Phoenix Angelou

We adopted the beautiful Phoenix Angelou in March 2024, picking her up from her wonderful foster mum before taking her on a ferry ride to her furever sofa. Poor Phoenix Angelou was petrified on the ferry and clung to my son the whole journey - her fear was palpable; she was being taken from probably the only kind person who had loved her off to the unknown on a very scary journey. 

During the first few days she had many accidents in the house and she literally became my Velcro baby. She was unsure of her new big fur brother, Bones, who fortunately is a gentle Frenchie. He seemed to sense that she was unsure and scared and he gave her space but, equally, he seemed to give her comfort. We were mindful of the 3x3x3 rule for rescue dogs and we followed those guidelines. The first 3 days she was given the time and space to decompress, the following 3 weeks to learn her new routines, with her fur brother to guide her, ie getting excited first thing as it meant walkies then brekkie. After 3 months we could tell she was starting to feel at home although it probably took longer for her to realise that all wees needed to be done outside.

We started to introduce some training - simple things like come, sit etc etc. It took considerably longer for Phoenix Angelou to start to play with toys or play nicely with her big brother - although he never complained, even with the chunks she took out of him play fighting!. Phoenix Angelou now loves to play with toys - small balls are her favourite - and she play fights nicely with her brother and is always doing zoomies - more so than her brother.

We're still working on her reactivity on the lead when she's introduced or sees another dog (on a leash) but it's getting better. She now goes every couple of weeks to doggy day care to get her used to socialising with lots of dogs - her latest report card said "It was lovely seeing Phoenix Angelou again today.  She was more apprehensive than her brother when she came (first alone) but did settle after some encouragement and cuddles from the day care team. She came out of her shell much more when Bones was with her, but it was lovely to see that she wasn't glued to his side and they both did their own thing. She reacted well to the other dogs and as she comes out of her shell more she should start making more friends".

We all love Phoenix Angelou to bits. Thank you Phoenix for giving us such a beautiful young lady although, I should say, she belches like nothing I've heard and she can clear a room with her rear end but she's simply adorable and adored!