Ariel, a three-year-old doberman, arrived at the shelter in St Saviour’s Road late in 2016 but her nervous nature and lack
of confidence deterred prospective owners from taking her on.
Following a media appeal at the end of last year, a family have come forward and are spending time at the shelter getting to know her and working with the charity’s dog behaviourist, who is training Ariel to overcome her issues.
However, until they have established a bond with
the dog, and she is ready to go home with them, shelter staff do not want to name them.
The charity’s PR manager, Babs Keywood, says the family seem really nice, and so far everything is going well and the future is looking good for Ariel.
‘We have just started, and it is still very early days, but they are coming in each day to see her and she seems to be OK and everything seems to be going well,’ she said. ‘Ariel seems happy and not too nervous, which is exactly what we want.
‘We carried out a home visit last week and they have a lovely-size garden for her to play in and the house has big rooms. We have discussed questions and issues they had and gone into them in detail.
‘Everything is positive at the moment and we are working with the family to build Ariel’s confidence and to make sure that they are happy with her.’
Miss Keywood says Ariel’s issues arise from her early life, when she was not socialised and ended up confined in a cage by her original owners as they struggled to cope.
In addition to lacking confidence, the doberman is frightened of other dogs and children.
An attempt to rehome her last year failed because she had difficulty adapting to life in the outside world.
