scared girl but she’s definitely getting more and more relaxed around me. If you look at the difference in her eyes between the photo in her first update, and the photo in this update, I think it says it all. She will still run away if I go to approach her, but I’m not expecting that to change for a good while yet. Having a solid routine and staying completely calm around her are the keys to keeping her stress levels at bay. If anything out of the ordinary happens, she does still panic and paces around. This is something her new owners will need to keep in mind, as she will probably be doing a lot of it when she first gets to her new home. I feel as though Oakley may struggle to make more progress being in kennels, as the whole environment is so busy and overwhelming. I also think having someone to work with her 1 on 1 will be a big help for her. Even though I try to spend as much time with her as possible, I have 9 kennels to look after that are all full, so I do really struggle with it. Of course while she’s still here I’ll keep doing everything I can to make sure she’s happy and content, but having a home to call her own is what she really needs.

01-05-23 UPDATE
Since my last update, I’ve put Oakley on a herbal aid tablet called YuCalm to try and take the edge off her stress here in kennels. She’s been on it for about a month now and this week I do believe I’ve seen a slight change in her. She seems more relaxed during the days now and spends most of her time cuddled up in bed with her kennel friends. Before, she would either lay on the floor keeping watch of what was going on, or she’d be at the front of her kennel pacing. She also made me cry this week by booping my nose with her nose for the first time. She always does this to my hand, but she’s never been brave enough to come that close to my face .. so yes it did make me emotional!! Oakley of course still has a long way to go, and I really don’t know if she’ll ever be a dog that goes for walks because of her stress levels, but I hope with everything I have that a calm, quiet and steady home will ease her mind and help her find peace for the first time in her life. Bring here in kennels is absolutely no place for her and I pray every single day that she gets her lucky break soon. She deserves it more than anyone I’ve ever known. I really can’t put into words how special she is. I just hope someone else will be able to see that soon.

05-08-23 UPDATE
Oakley has been in foster here for 6 weeks. My goodness she is a very traumatised girlie - so petrified, so pitifully vulnerable. Being in a house, living with a human, so completely alien to anything she has ever known, utterly terrifying.  At least she's able to take some comfort from the other kind dogs living here. Considering all of this she has done really well and made progress.  She has gradually come to understand the routines here. Meal times are especially wonderful and she has just found her voice in that regard, barking with excitement when dinner is being prepared. She sleeps contentedly upstairs in the family bedroom with the rest of us, cosying down in her own very comfortable bed ( she welcomes a soft cover /helps her feel safe.)  Over the days & weeks she has become incrementally accustomed to wearing a soft collar and trailing lead.  She has gradually become calmer about the lead being held (although this has been very frightening for her)  She has moved on to accepting a soft harness, and being shown the world immediately outside the front door. Yesterday, she came in the car to my secure field. This was a huge leap forward. Considering her starting point she managed really well (video below) Oakley has a very long journey ahead of her, but she has shown her intelligence and a brave heart.  She will NEED the support of another kind dog or dogs in her forever home. She will need adopters who can keep her safe and have the sort of experience to help her in her journey. Her new home will be calm & easy going and be in a peaceful rural area.

09-10-23 UPDATEX
Oakley continues to progress. She amazes me with her bravery, her enthusiasm and her kind nature BUT she is still very nervous and fearful much of the time. She now walks well on the lead (in quiet places). She adores trips out in the car finding them very relaxing. She happily runs around in my secure field popping herself back in the car whenever she wants. At home she makes herself very comfy up on the sofa. At night she sleeps in the family bedroom in a comfy toddler bed under a cosy duvet. The two videos show her in happy mode! Very sadly this happy girl regularly and quickly disappears very frequently throughout the day. Oakley gets spooked by so many innocent things, she then bolts away in a frantic panic. She still finds any close contact VERY intimidating and frightening and will poo herself in sheer terror if this is prolonged (eg for gentle necessary grooming ). Oakley really wants to be the jolly spirited girlie hiding inside her shy self. She is emerging, bit by gradual bit. Oakley is so beautiful both in looks and nature but she still poses a massive flight risk. She will need exceptional new owners who can really understand and help her in the long journey ahead. She will probably need MORE than one kind dog in the adoptive home to help her feel safe and secure.

17-03-23 UPDATE

x

Oakley has now been here in foster for 8 months. She has come on so much in that time but sadly remains very skittish and fearful of random things. However she is doing really well in lots of ways. She loves being out in my secure field and really has lots of fun. It is there that she is most confident. She is even able to sometimes approach visitors with a waggy tail and a little sniff. At home she needs routine and certainly enjoys home comforts.
Oakley is a beautiful, gentle darling of a dog. She will need a particularly special home with the right blend of circumstances in order for her to continue to develop and enjoy her precious life. Her new home will not be too busy, not too many people, MORE than one kind resident dog and facilities to allow her to run free in safety. Her new family will need to have had previous experience with a 'special' dog like her.

11-08-24 UPDATE

Dearest, darling Oakley. Such a wonderful girl! She continues to progress and gets braver every day. She has now been here in foster for 13 months. She is a happy girlie, enjoying her precious life with enthusiasm but still, as referred to in earlier updates, she is fragile and can go from hero to absolute zero in a millisecond. She has not yet been for a walk out in the big wide scary world. This will be another big difficult and challenging step for her. She will NEED DAILY ACCESS to a safe, secure field in order to run free and relax in safety. Oakley needs a very special, experienced and quiet home, with MINIMAL people and several kind supportive dogs.

Please read our information on ADOPTING EX-BREEDING DOGS before you apply.