Sex: Female
Size: Medium/large
Age: Approx 6-7 years old
Breed: Labrador Cross
Have I been spayed? Yes
Energy needs? Medium
Can I live with children? I would prefer a home without young children
Can I live with dogs? Ideally I’d like to be an only dog but I do well around other dogs
Can I live with cats? No
Where will she travel from? She is currently in a boarding facility near Hull.
Profile
Angel is a very special and brave dog who, in spite of suffering immensely at the hands of humans, has learned to trust again with the support of our boarders in Turkey and a rehabilitation facility here in the UK.
Angel is a black Labrador cross. Unfortunately, she suffered sexual abuse before she was rescued by Angels for Animals Foundation. More specific details of this abuse can be shared with adopters.
On advice from a behaviourist with whom we work, rather than placing Angel directly into a home from our boarding kennels in Turkey, we organised for Angel to spend some time in a wonderful rehabilitation facility in the UK to be extra cautious to ensure that she was ready for a home environment. In rehabilitation, Angel has exceeded our expectations with her progress and the team that have worked with her are confident that she is ready to find her family now.
On the face of it, Angel is a happy and playful girl. She enjoys her walks. She is treat-motivated. She is intelligent. She has done well mixing around under dogs in the kennel environment. What Angel has been working on in rehabilitation is trusting people (particularly men) to handle her and understanding how to positively set boundaries in this respect.
Understandably, since her rescue, Angel has been more uncomfortable around men than women. However, with the right introductions and understanding, Angel has built trusting relationships with the men who have been around her in kennels and she has actively sought affection from these men. She is a lot more relaxed around women and has formed a very close relationship with the team leader at the rehabilitation facility at which she has been staying.
Equally understandably, since her rescue, Angel has not felt comfortable being touched on certain areas of her body. This has been a key focus of her rehabilitation to assist with her trust with people and her comfortability with cooperative care to make vet visits and at home care much easier. She has really impressed us with her progress and, with the support of her rehabilitation team, she has learned how to say ‘no’ to touch and how to opt in to it. She has learned she has a choice, which has been empowering for her and has made a huge difference.
With ‘sign off’ from her care team, we are now looking for Angel’s new home. A home where she will feel safe and continue to learn to trust and have a more optimistic outlook on life.
Bearing in mind Angel’s upsetting history, we would love to find her a home with experienced adopters who have worked with nervous or traumatised dogs before and who are savvy about dog training (particularly co-operative care) and body language.
The best home environment for Angel will be a quiet, child-free home that is ideally free of other dogs. She would thrive in a quiet semi-rural/rural setting with access to a good-sized garden and quiet walking fields where she can explore on a longline without the hustle and bustle of traffic and lots of other walkers.