Harry's sabbatical

Handsome Harry is one of my project dogs. I have been working with him since April and although I believe he is a wonderful dog and would make someone a wonderful pet, we are letting Harry take a sabbatical from the adoption process to work with him more intensly on his fear of men.

Harry has lived at Satchel's Last Resort for over 6 years. No one has ever come to see him or called to express interest. We feel if we can give Harry some intense attention, especially working on his coming when called and his fear of men, we can provide the tools necessary to find Harry a home. We do not know where his fear of men came from, or why he reacts to different me in a different manner, so we will be recruiting some men who are volunteers to help us in the process. If all he sees are women, he will never acclimate to men handling him. This is what we need to change, since 50% of our adopters are men.

Harry also treats coming when called as a game of chase. This may be fine in a home, but when Harry needs to come in from the yards, we simply don't have time to chase him for 30 minutes. This is a training we can all do and will help when Harry finds a home, not to bolt and run away. I have had that happen with several shy dogs and unfortunately, they can dart out in front of a car or not be found for several weeks, if they can be found at all.

So although Harry is still around, still handsome, and still got the glint of a little devil in his eye, I won't be writing about him for a while. I will keep you posted on his advances and the minute he is ready for adoption again, I will let you know.

In the meantime, if you know of someone who needs a special project dog or a nice man who might like to volunteer to spend some time with Harry, please drop me an email and let me know and I will make arrangements. If we can get Harry over his fear of men, it will play a huge part in finding him a permanent home.