Male Brittany x Setter 5 Year Old
Yake is a really handsome, friendly 5 year old Brittany/setter cross in UK foster and he is an affectionate boy and is looking for an experienced home with active adopters and ideally a resident dog. Date of birth 8/8/2015.
Yake can be a little cautious with some of the new things he has encountered but with time he works it out for himself. He absolutely loves going out for walks, and if is often on the look out for something to chase… birds, squirrels.. He can pull hard on the lead and he has gone out for short runs and which he loves, so canicross could be a good option for him.
Yake and Urco, his Brittany dad, were handed to the shelter in Spain last autumn as their hunter owner had died and they were now unwanted, they had however been cared for previously and this shines through in their loving natures. The two dogs arrived into UK foster in November and Urco has since been adopted. Poor Yake is still waiting for the perfect home.
Yake, like many dogs coming over from Spain is having to learn to accept being on a lead on his walks. This is not how he would have been exercised previously and he is struggling with it at times. Yake seems frustrated by the lead when meeting other dogs on his walks and this frustration over time has become aggression and reactivity on the lead when meeting new dogs. Sadly this has led to his adoption failing and Yake is back in foster care.
We have been in touch with a behaviourist who is working with the foster care to help Yake overcome this frustration. A new adopter will need to continue this work and ideally should have convenient local walks which would offer few unknown dog meetings, so that Yake can relax and enjoy his walks and runs.
Yake will need time to settle into a new home, he may well have some separation anxiety which will need to handled gently, a friendly dog in the home would really help him settle in. At the moment Yake and the foster family dog sleep on the landing upstairs from 10pm-7am with no issues, he is housetrained and learning general house manners. He is not suitable for living with cats as he loves to chase them.
Update 14.03.21 from Yake’s foster mum… “Yake is a wonderful, handsome boy who loves nothing more than to curl up for a cuddle and have a tummy rub. He loves our company and is playful and great with meeting people coming to the house and strangers on walks. When Yake first arrived he pulled on the lead and got very excited when seeing other dogs even from a distance. On the lead he would spin, bark and pull hard to get to another dog. We now avoid walks where there are lots of other dog walkers, divert if we do see another dog in the distance and now walk him separately from our excitable younger dog. All this is helping Yake to stay more relaxed whilst on a walk, reducing pulling on the lead and improving his reaction when he meets other dogs but there is more work to be done which any future adopter would need to continue”.
Notes from Behaviourist.. “Yake is most likely being frustrated by the lead when in the presence of other dogs and this frustration over time can become aggression. Dogs are highly social. When most dogs spot another dog on the street, they are highly motivated to approach and investigate. Being on lead restricts their ability to do so. The resulting frustration translates into increased excitement and agitation, which can be alarming to the owner, who may then restrict access; tense up before encounters or even punish the dog. This starts an association between the sight of dogs and frustration plus possibly punishment. A vicious cycle is then born that often culminates in thwarting-related or “barrier frustration” aggression. This is mainly why so many dogs are more aggressive on leash than off.”
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