Nala – Cambridgeshire

Cheerful Nala

Poor Nala, she has had the most dreadful life so far and yet she is still a cheerful, loving girl. She doesn't get along with female dogs, at least, probably males as well. She is a pandemic pup who has not been socialized. No wonder. The solution for her first owners was to banish her from the home and only allow her to see the inside of the house through the open back door. I have seen a video of her being teased with the family baby being jiggled around in front of her. Was this supposed to comfort or agonize her further?

You would not believe what happened next. She was then rehomed, by some weird mechanism, to a home with another female GSD. Really. Predictably, they did not get along and so in this home she lived in a crate. Poor, poor Nala. And so she came to us.

Nala became a favourite at the kennels, immediately, and she was snapped up by a prospective adopter on a foster trial. Nala did very well, apart from two things. They found her very excitable and full of energy, especially to begin with. No wonder. Poor Nala was 'blissed out' to have a home, where she welcomed inside and could move around. She soon settled, but she remained high energy. She would suit a home with older children, with whom she could play. Or she would be excellent for any canine sports. She is well put together and has the energy for this.

The other and main issue was that Nala was unclean in the house. She was housetrained, basically, but she would defecate, even coming into the house from the garden. The particular geography of the house did not help her. When she went outside the back door led immediately to a yard and the main garden was to the side of the house, out of sight from the back door. I was told that Nala didn't like being in the garden. Anyone could join the dots. Well, it appears not anyone!

I am confident that it would be possible to housetrain Nala easily. It would need a prospective adopter who would have the time and compassion to stay outside with her, initially, to give her confidence and then to 'theatrically' applaud and reward her efforts. In that way, defecating in the garden would soon become a fun experience. Isn't this the basis of all training?

This fun-loving girl would say so and reward you richly for the rest of her life. Nala has the potential to become an outstanding dog and, did I mention, that she is very good looking and rather impressive as well?

Who could resist her?