Tessa: female dog to adopt

Tessa fostered Poringland Norfolk

Tessa is a small crossbreed aged around three to four years old.

We met her back in October last year during our trip to the Botosani public shelter in Romania. She was very afraid and shut down in there and didn’t allowed us to stroke her. She arrived in the UK a few weeks later.

It’s taken a long while for Tessa to start trusting us and to relax when we are near her. Once she knows and trusts you , she will ask for a fuss. She does the most beautiful play bows , loves her walks and gets very excited when her lead comes out. She is relaxing and allowing us to pick her up and stroke her but she still doesn’t really understand why we want to lol.

Tessa is still a work in progress but her journey can continue now in her forever home. In fact in a more one to one environment we expect her to advance much more quickly. She gets on well with other dogs and will need at least one other confident dog in her forever home. She can be very playful with the other dogs in her foster home.

Tessa has adapted well to walking on a lead and is now enjoying. Tessa will need an adopter with the patience and compassion to understand that she will not be their best friend overnight but that their relationship will take time to grow but be totally worth the effort invested.

When you adopt a Safe Rescue dog, you MUST use a slip lead. This will keep your dog safe: your new dog will be nervous and will not trust you, and you will not know which situations might upset your dog. If your dog panics, then a slip lead is the only way to prevent your dog from escaping (many dogs can escape from a collar and/or harness).

It will take AT LEAST 3-6 months for your dog to settle-in and for you to know your dog fully (longer for nervous dogs). The slip lead must ALWAYS be used during this settling-in period. 
Even after your dog is settled, it is safest to use the slip lead in situations where your dog may become scared (e.g. visiting new places, around unfamiliar people, at the vet), and it situations where unexpected triggers might happen (e.g. around bonfire night). Nervous dogs may always need to wear a slip-lead as a back-up safety measure.

The slip lead is a safety device and must NEVER be used as a training tool. Using the lead to apply pressure to the dog’s neck is damaging. If your dog pulls on the lead, then we can advise you on training methods that avoid harm.

Once your dog is settled, you may want to consider using a harness (together with the slip lead) if your dog is comfortable with being handled when it is fitted. Most harnesses are not escape-proof, but harnesses with a strap behind the ribcage (e.g. Ruffwear Webmaster or Perfect Fit Harnesses) are safer.

Retractable / extendable leads must never be used on our dogs.

Adopted dogs must be collected from the rescue and transported straight home in a crate.

Fences and gates must be 5foot minimum in height and secure.

If you are interested in beautiful Tessa please get in touch. We will happily tell you all about her and explain how adoption with Safe Rescue works.