Sprocket is a 14 month old male Deerhound cross Irish Wolfhound. Based on looks alone, Sprocket would attract a lot of attention but this is a boy that needs a little work put in. He was found with his mum and siblings in a McDonalds car park when he was just a couple of days old. He was taken to a safe foster home but due to commitments to work and other rescue dogs the litter did not get a lot of social interaction. As a result of this when they came to us they were very undersocialised. Initially Sprocket went into a home but it very quickly became apparent, he was too big and too insecure for his adopter to cope with. He was returned to us and then adopted again to a home where in some respects he progressed quite well. Unfortunately one of Sprockets ‘isms’ is that when confronted with strangers he gets scared and barks and as a member of the family was afraid of him, he was again returned.
From what I can see of Sprocket he simply needs to be taken back to basics. He needs the kinds of social experiences that a responsible puppy owner would begin at 8 weeks. He is afraid of the things he hasn’t seen before and cannot understand, he needs to be shown these things are okay and not kept away from them. He needs to be walked with groups of friends and family on a regular basis and in time his fears will become a thing of his past. He needs careful introduction to visitors to the house so that he can see nobody is ‘invading’ to hurt him. Sprocket suffers from a severe case of fear of the unknown so time needs to be spent teaching him.
During group walks Sprocket gets on very well with other dogs and time spent with confident, steady influences would be very valuable in his progression. He is not tested with cats but that could be arranged if necessary and a home with older children or just adults would suit him best.
