THIS IS A FOSTER-TO-ADOPT PLACEMENT (a foster placement which it is hoped will lead to adoption to avoid Lenny being subjected to further change) Whilst in foster, Lenny remains in the ownership of Doodle Rescue and we provide full support and cover all agreed foster expenses.

PLEASE READ BIO CAREFULLY BEFORE APPLYING

Meet Lenny!

Lenny is the most adorable little cavapoo! He loves nothing more than cuddling up to his favourite hoomans, and his most fervent wish is to be with his family, involved in day to day activities and adventures! Playful, loving, affectionate and friendly, he is good with children (provided they are respectful of a dog’s needs for space and rest) and other dogs, although he can be overwhelmed by some dogs (well, he IS only 7kg!). Lenny is cat-tested. He travels well on the back seat with a seatbelt restraint.

Lenny at a glance

Age: 3 years 5 months
Breed: Cavapoo (approx 7kg)
Energy level: Medium to high: active, fun, and loves being involved in everything!
Dog friendly: Yes, although can be overwhelmed by some dogs
Cats: Yes
Children: Yes, provided they are mature enough to be respectful of a dog’s needs
Training level: Ongoing, walks well on lead and has good recall (once bonded)
Crate trained: No
Ideal home: Active home, where someone is at home much of the time (work from home is fine, although you will need to be confident that this arrangement is unlikely to change) or can take Lenny with you, with time for training, exercise, and companionship
Current location: HAMPSHIRE

Personality

Lenny is affectionate, playful, and he absolutely adores his special hoomans. He’s a smart boy who enjoys training and mental stimulation, and very much wants to be involved in all family activities. He’s the sort of dog who will want to come on walks, trips, coffee stops, holidays, wherever you are, he’ll want to be too. He thrives on connection and at the heart of his family’s lives, rather than left on the sidelines. Lenny will make the most wonderful companion and best friend to one very lucky family.

Lenny’s owners have made the very difficult decision to relinquish him solely because their circumstances have changed, and Lenny is now being left alone for long hours every day, which is breaking all their hearts, knowing how much he craves their company.

Lenny can feel unsure around some dogs (care will need to be taken as he has previously run off when off lead and spooked by another dog, although he does come back to his owners), although he goes out with a dog walker and other dogs several times a week, and very much enjoys the company of other familiar dogs. He has had some less than positive experiences with previous groomers who have persisted when his very curly coat has been matted, causing pain, and is now unsurprisingly anxious when being professionally groomed, although fine being brushed at home. The answer will be to find a patient, holistic groomer with experience of the poodle coat, who will take things at Lenny’s pace and will stop when he has had enough (he will air snap). He is anxious at the vet (again, he will air snap when worried about what the vet is doing) We will support with muzzle training for vet appointments whilst Lenny is in foster. Lenny dislikes his family’s 12 year old picking him up.

Ideal Home

Lenny would suit a family which enjoys an active lifestyle and likes the idea of doing things with their dog. Walks, holidays, exploring, training, playing, cuddling on the sofa...

He’d do best in a home:

• Where there is someone at home much of the time (work from home is fine)

• With ample time for exercise and enrichment activities

• Where Lenny will be placed firmly at the centre of his family, involved in everything you do

• Happy to continue his training

• With confident, calm handling, and willing to advocate for this tiny doodle when he’s feeling overwhelmed

• Hopefully with another well matched neutered/spayed dog

• Cats are fine, with careful introductions

• Where any resident or regularly visiting children are calm and sensible around dogs, and respectful of their need for space and rest

• No holidays or breaks away booked for the next 3-6 months unless you can take Lenny with you. Note that Lenny is never going to be a dog who copes in kennels, so if you do go away without him in the future, you will need to make alternative arrangements

• If you hope that fostering will lead to adoption, you must be confident that your work commitments will not fundamentally change during Lenny’s lifetime and/or that you will have arrangements in place to meet his needs should they ever do so

Training & Support

Full support and any training required will be provided while Lenny is in foster. Doodle Rescue covers all (agreed) costs associated with the care of our foster dogs.

Foster-to-Adopt

This is a foster to adopt placement to enable Doodle Rescue to assess Lenny and provide any necessary support to his foster family. A foster to adopt placement is categorically not “Try before you buy”. Our focus is firmly on Lenny’s needs and on getting this right for him. At the end of the foster period, and provided both parties are in agreement, Lenny’s foster family will have the opportunity to adopt him (an adoption fee will be payable)

OTHER

• All resident family members (including any dogs) will be required to attend a pre-foster meet up and walk with Lenny in Hampshire in the next week or two. Note that we cannot hold on to dogs until after holidays.

• You should have no holidays or short breaks planned for the next three months, unless you can take Lenny with you. Should fostering lead to adoption, a home boarder or house sitter should be considered for non-dog friendly holidays in the future, and not kennels

• You should be fit, in good health and active, and prepared for a high-energy dog with the potential to live to approx 15 or more years of age

• Doodles are highly sensitive, respond well to praise, and do not cope well with negative training methods, including being shouted at or harshly corrected, and we do not permit the use of such methods with our dogs. Lenny is well trained, learns quickly, is eager to please, and has only known love, encouragement and rewards when getting it right in his life.

Apply

If you’ve been looking for a loving, devoted, clever little doodle to build an unbreakable bond with, one who’ll be your best friend, Lenny could be that dog!

We’re actively looking for his foster to adopt home now, and applications are reviewed as they come in.

Click on the APPLICATION FORM button at the bottom of the page to submit an application.

Should fostering lead to adoption, an adoption fee of £450 will be payable

T&C

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; we will take steps to remove any of our dogs should such methods be used. Always seek our advice if unsure about how to approach training – we are here to support you.

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; this is not a reflection of you, but there is only one Lenny! 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 (which are non negotiable and based upon the individual needs of the dog) 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, and a pre-foster/pre-adoption meet up and walk with the applied for dog.