Gabriel

Beagle · Male · Adult · 4 years

Gabriel originally came to us from a breeder, and for him the world felt like a very frightening place. He was worried of people, and new environments and unfamiliar experiences left him feeling overwhelmed. Even something as simple as having a lead put on was a huge challenge. He needed time, patience and gentle encouragement to begin to feel safe. Gabriel was adopted for a short period, but unfortunately it was not the right fit for him. He was returned after displaying unwanted behaviours in the home and making the wrong choices when he felt uncomfortable in a situation, which did result in Gabriel biting. He will need a quiet, adult-only home without resident or visiting children. Gabriel can struggle with visitors coming to the house, so he will need a home without too many visitors and where he can be placed in a separate room when people do come over. His adopters will also need to be willing to meet him multiple times before adoption so that he has the opportunity to develop a bond and build trust with them. Gabriel is a very sensitive boy who feels anxious about a lot of things. During his time here we are trying to help him feel more comfortable by giving him the tools to know how to be more relaxed in these scary situations. To Gabriel, new people are very scary and he feels that he needs to tell them to go away by barking and lunging, when put in poor situations this has led to him having a bite history. He is a very sweet dog but he has very little he trusts in this world and unfortunately humans are top of that list at the moment. With people who have earned his trust he is exceptionally sweet and loving, he loves to give you cuddles and he really thinks he should be a lap dog. When introductions are done slowly and in a manner that he can cope with he will allow that person into his circle reasonably quickly and then he gets very excited to see them. As he has had very little in this world he does become exceptionally attached to his trusted humans and doesn't like to share them with other dogs or other people, so he is looking for a home with a maximum of two people and will need to be the only dog in the home. Adopters with experience of guarding behaviours are essential to help him succeed in his next home and make sure it really will be his forever home. Gabriel walks nicely on his harness and gets very excited to see dogs when out and about but is wary of strangers walking past, for this reason he is muzzled when out as it keeps him safe in the event of someone getting too close or trying to touch him. He has shown signs of resource guarding his food here and any high value long lasting treats. He has Kongs as he is happy for the empty Kong to be removed from his kennel once he feels he's finished with it, but these are things that will have to be managed in his new home. It would be a good idea to limit his access to the kitchen in the home to avoid the possibility of him getting things that he may be inclined to guard, especially until he settles and the bond has been built with him to ensure that he trusts that you won't take things away from him without him getting something higher value in its place. Gabriel socialises well with other dogs here and does enjoy chasing dogs around our big play yard here, so having the opportunity to continue making friends with playful dogs in his new home is necessary to keep him happy and help him to continue to grow in confidence. Someone will be incredibly lucky to have Gabriel as their companion, they will just have to understand that he does require the time and effort to make sure he progresses and starts to see the world is less scary than he thinks it is. Gabriel will need more than one meet and greet with his prospective adopters to allow him time to build a bond and feel comfortable with them before being adopted.

Listed 5 months ago