Friday, September 18, 2020
Our Saartje, ex Sarabi Luna, was able to come home to the Netherlands. She is a great dog and the whole family loves Saartje, but she cannot stay home alone. This can be taught and learned but takes time. She has not been with her new owners for very long but they cannot leave her home alone. Here is their story about this sweetheart:
"Saartje is a sensitive, somewhat insecure, Stafford. She is very focused on people, especially men. She loves all people and likes to climb on everyone's lap to cuddle. She is also very sweet to children so probably it would it be nice for her to be placed with children from the age of 10, she will be OK with that.
She loves to play, when you throw the ball she takes it back neatly, and she also loves to play with her bones. Every now and then she becomes a really crazy clown, a very special friendly Staff.
She is very social with dogs and has shown with us that she understands dog language well. She also takes over the energy of other dogs. When the other dog is calm, Saartje also becomes calm, because when she meets another dog, she is often still a bit boisterous. If the other dog is not served by her enthusiasm, she responds well to corrections by the other dog. She does show feeding aversion in the presence of other animals, not at all in humans. However, we started working with this because we have 2 cats ourselves and we already notice improvement. However, this must be taken into account. As far as living with cats is concerned, that is certainly an option for Saartje, provided she is guided in a positive way. With us she is now used to them that she challenges the cats to play. However, the neighbour's cat is chased from the garden with gusto.
At home she already listens quite well, she knows the commands sit, lie, stay, place and wait (at the door when we go for a walk). With walking she still puts her attention to everything that happens around her too much and what she sees and smells. However, she is smart and eager to learn so with enough attention and positive training this should be fine. She is very clean and has not done anything at home yet.
She sometimes shows a submissive attitude when we send her to her basket, for example. Why she does this is not clear to us, but this will probably stem from her insecurity. Saartje benefits greatly from rest, regularity and a positive approach. Corrections backfire on her (then she shuts down).
Being alone is currently a no-go for her. She really panics when we are out of the picture, especially with my partner she feels this very badly. She also prefers to follow us all day long. We have tried various techniques from behavioural therapists, but we are not able to guide her properly, also because we are under time pressure because my partner has to return to work within 2 months, after a period of incapacity for work.
Our work situation, despite one of us working part-time, is not good for Saartje. According to the latest behavioural therapist, 4-5 hours alone would ultimately be the max for her, provided that plenty of time is taken to guide her in this. With us she would end up being alone for 6-7 hours a day, which is not good for her well-being. We think she would benefit from having 1 or more stable dogs that she can learn from and get support from. Or someone who can work with her without time pressure to teach her to be alone and who is not away from home much or works at home. Unfortunately we cannot offer her this.
We really care about this because we think it is terrible that Saartje has to get used to a new environment again. This will probably hurt her confidence and the new adopter will have to understand this. We hope that a new adopter realizes that it is a matter of patience and a lot of time for Saartje to teach her being alone. Someone who accepts that she is a bit stoic at times and who can appreciate the stubbornness of a Stafford. Someone who can laugh at her clownish behaviour that she uses every now and then as a diversion when she doesn't feel like listening and who doesn't shy away from lots of dog kisses. "
This is Saartje situation at the moment. Which stable and disciplined owner will stand up for her? She is a wonderful Staff, a full personality. She must find an owner who knows the breed and can and will work on staying alone… and her further education!
For more information about Sarabi Luna (Sartje) please click on her name.
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