FOR ADOPTION
Meet Cockapoo Dottie
Dottie is honestly the most adorable young doodle. Whether she’s zooming around, proudly showing off a toy, rearranging your soft furnishings (you have been warned!), doing head rolls in the grass, eagerly helping with whatever you are doing, or leaning in for affection like she’s known you forever, Dottie is a little ray of sunshine. Dottie loves being involved, loves learning, and really just wants someone to share life’s adventures with. She truly is a wonderful little girl who absolutely deserves the world.
Dottie is still very much a puppy at heart. In foster, she has been gradually making up for her missed exposure and socialisation as a young puppy, and the programme of gradual exposure will need to continue at a pace she is comfortable with in her new home. With the right person, she’s going to absolutely thrive and build a really special bond along the way.
Dottie arrived in foster “frightened of the world” and very wary of people, having not had the best of starts. Every dog tells their story once they feel safe to do so, and we believe Dottie has been harshly treated at some time in her short life, with little to no opportunity to experience normal day to day life outside of the home. When she first arrived in foster, Dottie was literally living on her nerves, jumping at every movement and noise and wholly unable to settle herself – her switch was permanently “ON”. With the support of her IMDT trainer foster mum, Dottie is learning that the world is a fun place and people can be trusted not to hurt or overwhelm her. She is learning to calm when she becomes over-stimulated. Dottie has come such a long way in the past couple of months, but it is vitally important that her training programme continues to be consistently and competently delivered in her new home, and her new owners will receive all the support they need to do this. Therefore, you must be prepared to work closely with her foster mum if you wish to be considered to adopt Dottie.
Dottie at a glance
Age: 13 months
Weight: Approx 10kg
Breed: Cockapoo (small)
Energy level: High (“Zebedee”) active, fun, and loves being busy and involved. She’d be brilliant at Agility when she’s old enough (and Hoopers in the meantime!)
Dog friendly: Yes with carefully managed introductions
Cats: Could potentially live with a cat, with carefully managed introductions.
Children: 12+ calm, sensible and respectful of a dog’s needs
Training level: Ongoing, clever and eager to learn.
Ideal Home:
Active home with the time and a commitment to continue Dottie’s positive reward-based training programme, with ongoing support from her foster mum and IMDT trainer. You should be calm, consistent, kind and confident. There will need to be someone at home much of the time, unless you can take Dottie with you, as she is not a dog you can leave frequently or for more than an hour or two (and only then once she has had ample time to settle, followed by a gradual programme of small incremental steps towards leaving her) and you will need to have ample time throughout the day for Dottie’s training, socialisation and exercise needs. If you work from home, Dottie will need to be in the room with you whilst you work, and not shut away elsewhere. Dottie is still a puppy in many ways and she is high energy: she will not suit accompanying you to your place of work in most cases. Previous personal dog ownership experience is a must. You must be prepared to advocate for Dottie and to go at her pace. Dottie could potentially live with another well matched neutered/spayed dog (veterinary evidence will be required) subject to successful introductions. Any children or frequently visiting children should be aged 12 years and over and calm and respectful of a dog’s needs. Dottie will not do well in a hyper, busy, noisy household.
Personality
Dottie is very affectionate and playful, and is very keen to learn (she’s like a little sponge). Her energy levels are high (she’s a cockapoo and still very much a puppy in her ways). She is not and will never be a “lap dog”. She’s a very clever little girl who enjoys training and mental stimulation, and she has loads of potential for things like Agility, scent work or any activity you’d like to do together. She will need a close eye kept to ensure she doesn’t go over threshold when it comes to playing with other dogs or other exciting activities, stepping in to encourage calming activities when you can see her approaching threshold. She’s the sort of dog who, when ready to do so, will want to come on walks, trips, coffee stops, holidays, wherever you are, she’ll want to be too. She thrives on being close to you and being fully a part of your life, rather than left on the sidelines or left at home alone. Like many young dogs, she’s still learning about the world. she can feel unsure around unfamiliar people, dogs and places at first, so she needs someone patient who understands that confidence grows with positive experiences, gently introduced at a pace she can comfortably cope with without becoming overwhelmed, whilst also being prepared to advocate for her with others (ie intervening to prevent unfamiliar people trying to handle her, as this is something she is anxious about). We will guide and support her new family to ensure her current training programme continues in her new home.
