Underdog Duggie finds a fresh start

Shy German Shepherd Cross Duggie came to us in October 2021. Before life with us, he had sadly been kept in a filthy cage outdoors. When he arrived, his fur was unkempt and he seemed to be not in the best health.

As our team at our Glasgow centre slowly got to know him better, they found he was anxious about a lot of things, and they noticed that seeing other dogs in the distance caused Duggie a fair bit of stress.

Our training and behaviour team helped Duggie settle in and adjust to life in the centre while we looked for his forever family. Duggie’s dedicated trainers worked with him regularly, teaching him new skills to give him the best chance to make progress and have a fresh start in life.

Our vet team had noticed Duggie was quite a skinny boy on his first check-up, and later saw that he was struggling to gain weight in kennels. The team decided that to help him gain weight, he should go on a special diet with meals spread out throughout the day. Duggie’s canine carers fed him with different food toys he enjoyed, to keep him mentally stimulated and eating regularly.

We hoped Duggie would be more relaxed in a home environment, so decided to put him into a temporary foster home. Due to his difficult start in life and being a bit nervous with new people, we paired him with our experienced foster carer, Christine. Christine took him into her home, continued his training, and gave us regular updates on how he was doing. 

From this experience, we learned that Duggie was toilet-trained,  and Christine told us; “a dream to have in the house.”

Duggie’s time in a foster home was hugely beneficial for his health. The frequency of his meals could be reduced as he was managing to gain weight. He quickly settled in at Christine’s home and was a lot calmer and playful with his toys. His fur’s quality improved too due to being happier and healthier.

After seeing him relaxed and confident in his foster home, the Glasgow team saw that Duggie would be able to live near dogs and be left alone for short periods, and updated his rehoming profile. Following this, it wasn’t too long before he got more attention and we found his perfect match; a family in a rural location who saw him online.

The family came to the centre many times to get to know Duggie better and speak to our training and behaviour team about all his training needs. After successful meetings at the centre, Duggie went for a home visit, to help the family learn all about him and to help introduce him to their home.

After over 400 days with us, it was time for Duggie’s new chapter and his new family took him home permanently. Duggie was so content in his new pad that he fell asleep at the back door whilst his family signed the paperwork to make him officially part of their family.

Duggie had a new name for his fresh start, so he is now known as Mac. His family have dedicated time to continuing his training and they say they are seeing positive results already. Mac has improved his loose lead walking and is feeling more relaxed and confident when seeing other dogs on walks. He also enjoys car rides too.

"Mac is a very clever dog and adapted to his new name quickly,” said his new family. “He is a gentle giant but can be very anxious, especially around other dogs. Patience is required as we help him make progress with us." They summarise: “Mac is now living his best life and brings such joy to our family."

We are so pleased for Mac and excited for his next chapter with his fur-ever family.