Hi, I’m Harper
I’m looking for a quiet foster home
More About Me
Breed -Retriever
Size - Medium/Large
Sex - Female
Age - 7 years (approx.)
Colour - Light Golden
Live with children - 16+
Live with other dogs - Not currently
Live with cats / small animals - No
Temperament - Nervous but very sweet, playful and funny
Knows basic commands - Knows her name & still learning
House trained - Unknown
Able to be left - Up to 1-3 hours with training
Adoption fee - FOSTER ONLY
All of our dogs come neutered, vaccinated & microchipped, unless stated otherwise.
My story so far…
I came to the Sanctuary after a very kind member of the public found me straying and after some work, they managed to catch me. Although I was microchipped it was unregistered and no one came forward to claim me so the Sanctuary took me in. Sadly I was not in good shape….
I was extremely emaciated, filthy, covered in heavy matting, weak and exhausted and completely shut down due to my fear of people. I struggled to stand and the Sanctuary carers were very worried about me so they took me straight to the vets to get me checked over. Thankfully my bloodwork came back normal and the kind vets took the worst of the heavy matting off me and gave me a small meal that I wolfed down.
I got lots of TLC from my carers and I slowly began to trust people but it took a few weeks before I felt safe and could trust them enough to start moving forward. They saw how much I loved food so they would sit and hand feed each meal to me so I slowly started to come out of my shell and even did demanding barks & stomps to be fed.
It has taken a while but with lots of patience from the carers and taking things at my speed I have grown stronger and more confident each day and now I am making friends with more and more people and demanding head rubs! There is no doubt I can speak for myself now to let you know what I want and when I want it, if dinner is at all late I start of the woof alarm to let everyone know!!!
Home I am looking for…
I need a quiet foster home where I can continue building confidence following advice & support from my carer. There is no history on me as I came in as a stray and I may never have lived in a home environment before.
Moving to a home may be a big adjustment for me and I will need lots of patience, love & support and routine to settle into a home. This a process that can’t be rushed as although I have made incredibly progress, putting me in situations I find worrying could cause me to shut down again.
I need a home with someone who is around most of the day and would be willing to continue helping me grow in confidence and support me as I continue receiving veterinary treatment (see below), this includes taking me to appointments at the vets the Sanctuary use in Redditch and staying in frequent contact with my carer at the Sanctuary.
At the moment I can not live with any other pets as I really need lots of time 1-1 and a quiet space to recover after veterinary work.
Behaviour & Training
I have come a long way from the terrified girl I was but I am still learning the ways of the world and need someone with the patience to help me grow.
Because I’m just not sure how I feel about leaving the Sanctuary to go to house with new people, my carer said we will take it all one step at a time. I will need lots of meets with my new foster family so we can get used to each other and so they can learn how to handle me so I don’t feel worried. My carer will do a home check to make sure the home I am going to is safe and suitable for me, I can be a bit of a flight risk through doors so any potential foster humans must either be able to make a gate/ door system so there is 2x barriers to make an “air lock” as people come in and out of the home and strictly follow this.
I may need to have a few short home visits before I am ready to move in but again my carer said we can take it all one step at a time and see how I feed about it.
It may take some time to build my confidence once I have moved into my new home so I won’t be able to go out on walks for a few weeks or longer depending on how I cope and in this time it is more important I build a strong relationship with my foster people, my carer will support me and any fosterers through this process and advise when it will be suitable to begin walks.
Although I have done so well and I am now happy being around most people, I will always have to be walked ON LEAD, so potential fosterers must agree to this and ensure I am on a secure short lead at all times when walked.
My carer hopes that with all the progress I have made and continue to make it wont take me as long to adjust now. But of course knowing how shut down and terrified I was of humans to begin with they want to make sure I never feel that way again.
My health & Medical Information
I am now doing much better since coming to the Sanctuary in such poor condition, I have put on weight & muscle, had a dental (where they cleaned up and extracted 6x teeth that were causing me pain), been de-matted & bathed and had x-rays on my hips as my carer noticed when I came my hips look slightly off and I have a bit of an unusual gait. The X-rays showed I have significant irregularities with my right hip, it is unclear if this may be something I have been born with or cause my an untreated injury. The vets were very suprised after seeing my X-Rays to know that I have been moving around really well despite my hip and do not seem in significant discomfort.
I may need surgery to treat my leg but as I am getting on well and seem happy playing & moving on my leg we have decided to avoid surgery for now and to review it again later once I have had my spay and lumps removed. The surgery I would need would me femoral head and neck excision which is a very big surgery! I would need lots of physio and care afterwards which I just could not deal with at the moment. So the plan is to let me continue as I am, walking and playing happily on my leg.
The next steps for my veterinary treatment will be to have my spay and lumps on my chest removed & tested if needed (hopefully all in the same day to save me repeat trips to the vets which I find stressful). When I came to the Sanctuary I was in season so as it is best to neuter 2-3 months after a season we would be looking to have my operation in May (my carers will book this). Anyone willing to foster me must be aware of this and prepared to work with my carer at the Sanctuary to take me to appointments at the vets the Sanctuary uses in Redditch and be prepared to follow and advice & take me to any check ups I need.
If you think you could offer me the home I need, please fill out an Adoption Enquiry Form. Please make sure you have read about all of my needs and our adoption policies before applying.
Forms lacking in detail or with questions unanswered may not be considered, we need to ensure we are matching our animals to the right home for them.