On February 12th, we took in a (nearly) 5 year old Border Collie in need of a new home.
Unfortunately, the home that Bonnie came to us from wasn't looking after her needs very well: despite there always being someone home, she had been spending most of her day shut in either a 4' x 6' kitchen or in the garden, with no real forms of enrichment available to her in either.
At night, she slept on a towel in the kitchen (apparently she'd previously wet her bed and it had been thrown out and never replaced). Despite living next to the park, she didn't get a daily walk unless their neighbour (our friends) went round to take her out.
On one of the days that they were unable to do so, the sound of Bonnie howling and whimpering at the back gate carried across the park as she tried to come out and play with the other dogs. It was one of the most heartbreaking sounds that I've ever heard (and nearly prompted me to knock on their door to try bring her home - it was only a concern I might make things worse that stopped me)
The owners were a young family who, with a bit of encouragement, came to realise that the situation was neither fair or tenable. With their agreement, the neighbour contacted a few friends to see whether anyone was able to give Bonnie a new home (avoiding a potentially traumatic trip to a rescue centre in the process).
Days later, Bonnie moved in with us.
Not unexpectedly, it soon became clear that she had a few behavioural issues that we hadn't previously been aware of.
As we approached the two-month mark, it occurred to me that it might be good to put together a post so that we've something to look back on and see just how far she's come already.
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