Sarah and Chester, WA

Chester came to me as an emergency foster as he had nowhere to go. He had been at the pound and taken on by a rescue group as a foster. He was on trial for adoption with a family when it came to light that he did not like cats (he had tried to bite off a cat’s tail!) and had to move immediately.

When I put this scared looking boy into my car to take him home, he whined and shook with fear all the way. Fortunately, Chester fitted in really well with us; he got along with our other foster dog and became less stressed. I noticed however that when we went out in a car he would get stressed again but would be fine on the way home. I believe that to him, a car journey was the signal that he was on the move again. To relieve his stress, we used to travel in the car for five minutes to the park for a play and then back in the car to continue our journey, and the stress would be gone.

Sandy: Photo: Sarah

Sarah’s other rescue dog, Sandy: Photo: Sarah

I call Chester my ‘devil dog’ as he has a very interesting character and definitely ‘small dog syndrome’!  He will try and bite you if you touch his paws but will immediately give you kisses to say he is sorry.  He is a sock thief and will not give them back to you easily. But all these things just make him Chester. We love him to bits.

About a month after Chester came to us, he was due to go to an adoption day and that is when I realised we could not let him move again and go through all that stress. He had to stay!  Chester has shown the importance of committing to a dog for life and is not a disposable object. All they want to do is love us and be loved back.

Message to Rescue

I helped a rescue group for a few years and being a part of that makes you understand the importance of being the voice of these vulnerable dogs and that we must do all we can to help them. I hold my hat off to anyone who does this long term (and so many do). They are one of a kind.

I often hear people say, “I’m not paying $450 to adopt a rescue dog, they should give it away for free.” But what people don’t understand is that $450 covers desexing, microchipping and vaccinations.  It also helps towards costs of training, dog behaviourist, other vet bills, the list goes on. All money received goes straight back into the rescue and allows for us to save another dog. But it never covers all the costs and that is why rescues needs everyone’s support at events and fundraisers.

Read Sarah and Sandy’s story here. 

 

 

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