Locki - a case study

History: Locki came to the shelter as a neighbour was concerned by his whining. It turns out that Locki had been kept in a dark garage for a year.

Initial Assessment:

When I first approached Locki’s enclosure, he was calm, no barking or growling. I then took him to the paddock where he really enjoyed playing Tug and had a real need to chew. So much so that I replaced the tug-e-nuff toy with a sturdier gappy tug toy. Locki also enjoyed foraging for food in the grass but showed a greater preference for interactive play. Given Locki’s history he was extremely affectionate and gave me consent to stroke his vagus nerve and chest. Each time I stopped he would paw me. Locki was also happy for a male colleague to come into the paddock.

Locki is a good jumper but when I quickly went to the car to fetch more toys was happily exploring the paddock. There was a bark off between Locki and another male dog Blue at the shelter behind the fences. This is the only other dog that Locki interacted with so would not want to generalise his reaction towards other dogs without more observation.

Next steps:

·       Being able to put Locki into a care and take him off site to explore

·       Putting Locki in a harness.

·       Observing how Locki is off-site with everyday life, unfamiliar dogs and people, and gauging prey drive which is currently unknown.

Potential adopter:

Locki needs an outlet where he can chew, this may have been a learnt coping mechanism to deal with the stress of being stuck in the garage.

If you are interested in meeting this beautiful boy, please contact #friendsindeeddogrescue on 07527129642 or me directly :)