Dottie’s Ideal Home
Dottie would suit owners who enjoy an active lifestyle and who love the idea of involving their dog in their activities. Walks, exploring, training, maybe even dog sports such as Agility when she is ready. Dottie thrives in the company of her special human(s) and she is never going to be happy being left for anything other than very short periods, and then only occasionally and once she is fully settled.
She’d do best in a home:
Experienced dog owners, with time throughout the day for exercise, training, enrichment and cuddles
Where someone is at home much of the time and where she can accompany you outside of the home
Happy to continue her current positive, reward-based training programme (with our support)
With confident, calm, consistent, kind and patient handling. Prepared to advocate for Dottie’s needs with both strangers and visitors, to avoid her feeling overwhelmed
Could possibly live with a cat with carefully managed introductions
Possibly with a well matched neutered/spayed dog
With children (or frequently visiting children) aged 12 years and over, or an adult home
If you’ve been looking for an adorable, clever, character-filled, fun-loving and optimistic doodle, one who’ll make you laugh every day and keep life interesting, Dottie could be a great fit for you. We’re actively looking for her adoptive home now, and applications are reviewed as they come in.
Other:
All resident family members (including any dogs) must be able to meet Dottie in Bury, Lancashire in the next two weeks. You should have no holidays, overnight stays or short breaks planned for the next three months, unless you can take Dottie with you.
You will need to be fit, active and in good health. Dottie is a young high-energy dog with the potential to live to 15 or 16 years of age.
Doodles are highly sensitive, respond well to praise and positive, fun, reward-based training and do not cope well with negative training methods, including being shouted at or harshly corrected. Dottie has had more than enough harsh treatment in her short life and we have borne witness to the damage this has caused.
Training & Support
Support will be provided during Dottie’s transition to her new home, including guidance around her confidence building and training, to ensure her current training programme continues. Dottie is food motivated, very intelligent, and she responds brilliantly to positive training methods, which makes her a really rewarding and fun little dog to work with.
Adoption fee: £500.00
Location: Bury, Lancashire
Click on the “APPLICATION FORM” button at the bottom of the page to apply
Doodle Rescue only supports positive, force-free training methods. Those who know these dogs will know that doodles are highly sensitive dogs which can easily be sent into a tail spin if subtle signs of anxiety are missed and if resultant behaviours are mishandled. We expect our fosterers and adopters to employ positive, reward based training techniques which these dogs respond well to. We categorically do not support and will not tolerate the use of aversive, punitive “training techniques” on our dogs.
Doodle Rescue is run by a small team of volunteers. We regret that we are unable to respond to unsuccessful applicants individually. If your application has been shortlisted to the next stage of our vetting process, or if we require additional information to enable us to fully consider your application, one of our volunteer admin will contact you via Facebook Messenger, by email or by phone/SMS within 3 days of your adoption application form submission. If you do not hear from us within this time frame, regrettably your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion. We endeavour to provide sufficient information in each dog’s adoption bio to give an overview of our assessment of the dog and the required criteria to be considered to adopt the dog, to enable interested parties to assess suitability before submitting an adoption application. We regret that at this early stage of our vetting processes it is not possible for our volunteer admins to respond to requests for further information on a dog available for foster or adoption since – with limited resources and time - we must prioritise finding the right home for the dog and we are grateful for your understanding in this matter. We regret that we are unable to enter into any correspondence with unsuccessful applicants or with those who are considering submitting an application but who have not yet done so. Note: due to GDPR we do not retain unsuccessful applications on our system and a new application will need to be submitted for any other available dogs
Please be aware that our vetting processes are thorough to ensure the welfare of the dogs and by submitting an application you are agreeing to cooperate with our processes, which will include a home check and references.