Anyone who follows Madra on socia media has probably seen their Polly many times. Madra are devastated to announce that next month Polly will have been in their care for 2 years, the majority of which has been spent in kennels. Despite everything Madra's staff and volunteers do for her and the love they have for her, this just isn't a suitable life for her. And if they are quite honest, they just don't understand why it has never been Polly's turn to find her forever home.
Now, she has some stuff going on. They're not going to lie, but we thought we'd give you a little update as a member of the Madra team brought her home for the weekend to give her some respite from kennel life.
If you're not familiar with Polly, here is a little history.....
Although. Polly is affectionately known as a 'pocket rocket', she struggles with fearfulness and her way of communicating this can be to bark to make the scary thing go away. She is unsure meeting new people but if you give her a chance, she'll give you one. In reality, she has an open heart but she just needs people to give her a little time to adjust. Polly can also be lead reactive to people or dogs which means she can lunge and bark when she sees them out on walks. Again, Madra think this is rooted in fear or maybe frustration when she sees dogs. She does like a good play and may want to get to the other dogs. At kennels, she has many human and canine friends.
Over the weekend, Polly spent most of the time snoozing beside her fosterer or out on walks. She is toilet trained and was absolutely fine with being left alone for a few hours. She was curled up on the bed without a care when they returned. Polly loved her walks on the beach and the bog. She seemed to prefer this to walking on the road and her fosterer found that it was easier to ensure that Polly didn't get too stressed when there was more open space. In a busy area, Polly would likely struggle but having seen how well she did over the weekend and how responsive she is to training, we really think that her issues can be worked on with the help of a reward-based trainer.
In her foster home Polly met the 3 resident dogs, 3 resident cats and our team member's husband, all for the first time. All the introductions were done outside because if they met indoors it would have been a lot for everyone to cope with! Polly did super and managed her fears very well with the support of our fosterer. We knew that Polly was great with dogs she already knew but could be a bit 'funny' meeting new dogs but we were so surprised with her reaction to the cats. Now if a cat was far away, she looked like she wanted to play 'chase the kitty' but in the garden she just walked straight up to them, bumped noses and walked away. Because of this, Madra think she may be able to live with a confident cat if they are introduced well. They also think she could live as an only dog or with another dog, if the match is right.
She was kept separate to the other animals inside the house as it was only a weekend visit but we hope that Polly will go back for some respite trips over the next few weeks and can be integrated more into the foster home to see how she does.
Her fosterer said 'Polly was an absolute dream. She was such a good girl and was the best companion to snuggle up and watch Netflix with on a rainy weekend. She even let me catch up on some weekend work while curled up at my feet! She was so happy and joyful on her walks. I was careful not to overwhelm her by going to busy places and when walking in the countryside, we were able to practice her lead skills quite easily.'
We will keep you all updated on Polly's progress but we would really appreciate if you can like, share and engage with all social media posts about Polly, so that they reach as many people as possible. There has to be someone out there who is just the right fit for Polly and will appreciate her for the amazing dog that she is.
Above all else, Polly needs an advocate. She needs someone who will get to know her, understand when she might be a bit worried, help her regulate her emotions or get her out of a situation, if she can't cope.
So here is the baseline of the kind of home that we think may suit Polly.....
· May suit somebody working from home but equally think she would be happy left alone for a few hours.
· Could be rehomed as a single dog or with another dog who is the right match.
· Potentially could be homed with a confident cat.
· Not suitable for a home with kids but possibly could be rehomed with teenagers who are respectful of her.
· A secure garden is a must.
· Rural home or somewhere that she could be driven to quiet areas for daily walks.
· Adopters must commit to work with rewards-based trainer to help both Polly and them.
Polly will need someone who can commit to visiting her at our shelter a few times before she goes on a trial foster with them. Full back up support will be given by our qualified dog trainer. Microchip numeber - 972274200189150
Are you that special hooman that Polly needs? Or is it someone you know? Contact Madra here!
#AHOMEFORPOLLY
