Luke

Luke is one of the easiest, simplest dogs, we have ever had at the rescue – he is as thick as a plank and hates decision making of any kind.  The word gormless was invented for Luke

What he does love is cuddles, safety, the sofa, more cuddles and humans adoring him. He does need owners who will not pander to him and worry him further.  He needs decisive, confident, owners who will run his life for him – think celebrity PR help – there to organise everything, so the celeb just does as they are advised.  If you give him a choice of a 3 sofas, he will wander about unable to decide & worry about it – if you tell him to just get on one – he is so happy.   After repeating a task 100 times he sometimes does remember, so after 4 months he can now jump on the sofa all by himself.

Luke arrived at KGR in Nov 2019, having just turned 2.  In his first 2 years of life within the industry,  he did pretty much nothing so his new life with us overwhelmed him – he panicked and he worried a lot.  He went to a new home early 2020 and he couldn’t cope.  This was mistakenly assumed to be aggression to other dogs – when it fact it was just “help! I am really scared of the world and I just need you to look after me”.    Luke was a baby and acting like a baby – he didn’t know how to behave.

Over Christmas 2019, Luke had lived in a temporary Xmas foster home – and they had a jack russell – and Luke was fine with him from the start.

To be fair, had the owners been able to get him to simple dog training classes they would have realised his problem was not with other dogs – it was with him over thinking everything.  He only ever wanted to play with dogs – they were fun. It was life in general that was tricky.  Because of lock down they were given behaviour techniques to teach him to be ok with other dogs and advised to get him intelligence toys to keep him occupied in the home – this just made him worse.  Had lock down not occurred – and the owners could have attended group dog training – we really feel he would not have been returned.

He arrived back with us in May.   From the beginning, we started to socialise him – ignoring how he was with other dogs and just getting him used to being in the human world.  He very quickly decided he loved both the pub and trips to the cafe– even if that pub or cafe was full of other dogs.  The seafront (full of dogs) was just playtime and the local High Street was full of people who admired him – all great for his confidence.

Then when lockdown was relaxed, we took him to play with lots of other breeds and he would go for walks with lots of other breeds.  What became very clear is his jumping around and behaviour was his desire to play not aggression – we tested him on so many dogs – and he didn’t have a problem with any of them – he always just wanted to play.  He just didn’t know how to.

This is why we ALWAYS recommend group training classes – they enable the owners to see how their dog is with others dogs in a controlled environment, with professionals on hand to advise.

We have held on to Luke thinking he is too good to be true – he came back with such a bad rep – and we have never been able to see that in him.  He will still yip – sometimes – with other dogs – but it is because he wants to run off and play with them.  He had exactly the same behaviour with the small dogs in the video – we let him off and this was the result (he was muzzled and it was in a controlled environment with a professional on hand to advise – we did not just randomly do this).

Then just to finally make sure – we took him to a dog behaviourist and explained his past – all he said was your dog really isn’t the problem – he is fine with other dogs – he is not aggressive – he is lovely.  Luke is not a problem!  Before this lockdown he was going to group dog training, he was in a mixed group and he was fine with the other dogs – not so good on remembering what to do – but fine with everyone.  He will only be rehomed on the condition, his new owners continue with training as it builds his confidence.

So, he is now back up for rehoming.  We need to make sure he gets the right home.

He loves to socialise – he would like owners who like the pub/coffee shops – just take his bed and he is a happy boy.

He can be an only dog – although he currently lives with bossy Dora and a male greyhound.

He is very tactile – and loves fuss and cuddles.  He loves you to talk to him.

He currently lives in the country, but goes to the seafront or local town  everyday and that has been very busy over the summer.  He doesn’t mind traffic & could live in a more urban area.

He dose not need experienced owners but he needs confident owners. Luke is sensitive and he feeds off your emotions – if you panic – he will panic 10x s more.

He is only 3 but is not massively energetic – in fact he only has around 2 x 20 minute walks a day plus playtime in the garden.

He loves cuddly toys – he likes to snuggle in with them.

He loves the sofa – he will not be happy regulated to a dog bed.

He is super cuddly, really affectionate and good with every dog he has ever met.

We are currently unable to rehome to all locations due to Covid restrictions – these change regularly so please read the latest here.  Please do not apply unless we are able rehome in your area.

If you have children please read our page on children and dogs.  We are unable to rehome to families with children under 10 as our dogs are not assessed and have rarely lived in a home before they arrive with us.

If you are interested in younger dogs (2 and under) please read our blog for more information.