Who doesn’t love a success story? We have lots of dogs working well in class and gaining their IMDT partnership award levels which we absolutely love! However, there are some dogs we have for 121’s and class who have a less straight forward journey, these dogs don’t necessarily complete their partnership awards but that doesn’t mean their achievements are any less amazing, in fact for many dogs the unexpected changes can mean so much more for their family.
This is where our ‘Special Recognition Awards’ fit in to the equation. In association with the IMDT, we offer these to dogs and owners who have had a more challenging and unique journey to and within class their own special award.
Today we are recognizing the very gorgeous Monty.
Monty was rescued by Nikki and Gareth In May 2017. Already having a previously rescued their other hound Amber 3 months previously from the same rescue, it was clear both dogs needed some support to help them overcome experiences from their past.
We met Monty when he was enrolled on one of our rescue dog courses at Bell Plantation, he was very gentle but very anxious and although he had some very good basic obedience it was clear he had some difficulties with being stressed by the presence of other people and dogs. We decided to take a different approach with Monty and so he would attend Bell at his class time but instead of coming into class with the other dogs he would ‘mooch’ at a distance he was comfortable with at the perimeter of the training field. The idea was to ‘desensitise’ Monty to the other dogs and help him realize that he didn’t need to be anxious or worry about them.
Nikki explains that ‘’his perimeter fun included sniffing (he’s very very good at sniffing) and pouncing excitedly on mice nests – much to SJ’s amusement!! Towards the end of the course we joined a group walk with the other Jackadorians which was a great success. We coupled this with a new way of walking when out with Amber – giving ourselves plenty of space if we saw other dogs so not to overload Monty’s senses. This has helped Monty – he is able to walk much closer to most dogs now on most days. He sometimes will bark and there are some dogs that he is wary of but we do well most of the time. Our finest hour was visiting the Towcester vets open day where both he and Amber mixed very closely with lots of other dogs and both did so well! I was so proud of them!
Rescue dogs come with lots of varied and challenging needs. Helping them to overcome these needs takes patience and understanding. They may never completely get over some of the traumas they have been through in their lives. It can takes months and maybe even years to make progress. However, it is so rewarding and is a wonderful feeling to know that we have given these beautiful dogs a chance at a happy life. Jason and SJ are amazing – so encouraging and helpful in trying to work through to find solutions. They are there for you when times are good and not so good - once you are a Jackadorian you are one for life!!! Their approach to working with rescue dogs is just fabulous and I am so grateful to them.‘’.
Both Monty and Amber are lovely dogs and I am so lucky to have them in my life. They make me laugh every day! There is nothing better than when Amber jumps on the sofa to sit next to me – not bad for a dog who wouldn’t make eye contact with me when we first got her and Monty who is so delighted to see me everytime I come in from work that he follows me around doing his ‘touch’ – a technique for checking in with each other that we learnt in class. It’s lovely to feel him putting his nose on my hand to say ‘hello I’m here’ - he just melts my heart.’’
We our hugely grateful for Nikki and Gareth for trusting us to help them with both Amber and Monty, we are proud to have them as part of the Jackador family. So it is a huge honour for us to offer Monty and his amazing, dedicated owners Nikki and Gareth one of our very first Jackador Special recognition awards.
We have enclosed some pictures of Monty on his journey.
Congratulations! We are so proud of you all.
