When Kim Adams met Jock, he was a sorry sight, a painfully thin, emotionally and physically scarred victim of dogfighting. Four years on, thanks to Kim and her husband's love, patience and careful training, life for a dog now known as Jake couldn't be more different:
"In December 2003 my husband Steve and I lost our beloved Staffy cross, Harry; he died of old age at 19 and my husband had had him since he was one or two.If you have a happy story about your rescue dogs (whether they came from Dogs Trust or not), please email me with a photo and your tale and it could appear here soon! If you're interested in adopting a dog, please visit our website for more information.
"By March 2004 we were pining for another dog so we went to Dogs Trust Kenilworth and had a look round. At first we couldn't find a dog that would be suitable; personally I think we were trying to find a replacement Harry. However, on the second walk round the kennels we noticed a dog that looked petrified and would not come out of his bed. As we got closer to the kennel, we called him over. He came over to us and looked in quite a sad state. His head looked huge as his body was so skinny and it looked like he had many scars and not a lot of fur left on him. His name was Jock.
"We went to the office to enquire about Jock and we were informed that he was a Staffy cross and had just been brought over from Ireland and that was a rescue from dog fighting. I seem to remember that Kenilworth did not hold out much hope for him.
"Steve and I decided to talk him for a small walk as we felt sorry for him. We were advised not to walk too far as Jock was quite tired and as mentioned previously, not in particular good health, so after a few minutes we found a bench and sat down. Jock proceeded to jump up and landed himself on our laps.
"Well, we were quite surprised he had the energy to do that! We sat quietly with him and he looked at us with such sad eyes that we decided that we would take him back to the kennel and find out more about him.
"We were informed of his history as a fighting dog and that he could be quite aggressive, however, we decided to take a chance on him.
"We brought him home in April 2004 and re-named him Jake and he has been with us since. I can honestly say he is a wonderful dog. Yes, he can still be aggressive to other dogs and cats as he was bred to be like this, however, he has never been aggressive to us or our family plus we have learnt how to handle him when he is walked or around other animals.
"Jake is extremely healthy now - he is walked twice a day, he has gained the weight he had lost, his coat is glossy and his eyes shine, in fact he is not the same dog we took away from the kennels - he is an absolute joy to have.
"Here is a picture of Jake relaxing on "his" mat!
"I hope this gets added to your blog to highlight that although Jake was identified as a problem dog, he has turned out to be a wonderful loving dog that just had a bad start to his life. His problems will not go away, but you just adapt and manage."
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