An update for those who have been following the saga: I took Champ back to Battersea Dogs’ Home today. He is a lovely dog, but mine was simply not the right home for him. He needs, I believe, a multi-dog, multi-person household, where he will always have company and won’t overbond with any one person. I did seriously think about getting another dog for him for company, but there was no guarantee it would be enough, and getting a house-husband just to keep the dog company seemed to be going a little far.
All of my attempts to train him to stay on his own – even for five minutes – only succeeded in raising his stress levels. Yesterday I stuffed his Kong (toys that are designed to make getting food a game) with a frozen yoghurt and liver mixture, the yummiest (for a dog!) mixture I could think of. I went out for 20 minutes and he whined and howled the whole time, and did not touch the Kongs.
And such attempts were making him so nervous that he never properly slept during the day, but was always alert to my slightest movement, in case that meant I was going out.
It just was not meant to be. And Battersea will find him the right sort of home, so it is not any sort of tragedy. I’m trying to maintain a sense of proportion.
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