SONNY - KENT

Sonny is a 2.5 year old Black and tan long haired handsome boy looking for a new home as his owners are becoming wary of him and have lost trust due to a couple of incidents that have happened recently.

The volunteer arrived at the home with clear instructions to come in, sit down and wait for the dog to settle while on a lead. He was excited rather than threatening, but he is a big dog, on his hind legs a lot, very vocal and bouncy. He was admirably restrained with a Halti by Sandra - giving strong voice commands until he eventually settled 5 mins later. This is a routine now established for every visitor. 

IThe volunteer went for a walk with the female owner and Sonny - one of his 6 trips out a day as he won’t use the courtyard as his toilet. He walked well on the Halti, though walked very tall and appeared hyper-stimulated. We met no dogs beyond hearing the neighbour’s guard dog barking in a distant part of the garden. Passing houses where Sonny often sees dogs in the garden did not seem to create any anxiety. He was not phased by the few passing cars or vans. He sat when asked for these to pass - no drama. On the way back home Sonny spotted his dad in the distance - he immediately started pulling to get back home with excitement. He became very bouncy as he was when I went in the home, but was well controlled by his mum. She explained that her husband is much more relaxed and lets the dog get on with things without exercising much control. 2 very different ways of handling Sonny which could lead to confusion for him.

This is a beautiful, strong, intelligent young dog with absolutely no manners in the home. He knows all the expected commands. His wait was particularly impressive. He has though lost any reliability on his recall, such that he is never let of the lead. He does run on the lead with the female owner - who makes a game of this with a ball. He walks well with a Halti, though quickly becomes overly bouncy on seeing familiar people. While there are no reported incidents, he is not trusted with other dogs. At best he is walked within 20m of another group of dogs in a park. He lives in a small rural community so does not meet strangers or other dogs very often. We are told he gets very reactive if meeting a single dog. He has a strong prey drive - cats, runners, cyclists, motorcyclists are all fair game. He responds well to firm, clear commands as long as there is a treat involved. He appears to be exploiting some inconsistency between the two owner’s approaches. This is a dog that needs stimulation - and to run free to lose some of that excess energy. 

He really will make a great companion in the right home