Lanzarote Dog Trainer

So, nearly a year has passed since Salvador left on a flight destined for his new home in Germany and this week I have recieved some lovely photos from his new owners showing him looking happy and healthy in his new home. He was a super nervous, scared of everything dog that took a long time to start to come out of his shell and there was a lot of work involved with getting him used to his transport cage for the journey and he left improving but by no means a confident dog yet. Looks like he’s getting there now…….

So the day has finally come to say goodbye to Salvador. Yesterday was our final practice with the transport cage and all went very well.
He had his final injections and tablets in preparation for the flight.

Today I went to the shelter and took him for a final walk to relax him before giving him the sedative. He went into the cage no problem and I sat with him for a little while to make sure he was completely calm before I gave him the liquid sedative. This took about ten minutes to take effect and I could see him getting sleepy so it was off to the airport. After the usual hanging around in queues, he was finally checked in and then he had to be removed from the cage for it to be x-rayed.  We said our final goodbyes and then he was put back in the cage and taken away to be boarded on the plane.

I’m a little sad to see him go, I have been working with him for quite a few months now and have formed quite a bond with him. He is, however, finally getting the chance to live in a family environment and the new family he is going to already have a dog fron the shelter that was nervous like Salvador but is now a happy, playful dog. He sounds like he is going to a very good home.

Good luck Salvador! xx

His training with the transport cage is coming along really well. He is now happy to go in and out of the cage on command and will accept food from me while he is in there. This is crucial as the day he leaves he will need to take a mild sedative to help him on the journey and he must be relaxed when he takes this. If he fights it, it won’t work and he won’t be able to travel. I don’ t think there will be any problem with this as he is now quite used to the cage.

So, I have been working with Salvador for a couple of weeks now to get him used to the transport cage. I started by introducing him slowly to the sight of the cage, walking him close to it and letting him get used to seeing it. In an ideal world I would have had the cage set up in his kennel for him to investigate in his own time but as he shares a run with three other dogs I would have no way of controlling this.

After a while I started to introduce him to the interior of the cage. This involved me having to actually get in myself and then entice Salvador in (to the great amusement of the Sara staff!). The first couple of sessions we just sat together in the cage so that he could begin to relax in there.  I then shortened the time that I spent in the cage with him and he will now stay in the cage and relax on his own.

The next step is to get him to go in and out of the cage by himself.

Good news – Salvador finally has a date for his flight to Germany. He is to leave on the 9th October. I have now been handed the challenge to get him used to the transport cage as he has never been in one before and we don’t want to frighten him, he will need to be in the cage for a long time on the day he travels. I have just under a month to do this, so we should get there by then.

Salvador is improving slowly. He is definitely more comfortable on our walks now and is starting very slowly to come out of his shell.

He will now take food from my hand and over the last few sessions we have progressed from me having to crouch down low for him to be relaxed enough to take the food, to me being able to feed him standing up. I am working towards having him actively seeking out the food but I know this is a long way off as I don’t have the hours with him that I need to speed up the process.

He is currently reserved to go to Germany so I am hoping that he will get a flight soon and with full time attention in a family environment, will have a chance to feel secure and more confident.

Very exciting today…………Salvador went to the toilet outside! This may not sound very exciting but it is quite a big deal for such a nervous dog. He has also started to take food out of my hand, he’s still not sure but he will do it. He will also allow me to touch him although he is not completely comfortable with this.

I am waiting at the moment to find out the status of his adoption. He is supposed to be reserved for a home but has been on the list for quite a while. In my opinion he really needs to be re-homed as soon as possible as the environment in the shelter is not helping him at all.

I will work with anyone who takes him to help him regain his confidence.

Two weeks away and Salvador is much the same. It’s a little by little process and I’m happy that he is improving even though it is by very small amounts.

It’s small things that I notice with him; his tail wasn’t held so low today while we were walking and when we stopped he kept it out from between his legs. He is using his nose more and when I sit down with him he has a good sniff of me which is really encouraging.

Other people and most other dogs make him uneasy. Cars, motorbikes, rubbish bags….I could go on. He’s not incurable though and in a loving home will surely improve.

Salvador is improving, slowly. We have settled into a nice routine of walking, running and then having a break sitting down. This is to give him some things he likes to do and is comfortable with like running and walking and then when we stop, which he is not so comfortable with, he has to accept 5 minutes of feeling a little unsure. This seems to be working as today when we stopped the second time he kept his tail out from between his legs, a sure sign that he was feeling a little more relaxed.

We will keep working like this until he is totally relaxed with me. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to work with him every day, I wish I did, ideally he needs to get rehomed with someone soon who has the time to spend with him. But, I’ll keep at it until a home is found.

Today I discovered that when we run Salvador is totally relaxed. He loves running and he really doesn’t look nervous at all when we are moving at speed. Good news for Salvador, bad news for me I’m not great at running in the sun! Still it gives us a great chance to bond and the lack of exercise and stimulation is probably the cause of all his anxiety. He is of a breed that spends all day running when they are hunting.

We also had another little breakthrough, when we stopped for our 5 minutes sitting down he actually took a treat out of my hand. He was a little unsure but he took it and ate it. Little by little is what it will take with this one.